You’ve probably got a lot going on right now (unless you’re reading this during the holidays). School itself can be super busy even before you start trying to juggle homework, assignments, activities out of school and hanging out with your mates. On top of that, people are probably starting to talk to you about internships and you’re thinking “are they worth it?”. We’re a little biased seeing as we run Australia's best virtual internship program, but we’re here to tell you they absolutely are. From real world experience through to giving you a leg up on your peers, here’s why:

Experience a real industry

Look, school is really important. You’re never going to have another chance to learn so much about so many different subjects in the one place. But it’s not the professional world. Internships give you the chance to dig a little deeper and see how your learning comes off the page and into the real world. Plus, they can give you an absolutely invaluable head start when it comes to getting a job, further study and even the way you learn. One in 10 companies surveyed by Millennial Branding and Internships.com’s 2014 High School Careers study said high school internships could help students get into better colleges and give them a competitive advantage. As far as the 172 US high school students themselves, while

81% are looking for work experience and 72% for networking, more than nine out of 10 are looking to learn new skills. You get all three with a virtual work experience program.

You learn real skills in a virtual internship

If there’s one thing TV has “taught” us, interns get a raw deal. Whether it’s April Ludgate’s active hatred of her job in Parks and Rec or Kenneth Parcell getting bullied by almost every other character on 30 Rock, you don’t have a lot of great examples. But that usually isn’t the case. And luckily, virtual internships give you all the benefits of classic high school work experience without any risk you’ll end up spending your day fetching coffee or making photocopies (it’s 2020 anyway, who’s still making photocopies?). With our virtual internships, you get a custom-built program designed to teach you soft skills, responsibility and professional software you might use in the working world. Plus, you can pick the brains of the people whose job you might be doing one day.