THE REAL MAGAZINE ISSUE 2 | Page 20

For those with a more corporate persuasion the battle for internships is often much tougher. Most corporates offer internships on their websites but have extremely high criteria. Academic success is usually a prerequisite along with some examples of your drive and initiative {community leadership, extra-curricular achievements outside school}. There are however ways to improve your odds at landing a corporate internship even without excellent academics. Showing off your drive, dedication and initiative by physically going to the company and making an appointment to meet the the person in charge of intern selection is a proven way to stand out from the crowd. A useful trick is to volunteer your services as a free intern in the most entry level position in the company. This shows work ethic and the willingness to climb the corporate ladder. Granted, not all of us have lofty ambitions of creating the next hit app or becoming the world’s fastest runner but even every single goal needs effort, time and energy. Fortunately the modern world offers ample opportunities for us to grip our future by the horns and begin the journey to success. Once you’ve identified your passions, the next step will be to find a mentor. There are numerous mentorship programmes available in almost every industry: you just play your part by researching, applying to get into a mentorship programme and applying yourself within the programme to make it work for you! Concider taking up a holiday internship: Given the country’s focus on skills development and the need for artisans there are an abundance of artisan internships to go around. Be it plumbing, electrical work, construction and architecture, or any other, websites like careers 24 and the classified sections of all the major and local newspapers are great places to find these internships. The newspapers are especially useful for finding internships in your area. those looking to make a career in the arts are spoiled for choice at the many holiday opportunities in the industry, you just need to give yourself some time to research your area of interest in order to find out what opportunities are available for you to take up and improve on your passion: If you see your future on the stage then find out if you have a community theatre club around your area for you to join .; if you’re a budding musician then the holiday is the time to perfect your instrument of choice, learning how to use music production software and showcase your talents. Aspiring models would do well to join a casting agency and use their holidays to attend photo shoots to build their portfolios... be careful of the scammers though. Those with a penchant for writing would benefit from taking freelancing jobs as writers to refine their skills. The world is your oyster of opportunities!! 18