I’m trying to get an internship that will give me general professional experience because ive never worked anywhere besides preschools. I was considering applying to TTCSP (think tanks and civil society program University of Pennsylvania) because they are recruiting interns at my school. I have a very shaky idea of what think tanks even are and am unsure whether this experience would give me the experience I want. Does anyone know anything about this program and whether it is worth applying for.
Right now, you need to be proactive and apply for all kinds of things. Yes, you should apply to this. It’s different to your previous experience and it should provide good opportunities to learn new skills.
For the student; internships are a source of money, provide some insight into what that job would be like and give you some experience. For an employer; an internship is cheap labor (relatively speaking as they do usually pay well for the student), are a long job interview and, whether the internship was with their company or not, shows whether the student can handle the 8 to 5 work-a-day world or not.
Given those criteria, apply to one’s that appeal to you. Internships can be hard to actually get in some fields but worth the experience.