Explore and Learn: A Real-Life Internship Experience
Exploring the world of work and gaining hands-on experience are significant elements of the AUC Career Center’s mission. As part of the experiential learning program, the Career Center provides various internship guidance and opportunities for AUC students. These opportunities provide the students with a learning opportunity for them to test the waters of prospective careers and get a glimpse of one’s future career path.
Mohamed Qassem, a graduating senior in the actuarial science department, specializing in actuarial analysis shares his experience on how the Career Center successfully helped him land an internship. Qassem first contacted the Career Center for guidance in finding an internship to complete his major requirement in the risk management field. With the Career Center’s guidance, Qassem successfully landed an internship at Gulf Insurance Group (GIG) Egypt, a joint stock company. “The Career Center was super helpful; they managed to help me until I actually landed the internship,” he explained.
Highlighting his internship experience, he explained that he benefitted from the opportunity as it gave him hands-on experience and introduced him to the real-life profile of an actuarial science graduate. “You get to learn technical stuff you don’t learn at university. It's important you do an internship before you graduate to work on the weaknesses you have,” he emphasized. Qassem spotted that actuarial science courses mainly provide concepts, but the internship provided him with loads of practical experience. “If you link the academics to real-life, you will find yourself able to study more based on experience,” he said.
As part of his realizations, Qassem mentioned that early planning for internships is a must. He advised that even if we don’t find internships that target our first career options, one should find alternatives that are close to one’s major or interests. With the Career Center’s guidance in professional branding and job search, students gain the skills and confidence they need to position themselves effectively for diverse opportunities. “Sometimes you might feel that you are not enough to get an internship, and it turns out that everyone is just like you, and you have many skills that you can add to others and others shall add to yours,” Qassem added. He also mentioned that we shouldn’t fear taking risks and getting rejected because rejection is a part of life, and it can help us grow.
In addition, the internship helped Qassem get a clearer vision of the lifestyle and type of work present in the industry. He clarified that he still feels unsure whether the actuarial science career path is for him, and he indicated that he’d like to venture into more fields before deciding. “One month is not enough to indicate what you want to do for the rest of your life,” he shared. That’s why he will be working on taking part in more internships in other fields to be able to get an overview of other careers. “I would like to explore the life of a finance professional as well,” he specified.
Qassem overall acknowledged that he feels extremely grateful for the Career Center’s support and the opportunities offered to him through AUC.