This is one of those internships that looks like it will be hell and for some people it will be. You will end up going away from home for the summer and you will work long days, but you will earn some pretty good money. The exact amounts will depend on you and your sales skills. There is some training involved before hand as well.

None of that is what you hear about when talking to an alumni, so it seems safe to assume it isn’t the life changing part about working for Southwestern Company . What you do tend to hear about is what happens while you are out of your normal environment.

You knock on doors all over the city. In the process you meet people of every race and background. You talk to people of every religion and will get a perspective on life in a whole new way. Your place in the world will look different when you come back home. You will learn about how these people think, and what they value. They will tell you about their passions and about their loves. You will meet cranky people, and people who aren’t quite cranky, but they will try to bring you down to their level. You will also meet people who will rise you up and let you soar as you understand their life and their needs and they feed back to you kindness. How you deal with each of these people will affect your character forever.

To a lesser degree other internships seem to do this as well. Being so unconventional it is no wonder there are a number of people talking about it. For people who have never left their backyard it sounds daunting, and for those wishing to explore it sounds like an adventure. Either way it can be dangerous and can not be taken as lightly as any other internship.

Those who go through with it seem to view it fondly at the end and often develop a love for the company itself. One of the nice things is that they planned for this and when it is over, if you want to, you will be able to stay somewhat close to it . Southwestern Company hires back a lot of their interns both for new summer jobs and to bring into the company.

A great example of this is seen among people who choose to get their Cisco certification. These people go through a Cisco training course and get specifically certified in a particular area of the field that they already work in. This shows employers that the individual is not only educated but willing to specialize and capable of staying on top of the latest things happening in that field.

No one is saying that getting a Cisco certification will guarantee that you get a new job. However making yourself more appealing to employers by enhancing your education is going to make it more likely that you’ll stand out from other applicants in the job hunt. As an employer would you hire the person with the most recent relevant education or the one who only has a work history? The answer is clear.