On internships and interns
There is no doubt that an internship is essential in every profession. Theory is the foundation, and it matters! But experience matters just as much – knowing how to apply what you have learned in real working life.
Over the years, a good many accounting students have interned with us, from various business schools and universities.
We are happy to take on two interns at a time. They usually work on different tasks, but they can also work together. Some have interned with us more than once, and each time they learn something new and tackle harder problems.
I deliberately give interns work where mistakes can happen, because that is how you learn best. The key skill is checking your own work – and that skill, too, has to be learned.
It is essential to understand the purpose of your work – why something needs to be done. And to always see the work through to the end, correctly and without mistakes. That is how you learn.
When an intern’s eyes light up at the result of their work, you know they have chosen the right field. Then it is a joy for both sides, the student and the supervisor. Later, for the business owner too. Everyone wins.
Is the company sustainable?
One of the more interesting tasks we worked through this year, with our intern Mirell, was to decide from a company’s annual report whether the company was sustainable – and whether the published figures were enough to make that call.
We discussed what additional data we would need, and how to ask for it in a way that actually gets you the answers. In an analysis like this, it matters a great deal what you must pay attention to, where the risks lie, and whether, when and how you might offer the business owner a recommendation.
It was fascinating to follow the reasoning of a student about to graduate, and to share my own experience and advice with her. This was Mirell’s fourth internship with us, and the time we spent together was extremely interesting for both of us.
A gift for Mirell from everyone at Tähelend
Mirell graduated this spring, and because she put her whole heart into everything she did, we honored her with a gift from the whole Tähelend team.
An internship shows very clearly whether the field you have chosen is right for you – both the everyday side of working life, with its rhythm, its routine and its problems, and the ability to see the results of your work and take joy in them. And that is by no means limited to accounting; it is a much broader question.
When work is done only for the money, or when someone has never had the chance to properly learn good working habits, both the quality of the work and the way people deal with each other usually suffer.
That is why I try, whenever I can, to speak up for internships – real internships, where you genuinely gain new experience and working skills.
You have to learn to do your work properly. And the results are excellent when you love what you do.
