Summers are supposed to be productive. That is what I often say to my peers. Shortly before the culmination of final-term examinations, a rush spreads among students to secure “any internship”, and by “any internship”, I mean that it truly does not matter whether it aligns with their interests, relates to the field they wish to pursue, or provides an environment that helps them strive for excellence. Their objective is simply to spend this three-month period “busy but doing nothing”.
This internship culture has become so deeply ingrained in students’ minds that a student working productively at home is often belittled by their peers for not joining an institution or undertaking an internship. For many students, securing an internship has gradually become less about learning and more about social validation. This fear of remaining “unproductive” steers their young minds to apply through any link that claims to offer an internship.
The notion with which I am writing this article is not to dissuade students from joining internships altogether, but to encourage them to choose wisely the place where they will be spending a few months: a place where they are eager to learn without constantly facing boredom, a place that nourishes their abilities and improves them, rather than merely keeping them busy and eventually rewarding them with a “certificate”.
I have seen dozens of students applying for particular internships, attend them daily, yet leave with almost no increase in their productivity or skills. What, then, do they actually gain from such an experience? The point is not that the institutions are flawed; rather, the problem often lies in the individual’s own will. If the passion to struggle, learn, and work remains frail, merely being present at an institution cannot make an internship productive.
William Penn, an English writer, rightly observed, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” This observation is particularly relevant to students who spend months in internships that have little connection with their long-term career goals. What meaningful learning can a student expect from a workplace where there is a stark mismatch between the internship and the field he intends to pursue? If the primary objective is merely to add another line to a “well-prepared CV”, the student may, regrettably, be squandering valuable time.
A CV is undoubtedly of paramount importance, but relevance matters more than volume. A flowery CV filled with numerous experiences may still be rejected at the threshold if those experiences fail to demonstrate the skills and exposure required for a particular position. Therefore, while choosing an internship, students should assess whether it complements their future endeavours, develops relevant skills, and brings them closer to their intended profession rather than simply making their CV appear more impressive. This ‘CV obsessions’ will take them nowhere.
Students alone are not to blame; another aspect of the problem, where students themselves are at the suffering end, is the poor design of many internship programes. Interns are often assigned clerical, repetitive, or entirely irrelevant tasks that contribute little to their intellectual or professional development. Preparing files, making photocopies, organising documents, or simply sitting in an office for several hours may keep a student occupied, but occupation should not be confused with learning.
When an internship lacks proper mentorship, clearly defined responsibilities, practical exposure, and opportunities to participate in meaningful work, it becomes little more than a formal attendance exercise. A poorly designed internship can, therefore, consume valuable summer months without providing any substantial skills, knowledge, or meaningful professional experience.
A university is the first platform that should actively guide students towards credible internships that align with their academic background, interests, and long-term career goals. It should coordinate with host institutions to ensure that their interns receive proper mentorship, meaningful assignments, practical exposure, and clearly defined learning objectives rather than routine clerical work or occupying them with zero productivity. At the same time, students should be made aware that internships are not the only measure of productivity.
Research, skill development, volunteering, independent writing, fieldwork, and serious academic reading can be equally productive. The ultimate objective should not be to place every student inside an institution during summer, but to help them spend their time in a way that contributes meaningfully to their intellectual and professional growth.
The purpose of summer should not be to keep students occupied; it should be to make them better. Universities must help students identify credible opportunities, while students themselves must learn to distinguish between genuine professional development and mere institutional attendance. An internship can be invaluable when it offers relevance, mentorship, responsibility and practical learning. But an internship undertaken simply for a certificate, social validation or another line on a CV may consume precious months without producing meaningful growth. Ultimately, productivity is not measured by where a student spends the summer, but by what the student learns, creates, contributes and becomes during it.
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The writer Maryam Riaz is LLB student at prestigious School of Law, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad- Pakistan. She can be reached at maryamriaz508@gmail.com
