As a final year student, you are at a crossroads where you need to make a decision that could potentially shape your future career. Both internships and involvement in open source projects offer unique benefits that can enhance your skills and boost your employability.
Internships provide an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge in a real-world setting. They allow you to expand on your transferable skills, develop professional connections, and even make new friends. Internships can significantly boost your resume, making you more likely to receive direct job offers. They also offer better job stability and higher salary potential. Furthermore, internships can help you gain a feel for the work environment, boost your confidence, build networks, increase your motivation, and improve your CV. You may even get a reference or letter of recommendation, which can be invaluable when applying for jobs after graduation.
On the other hand, contributing to open source projects can also be highly beneficial. It allows you to improve software, support the open-source culture, meet talented people from your domain, improve your soft skills, find a mentor, gather immense knowledge, and uplift your game in the field. Open source projects offer absolute transparency, flexibility, agility, enhanced security, cost-efficiency, scalability, and the chance to be part of the digital transformation and the open-source community. Contributing to an open source project helps you gain a much deeper knowledge about the software.
So all in all, both options have their own merits. If you’re more inclined towards gaining practical experience in a professional setting and building connections in the industry, an internship might be the right choice for you. However, if you’re passionate about a particular field of study and want to contribute to it while improving your technical skills, getting involved in open source projects could be more beneficial. Ultimately, the decision should align with your career goals and interests.