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I can't stress this enough. I see so many college students who think earning a degree is enough to get them a job, but without relevant work experience, that degree can be pretty useless in the eyes of an employer who wants to hire someone with not only the knowledge of how to work for his company, but also the experience of having worked in that field.
It depends on your major and what internships are offered, but I cannot stress how invaluable an internship can be. Not only can it lead to future employment within that company, but it also offers you networking opportunities and the most important thing; experience.
So if you're a college student and you're planning four years of college and out, seriously consider an internship. Every college has programs that can help place you with an internship and you can also find one by utilizing various job sites.
The best time to get an internship IMO is the summer because, depending on the hours, it can mirror a normal 9-5 job that you will be working soon enough. It also affords you with the luxury of being able to go anywhere within your financial means. That's right folks, if you want a job in another state, your best bet is to get an internship there first.
So in short:
Internships = awesome
Graduating with no relevant work experience = a much harder time finding a job
not all internships are awesome or even worth the time. too many are no pay and no credit "jobs" where the student is simply doing grunt work like filing, answering phones, and refiling the coffee pot. on the other hand, I've seen a lot of no pay/no credit internships that require so much work that I wonder if the company didn't fire a salaried worker and is attempting to replace them w/ free workers
I agree w/ your point overall, but care needs to be taken in picking an internship and if comes to picking a no pay/no credit internship where you're playing receptionist versus taking summer courses or even studying abroad, I'd skip the internship. or at the very least, get a real job or even volunteer work w/in your projected field
not all internships are awesome or even worth the time. too many are no pay and no credit "jobs" where the student is simply doing grunt work like filing, answering phones, and refiling the coffee pot. on the other hand, I've seen a lot of no pay/no credit internships that require so much work that I wonder if the company didn't fire a salaried worker and is attempting to replace them w/ free workers
care needs to be taken in picking an internship and if comes to picking a no pay/no credit internship where you're playing receptionist versus taking summer courses or even studying abroad, I'd skip the internship. or at the very least, get a real job or even volunteer work w/in your projected field
No, but if given the choice of interning and not interning you'd always pick the former.
I wish I had this info drilled before I graduated.
Plus, the internship is what you make of it. Yes, there may be times when you will be just filing stuff, but that's when you start to become proactive. When you start to network and volunteer and put in extra hours. And if that doesn't work then ask your advisor to switch companies.
There are a slew of choices available too as you mentioned that people need to know about.
not all internships are awesome or even worth the time. too many are no pay and no credit "jobs" where the student is simply doing grunt work like filing, answering phones, and refiling the coffee pot. on the other hand, I've seen a lot of no pay/no credit internships that require so much work that I wonder if the company didn't fire a salaried worker and is attempting to replace them w/ free workers
I agree w/ your point overall, but care needs to be taken in picking an internship and if comes to picking a no pay/no credit internship where you're playing receptionist versus taking summer courses or even studying abroad, I'd skip the internship. or at the very least, get a real job or even volunteer work w/in your projected field
To be fair you have to start somewhere, one of the internships I had I started by answering the phone, making copies, etc., but after a while I started having a lot more responsibilities once they knew I could handle them...That internship is still proving to have been a very good experience.
As a (very-non-traditional) student I did a minor in GIS to go with my geology BS degree.
My last year of school I did a (low paid) part time GIS internship with the local BLM office. I loved it. I learned a lot more about GIS there than I would have known with just my classwork. I wish I had been able to get a permanant job with the BLM but it didn't work out.
Fast forward a year or so. I applied for a GIS Specialist position with a company that works closely with the BLM. I was a shoe-in for the job.
1. When I was running a medium-sized business, I seldom (maybe never) hired a fresh-from-college grad unless he/she had done an internship or had some real life employment in the field. We always hired summer interns -- paid them well and expected them to perform like a full-time employee. They filled in for our staff members during their vacations so gained solid experience while on-board. More often than not we offered them jobs upon graduation.
2. I was talking to a recruiter for a major drug store chain once on a long plane ride. I mentioned that my daughter was a pharmacy student at UW. Her eyes lit up. She said they LOVE to recruit from that college because of their extensive internship program. She said the new grads are already experienced and can go right to work rather than taking a couple months to train. My daughter not only did the college internships and externships, but had worked for a local pharmacist a couple summers before she got into the pharmacy college and for another drug store near campus while she was a student. She graduated, had her choice of several plum jobs, became a pharmacy manager within a few months and was a district manager within a couple years.
3. My younger brother was a journalism major, and I got him on at one of our newspapers after his sophomore year year. He returned to college in the fall and changed his major. Sometimes a little work experience is all a student needs to decide he doesn't like the job his major will get him. Other times the student returns to college pumped and eager to learn more with a better understanding of how his classroom studies relate to post-grad work.
IMHO, colleges need to work harder to attain internships for students and to stress the importance of internships. In the case of my daughter's pharmacy college, at least one summer internship and one semester of externship in three different locations is required for graduation. That's not a bad policy at all. It provides students the experience they need and offers employers graduates who are ready for the workplace.
I agree somewhat. I had a great internship for two years, and was paid entry rate for the department in which I worked, which was substantial for me at the time. I was very lucky, though. A lot of my peers got stuck doing crap work that didn't help them out (except for allowing them to put an internship on their resume, perhaps).
As an employer, I don't automatically assume that an internship equals experience. I know too well that a lot of interns (including some I have had) end up doing very basic things, mostly because nobody wants to volunteer to spend extra time that they don't have, teaching interns more complex jobs, especially when the interns are going to be gone shortly.
First and foremost, if you are still early in your studies and can land a job in your field (even real basic stuff) you get to see the industry, see what the job entails, see where your emphasis of study needs to be and most importantly see if you actually would enjoy the reality of working in that field.
Next, networking is huge. Even if you are filing papers, answering phones, etc you are still showing your work ethic to those employers. They are getting to know what you are about and even if the job isn't relevant, how you interact in the office is. If you start doing some of the actual higher skilled work, even better. When you graduate you'll be a known commodity not only for their firm, but if they have a friend who is looking at a different employer you could get a meaningful recommendation.
I chose my university in large part because of it's structure with internships. We had three 6 month periods built into our learning. The last company I was with kept me on part time for my final two years of college. Generally we would do at least some higher skill tasks because that was both the expectation of the employer and the employee. We also were compensated fairly well. I don't think there are many circumstances where I'd volunteer to work at a for profit company for free. You're going to get value out of me being there and it will cost you at least something.
I definitely agree. I'm starting the post-college job search right now for a job in the Information Technology field and many of the jobs and even some intern programs I looked at require experience with a former employer. Although my summer internship didn't go as well as I had wanted it to (due to personal issues), it was better than having no experience at all. Because of this, I realized what kind of job and conditions I would be more suitable for. Not every internship will be a great experience, but its better than nothing at all; make the most out of your internships as much as possible.
Last edited by stressedCollegeGirl89; 03-23-2011 at 02:35 PM..
Reason: misspelling
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