An Introduction to Internships

An internship is one of the best ways to begin a career. Yet many students don’t pursue internships because they are afraid that internships are unpaid or don’t pay much, because they feel unqualified, or simply because they don’t do much research about them. However, completing an internship is the best way for a student to get a foot in the door of a business or industry he or she is interested in having a career in.  All college students and even many high-school students should already be considering doing full-time internships next summer or part-time internships during the spring or fall semesters. Pursuing suitable internship opportunities is especially important right now, because many companies and internship programs have application deadlines for their summer internships as early as December, as can be seen on Proyecto Visión’s internship list.

Doing an internship has major benefits because an intern:

• gains valuable work experience;

• has the opportunity to use his or her present skills as well as learn new ones;

• can put the internship experience on his or her resume;

• makes professional contacts and friends who can give advice and may help the intern eventually get a job;

• may be paid;

• can learn whether or not she/he likes working in a certain field;

• gains confidence in his/her own ability.

Obviously, all of these benefits are related and experience is the key. When a student graduates from college and is looking for work, potential employers have no way of knowing whether the student is capable of handling a job. If a student’s resume shows that he or she has completed an internship, a potential employer will know that the student has been exposed to a work environment and has an idea of what it takes to do a good job. At the same time, a person doing an internship gains a network of colleagues and friends who can help him or her find jobs and can write recommendations when the student applies for a job. Often, an internship can even lead to a job in the very same workplace where the intern is doing his or her internship.

In the current economic recession, with scarce job openings and large numbers of people looking for work, it is important for job seekers to do whatever they can to make themselves stand out when they are applying for work. Having completed an internship is one of the best ways to do so.  But how can a student get an internship? There are a few different routes, all of which college career counseling offices can help students navigate. One of these routes is through internships and internship programs specifically designed for students with disabilities and for other minority groups. Among these are the internships listed on PV’s internship page, including several major internship programs for students with disabilities:

• The Workforce Recruitment Program is a federal program that works to connect students with disabilities and employers for summer internships and jobs. For details, see the article about this program in this issue of the PV Newsletter.

• Emerging Leaders is a program of the National Business & Disability Council that helps place students from around the country in internships at many large companies.

• Entry Point is a program for students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math that helps them find internships at employers such as Google, Lockheed, NASA, and IBM.

These programs can be a great way for students to be considered by many different companies. Another method for students to get internships is for them to apply to employers they are particularly interested in.  As such, students may know they are interested in specific industries or know about companies that are related to their career goals. Students also need to look at what they will be able to contribute to a company and why they can be a good fit for that company’s interests in the same way that was described by Susan Lang in the Fall 2009 newsletter when she talked about how to search for a job.

A third way students can find internship possibilities is to network by talking to people they know, including friends, family, and professors.  However, while networking is a valuable way to make new contacts, students themselves still have the ultimate responsibility of taking the initiative in the application process. Showing initiative and confidence during an internship application process is actually one of the best ways a student can demonstrate to potential supervisors that he or she has the skills it takes to handle an internship.

Most students should probably use all three of these strategies to look for internship possibilities. Like any other type of job search, the odds of getting a good internship increase as a person applies to more potential employers. No matter which strategies students choose to find suitable internships, they will need the support of their colleges’ career services offices throughout the search process. They will need help crafting resumes, writing cover letters, and preparing for interviews, along with advice from somebody who can listen to their specific situations and help plan how to approach the application process. Indeed, another positive of applying for an internship is that the student learns how to do a job application in a less competitive context.

This article may make internships sound perfect, but there are some drawbacks. One of the biggest is that some internships include duties that may not seem very interesting or glamorous. Apart from looking for an internship in a field that seems interesting, another step that interns can take is to make sure they have a good relationship with their supervisor in order to make sure that they understand why their duties matter and to also ensure that they get exposure to some of the more interesting sides of the workplace, even if those aren’t part of their main tasks. At the same time, the reality is that no job is always interesting or glamorous. One of the key skills that an intern learns is how to be productive and have a positive attitude while handling tasks that are necessary for his or her employer. By doing so, an intern demonstrates that s/he is a professional and deserves to be given more responsibilities in the future. QuintCareers.com has an excellent article that discusses how interns can approach this issue, in addition to articles discussing reasons to get an internship and how to get one.

Another potential drawback of an internship is that the one a student is most interested in may be unpaid. Unpaid internships are especially common at non-profit institutions. This is a serious issue and each student will need to think about it within the context of his or her personal financial situation. Depending on that situation, a student will need to consider options, such as whether s/he has another job or internship offer, what that offer is, how much it pays, and how related it is to the student’s long-term interests. One way to view an internship is as an investment – by investing time and energy, a student develops skills and contacts who can positively influence his or her career outcomes for the rest of the student’s life. As such, students need to consider internships in this context and, with the support of their families and career counselors, decide what option is best.

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