Building Career-Ready Skills The Importance of Internships in College By Suzanne Shaffer
College without internships is like cereal without milk, chocolate without peanut butter, the perfect dress without the perfect shoes. My daughter would be the first to agree with this statement. During college, several paid and unpaid internships helped her decide on a career path and make contacts who could assist her in finding a job after graduation. According to one of the nation’s leading job search platforms, ZipRecruiter1, an internship is an ideal way for students to:
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Apply what they learn in the classroom
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Discover what they do and don’t like Network with the right people Get experience employers want Develop their personal identity Transition to a full-time position
With all the competition for jobs after graduation along with the valuable lessons they’ll learn, your student can’t afford to ignore the importance of internships.
How do internships work? The purpose of an internship is to provide a meaningful learning opportunity for the student. The company or organization also
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benefits because they can supplement their workforce with students, some of whom may eventually become permanent hires. Internships sometimes include what seem like menial tasks, but those tasks help students gather information about the job and/or industry — and are also a practical reminder that we all start out on the ground floor, as beginners. Interns are student employees. Internships may be paid or unpaid and the student may or may not receive academic credit. Sometimes an internship connects very directly with a student’s college coursework. Before starting, a student will be informed of the particulars of the internship and specific learning objectives related to the experience.
Where do students find internships? The campus career center is a primary source for locating internships. Most colleges and universities post
