Internships: Do They Help?

In today’s market with more experienced, qualified individuals looking for work, recent graduates from technical and academic schools who have no experience are disadvantaged. Internships can level the playing field for these young men and women who ask the question “How can I get the experience so that I can apply to the job that requires experience?” Internships take on several different forms. There is the summer employment during a student’s college years that helps prepare him or her for the real world of work that he or she will face upon graduation. In this employment arrangement, a student that is favored by an employer during summer work will most likely be hired upon graduation. The student has gained an opportunity to learn how the company operates and what they need for support at an entry level. This experience is valuable because it supplements the classroom learning with relevant real-world experience and training. This student has an advantage over a student with no summer experience. This student has the advantage of exposure to a company’s staff and management and a track record of performance that a student with no work experience does not have. Students from technical schools are usually involved in an internship or externship as part of their training where they are exposed to real world work assignments at a company and are graded for their performance during these weeks of work at the company. Usually internships or externships are not for pay since the work is treated like a class or lab session. The advantage of this program is that the potential employer evaluates the student as a potential employee and if they are good at their internship or externship, they may be hired upon graduation. Once again this exposure gives the student an advantage over a student who did not have an internship or externship and is an unknown entity to employers. If an opportunity comes to a student to do an internship or externship, they should seriously consider it as a means of getting the experience so that they can get the job that requires experience.