With unemployment hovering above nine percent, college students and recent graduates are increasingly using internships to bolster their credentials, with a recent report suggesting that three-quarters of those currently enrolled in U.S. colleges will intern at least once before graduating.
Additionally, while between 7.6 percent and 8.6 percent of the 4,600 employers who were polled said they will be hiring this year, a whopping 60 percent said they would be taking on interns, according to the report “Recruiting Trends 2010-2011 Survey,” published by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University.
A separate article published by the institute in January said, “Evidence suggests that the internship now replaces the starting job as the place where college students actually begin their journey into the workplace.”
Most employers that come to the College of Westchester”™s career center seeking to hire students for full-time positions require that the candidates have some prior internship experience, said Joanne Sunday, director of career services at the White Plains college.
“That”™s the way that you”™re going to get a job, by having an internship,” Sunday said. “You don”™t always have to have experience in your field, but the fact that you have office or job experience (and) know how to handle yourself professionally” is important to recruiters, she said.
The available internship opportunities are, by and large, unpaid, Sunday said.
“Basically, internships right now aren”™t paid and the students understand that.”
At the college, internships are required for all students enrolled in bachelor degree programs, in addition to those enrolled in the medical assistant associate degree program, with students being awarded course credit upon completion of the internship.
Sunday said that for many students, the internship experience pays dividends when it comes to finding work after graduation. She said that the college expects to place almost 100 percent of its accounting, computer networking, and information technology majors, in addition to the majority of its medical assistant program students.
“This year the jobs are out there,” she said. “I”™m not saying they”™re as plentiful as they used to be or you”™re going to get the salaries we got 10 years ago, but it”™s much better this year than last year, without a doubt.”
Ross Perlin, author of the book “Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy,” wrote an Op-Ed piece that appeared in The New York Times April 2 in which he sharply criticized the lax nature of internship programs.
In the piece, Perlin said that many students who work unpaid internships are essentially forced to pay to work for free. He said that a number of universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and New York University, charge students for the credits students earn for their internships in the same way that they would charge students for credits earned by taking individual courses during a summer session.
Despite the unfavorable jobs environment, Marsha Gordon, president and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester, said that a number of Westchester employers are hiring paid interns for the summer.
“It”™s important that we let young people know here in Westchester County what job opportunities there are,” Gordon said. “We”™ve been able to identify almost 200 jobs for students. Some of these you might not classify as internships, but we think that any work experience is positive for young people.”
Companies that are hiring students for paid internships and summer jobs include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Normandy Real Estate Partners, the Food Bank for Westchester and Gentle Giant Moving Company Inc., just to name a few, Gordon said.
She encouraged students to seek out internship opportunities ”“ even the unpaid variety ”“ for the value that they add to a person”™s credentials.
“They”™re absolutely incredible experiences, and I think they really add to the perspective that students have for future possibilities,” Gordon said. “I always encourage people who are looking for jobs to commit to volunteer services, so those are all great opportunities to get experience.”
Allison Madison, president of Reinhard Madison Approach Staffing Inc. in White Plains, said that job-seekers need to be able to market themselves and that internships represent a great opportunity to do so.
“Particularly with young adults, internships give you two incredible gifts: one is experience and two, contacts,” Madison said. “Without those two things your chances of getting a job are significantly diminished. Those are two things you can”™t get in school.”
Merely submitting a resume and waiting for a job to materialize isn”™t realistic, she said.
“Passively sending out your resume to job boards and waiting for someone to find you ”“ it doesn”™t work that way,” Madison said. “I really am a big believer in being out there and doing volunteerism and doing internships.”
Parents and grandparents of current graduates did not have to take unpaid internships to get their start on careers so why should people starting out today; are they of less value? And, as pointed out in Perlin’s book, apprenticeships for “blue collar” jobs pay people while in training.
My plan for getting America back to work:
#1 Make being an “intern” subject to Equal Opportunity and age
discrimination laws.
No Kidding why should someone older be told they are OVERQUALIFIED?
That is just mean and nasty to someone willing to work for little or
no pay to keep a recent job in their field at the top of their resume.
#2 Eliminate all extended unemployment after 26 weeks UNLESS you are
in an Intern job or in job training. Again if some employer tells
me I am TOO OLD to be an intern well the UI office can make it hard
for them to do business.