Gallop blog (Nov. 27, 2017) discussed the importance of internships in relationship to finding a job upon graduation. As Busteed and Auter pointed out, “The top reason students, parents and the public value higher education is to get a good job“. The numbers are pretty low for undergrads finding jobs quickly however, those who participated in internships during school are twice as likely to find what they wanted.
As a parent and business leader, I see many reasons to find a good internship or two. It isn’t just about finding the right job, although as we see in the article above, it certainly helps. It also shows that a student has initiative, business skills, and an understanding of the working world. Adding internships to a resume is an added-value for grad school applications, non-profit work and building a portfolio of relationships that can carry into careers later on. Parents should encourage students to intern at least twice during their undergrad years whether their college has a formal program or not. Most do have something to offer so check out career development offices first and then scope out the various academic programs. If nothing arises, look to your own network (friends, colleagues, family) – you’d be surprised who you may know!
Next up: to pay or not to pay, that is the question!
#interns, #internships, #experientiallearning, #jobsaftercollege
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