Thinking of an Internship?
You are wise to consider an internship as part of your academic experience. Employers and graduate schools look for students with one or more career-related experiences. Along with the information provided on this webpage, you may find useful the Thinking Of An Internship? handout (PDF).
What is an Internship?
An internship is a semester-long, supervised work experience related to your major or career goal for which you earn academic credit. The work experience may be part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid, and primarily in an off-campus environment. Important elements structured into the experience which distinguish it from a short-term job or volunteer work are an intentional self-directed learning strategy, reflection - both verbal and written, discussion of faith integration, and an emphasis on professional development.
Internships for academic credit are available to juniors or seniors in the fall, spring, or summer and must be at least twelve weeks in length. By embarking on one or more of them, you will be able to sharpen your skills, begin a network of employer contacts, assess your strengths, and test classroom theories in real world settings.
Benefits Of An Internship
Personally: Boost your maturity and self-confidence; improve your human relations skills; prepare for life after graduation; integrate your faith and values with work; enjoy a greater clarity about career decisions.
Academically: Integrate classroom theory with real-life experiences; understand the relevance of your course work; increase your motivation to learn; use resources that are not available on campus.
Professionally: Explore a potential career field; develop career-related skills and abilities, including effective job search, resume writing and interviewing techniques; establish a work history; observe professional people and behavior; build a network of professional contacts, potentially developing mentoring relationships; gain a competitive edge for employment or graduate school admission.
Financially: Approximately 50% of all interns receive some form of compensation. It is often used to subsidize tuition costs or help pay for transportation expenses.
Worth Noting: According to the 2008 Experiential Education Survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 77% of employer respondents said they use internships to recruit employees. They also report higher retention rates when converting interns to new employees, which saves them a great deal of money. Internships are smart for you and for them.
Why Experience An Internship For Academic Credit?
1) Gain access to selective internship sites
2) Many sites require academic accountability
3) Think about, and develop, personal and professional skills which will help you succeed in your career and lifelong learning
4) Open doors to graduate school by having an internship recorded on your transcript
5) Protect yourself legally under the college's liability policy
6) Process opportunities and challenges through personal interaction with peers and faculty
7) Develop a Masterwork Portfolio, which highlights your self-directed learning ability - great for job and graduate school interviews!
Internships, in general, allow to you to
Cultivate future job possibilities and...
Expand your professional career references for employment and/or graduate school
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