By Erin White and Nyasha Mandiveyi
Most college students quickly learn that an internship is important for one’s future career. A quick perusal through job search Web sites offering career advice for the younger contingent, students will find many benefits for obtaining an internship, paid or unpaid. Internships can increase a student’s hiring potential, give students a chance test drive a career path, put coursework into context and promote networking with potential employers. An internship is on-the-job-training and a chance to apply classroom theory to a real-life work environment. Although many internships are unpaid, the experience can be a rewarding stepping stone to other opportunities.
Finding the perfect job begins long before students graduate. Previous job experience can be a make or break factor for an employer’s hiring decisions, and internships are quickly become a prerequisite. Having an internship also helps students build the strong, cohesive resume that employers look for. In many cases, internships can help to build a student’s portfolio as well.
At SCAD, the office of career and alumni success is an extremely valuable resource for finding internships. SCAD Atlanta has three career advisers that can assist students in looking and preparing for an internship. It also offers several websites where students and alumni can gain information about work opportunities. SCAD’s College Central account helps build résumés and portfolios that can be accessed by employers.
College Central also allows users to search jobs that are posted specifically for SCAD students and features a mentoring network that contains profiles of professionals in a chosen field. “Career Services, as well as College Central, can provide essential marketing tools and ways to present your work samples to employers,” said Chrissy Terry, senior career adviser. According to Terry, students should give themselves plenty of time to research where they want to work and what is required to obtain a position there. “It’s important to tailor portfolios and résumés and gear them towards the internship being applied to,” Terry said.
Making time for both school and an internship can sometimes feel impossible. While interning at Cartoon Network Digital, third-year writing student Rob Reeves found that strong time-management skills was the key to being successful. “Cut back on something time-consuming, like partying or video games. Whatever, just don’t cut back on sleep,” Reeves said.
Internships often provide valuable networking opportunities with professionals in the industry and can be the first foot in the door to a specific company. Also, employers are more likely to hire interns who’ve established a good relationship with the organization, when looking to fill positions.
Recently, students have become concerned that internships are mostly unpaid. In addition, SCAD students must pay the cost of taking a regular class in order to receive college credit for the internship. However, for many students, the benefits outweigh the costs. “I chose an unpaid internship, and that’s okay because it still looks great on my résumé,” Reeves said. And Reeves completed the internship with more experience than he had before, in terms of how to act professionally, and what things he could work on to make himself more competitive when he is ready to job search. He received all that training without the added pressure of being a new hire expected to earn his worth. For students who see a world of opportunity out there and perhaps don’t know where to start, and internship can be a great way to get oriented — at the beginning.
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