From a career standpoint, internships are one of the most important parts of a student’s college experience. Completing an internship provides numerous benefits and ways to grow as a young professional and offers much more than work experience for your resume.
You can:
- Test out different industries.
- Explore different career directions and define areas of interest.
- Define your career focus.
- Gain transferable skills and a competitive edge.
- Put classroom theories and skills into action, learn about professionalism in a workplace, communication, teamwork, time management and networking.
In addition:
- Employers see their internship programs as the best path for hiring entry-level candidates. They are viewed as a critical pipeline for talent and want to hire interns.
- 66% of employers state that the two most important qualities they take into consideration for hiring decisions are Relevant Work Experience and Interview Skills (internships.com survey).
- Employers want to see experience in the new college grads they hire.
- Internships are viewed by employers as the entry level jobs of today – they are a must-have to be competitive for full-time jobs.
- 96.9% of responding employers plan to hire interns and/or co-op students in the next year.