Being a college student can be more difficult than having a full-time job. Between tests, papers, boyfriends/girlfriends, volunteering, extracurriculars, and doing whatever else you do, you’re constantly going full speed ahead 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But there’s one other commitment you might want to consider throwing into the mix: an internship.
Though you might think an internship is just for the summertime, more and more students are opting to take one on during the academic year. But should you jump on the semester internship bandwagon? We talked with students, career counselors, and employers to put together a guide to help you decide if it’s worth adding an internship into next semester’s Google calendar.
What does your current resume look like?
Is that beautiful piece of paper dotted from top to bottom with all of your marvelous work-related experiences? Or do you still have “babysitting” listed under previous work experience?
Unless you are applying for a position as a full-time au pair, listing babysitting on your resume probably won’t help you nab that job or summer internship.
This is when it may be a good idea to consider applying for a semester internship.
“If you don’t have any experience on your resume, it’s a good idea to start building it with local companies,” said Lauren Berger, the CEO of InternQueen.com.
Students with previous internship experience have a higher success rate at finding a job, and there are only so many summers left in college. Plus, internships during the semester could be easier to snag.
“Summer internships are definitely the most popular,” Berger said. “So when it comes to the fall and spring there aren’t as many candidates.”
According to the student survey of 2010 conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, about 42 percent of seniors who had previous internship experience received at least one job offer compared to the 30 percent of seniors that received a job offer without any internship experience. So if your resume needs beefing up, during the semester could be the time to do it.
