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.
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What’s your major?
If you’re in a very competitive field such as law, engineering, business or journalism, you may want to consider interning during the school year. That extra internship could be just the thing to put your application at the top of the pile.
“One summer internship is worth another year of college,” said Rick Gillis, a job search expert. An internship during the school year can often add equal value to your resume.
Caitlin Palumbo, a first-year student at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, had an internship every semester and summer during her undergrad at Fordham University. Caitlin said having previous internships related to her studies in communications was something future internship employers and internship coordinators asked about.
“Having an internship during the school year helps build solid experience you can talk about in an interview,” she said. Caitlin interned at a National Public Radio affiliate in New York City and WFUV during her first three years at Fordham before interning at CBS her first semester of senior year and at NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams during her second semester.
Not only was Caitlin aware that more experience would benefit her future in a competitive industry, but Caitlin said interning while being a full-time student also helped her in the classroom.
“It was good to see what I was learning in my journalism classes was really like in real life,” she said.
Caitlin said her first internship “definitely” helped her nab the other ones, partly because she could specifically give examples from her previous experiences during her internships and also because employers were impressed she was able to manage an internship during a school semester.
“Every person I talked to—they were so impressed I was able to hold internships for the last three years and that I already had hard news experience,” she said.
We know it sounds cutthroat, but racking up more experience during the semester—not just the summer—could give you the leg up you need on the other students who are your competition for the jobs you’ll eventually want.
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What would your schedule look like?
You, more than anybody else, know yourself the best. If you find that you could benefit from doing an internship during the school year, but are uncertain if you could handle it due to the time commitment, then it may not be for you, which is totally okay.
Caitlin is currently interning for ABC News and said she definitely feels stressed out at times.
“I really wish I could have taken a stress test at the beginning of the year and then take one right now and see how different the results are,” Caitlin joked.
Caitlin said her internships now and in the past have required her to work three to four days a week. But while it was challenging to manage school, internships, and a social life throughout college, it had its benefits in preparing her for the real world.
“It definitely whipped me into shape from the get-go in college on how to prioritize and it really helped me to stay balanced and keep up with school work,” she said.
Chandra Robrock, a junior at Florida State University, majoring in Retail Merchandising and Product Development, currently holds a virtual internship for Berger, the Intern Queen. While her internship requires five hours a day, three days a week, Chandra recommends thoroughly understanding your time commitments before committing.
“If possible, shape your classes and schedule around your internship and know the exact hour requirements going into the internship,” Chandra said. “I would recommend interning during the school year to my friends because it is definitely a lesson in time management and looks great to a future employer.”
But schoolwork should never fall behind on your list of priorities.
“I would recommend interning during the school year, but you have to make sure you are able to stay on top of school work as well,” Caitlin said. “No teacher is going to accept that you can’t hand in a paper because of your internship.”
And Berger agrees that school should remain number one—you’re paying for it after all!
“It does add a lot of work to your plate, so it’s best to be the best time manager you can be,” Berger said. “It’s great experience and it’s great to build your resume, as long as it won’t poorly affect your schoolwork.”
Not only will an internship affect your time to work on class assignments, but it will also affect the time you have to have fun and hang out with friends.
Fortunately, a scenario according to the Intern Queen, that isn’t completely impossible.
“It’s okay to be selfish, it’s okay to have a social life, an internship, a part-time job and excel in schoolwork,” Berger said. “You can definitely have it all, you just have to go out and make it happen.”
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Are you semester internship-ready?
Now that you know what the experts and fellow collegiettes™ have to say, here’s a complete checklist that can help you decide if you should do a semester internship.
- Do you need more work-related experience on your resume?
- Have you not done many internships related to your field of study?
- Is your major considered to be a competitive field to find a job in?
- Do you think a semester internship will increase your chances of landing the summer internship or job you want?
- Do you always follow through with given deadlines?
- Are you organized?
- Do you consider yourself to have good time management skills?
- Do you work well under pressure?
- Can you handle stress well and find ways to resist feeling burned out?
If you’ve answered “yes” to a majority of these questions, then you may be semester-internship ready!
Where to find your semester internship
Since deadlines for spring internship applications are quickly approaching, here are some tips to navigating your search.
- Visit your campus career resource center.
- Check out Mediabistro.com or Ed2010.com for internships in journalism.
- Make a list of local companies you are interested in and visit their websites to explore possible internship opportunities. If none are listed, be proactive and express your interest in interning for a company by sending an e-mail or even dropping by with your resume.
- Network! Talk to friends who previously had summer internships. If they left their internships on good terms, they’ve probably been advised to recommend friends for semester internships.
Sources
Rick Gillis, Job Search Expert, Speaker and Author
Lauren Berger, CEO of InternQueen.com
Caitlin Palumbo, a first-year student at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Chandra Robrock, junior at Florida State University