February has rolled around again, and that means it’s the beginning of the end of internship application season. With many deadlines having rushed by on February 1st, and still more coming up around March 11th, college students across the country are polishing their résumés and scrambling to find Profs to write recommendation letters. All this, on top of teetering course loads, juggling extracurriculars to put on those résumés, and a nagging thought in the back of our minds to make the most out of our four short years at college. It’s more than a little stressful. And what are we working toward anyway? Are internships really that important?
When you consider the numbers, the answer appears to be yes. According to a poll conducted by NACE for the class of 2015, “56.5 percent of students who performed an internship/co-op received at least one job offer, while only 36.5 percent of those with no internship/co-op experience received at least one job offer” (source). Clearly, experience makes a difference in the job market. According to a case study conducted in 2014 at Texas’ Southwestern University, the experience and networking gained through internship opportunities boost the chances of finding a job. The study noted, “Those who reported completing one internship during their time at Southwestern University were 13 percent more likely to find full-time employment over those that did not. In addition, as students participated in more internships, they improved their odds of receiving full-time employment” (source). Data like this is hard to ignore. Apart from gaining experience for résumés and the opportunity to network, internships offer a chance for students to test out possible career paths. With so many benefits, it seems foolish not to take part.
But not all internships are created equal. Students who participated in paid internships enjoy the highest job offer rate (at 72.2 percent) and a higher starting salary (source). However, students from families with higher incomes and with family connections trump the competition for these highly coveted paid internships: “A 2010 study by the research firm Intern Bridge found that students from families earning more than $120,000 per year were more likely to be in paid internships at for-profit companies than students with family income below $80,000, who were more heavily represented in unpaid positions” (source). It seems those who are benefiting the most from internships are people who are well-supported and well-connected to begin with.
Location also plays a huge factor. If you’re like me and live in a small town where the closest thing to a grocery store is the farm stand attached to one of our many apple orchards, the likelihood of finding an internship nearby is tiny. I could feasibly find something in Boston, which is an hour-long commute on a good day, but this brings up the issue of transportation costs. Additionally, unpaid internships especially can be a significant financial commitment because they may require students to relocate their living situation for an extended period of time. It doesn’t help that a large proportion of internships are based in larger cities like New York or Washington, D.C., where rent isn’t cheap. Translation: unpaid (and even some underpaid) internships often just aren’t possible for a considerable segment of the student population.
I think what bothers me the most about all the internship fuss is that people frequently overlook the value of a summer job. Whether it be herding a bunch of kids around a camp you’ve gone to since you were their age, bussing tables at a local restaurant, or enduring the soul-sucking fluorescent purgatory that is retail (I can say this because I have done all of these things), you’re still gaining valuable experience. Communication, organization, and problem-solving, among many others, are marketable skills you can learn at any of these jobs, and that look good on a résumé, too. Who’s to say that just because you learned how multitask by remembering the ketchup for this table, the drinks for that one, and the check for the other is any less useful than learning through array of tedious office work? Not to mention, in all cases you will be compensated for your time, which could then go into your savings to be used as an internship fund for next summer.
All that’s just to say that you shouldn’t let internship applications get you down. In the grand scheme of things, how you spend one summer won’t determine your fate. Internships are great, but remember: they’re not your only option.
Sources: The Washington Post, HuffPost College, NACE
Image Credit: Founder Shield, Billy Penn, Quora, Modern Guild Blog