It used to be that simply graduating from a four-year
university was enough to land you a good job after school. Having a bachelor’s
degree in anything put you above many
other candidates and finding a good entry-level position was no sweat. But
alas, those golden days are no more. These days, more and more graduates are
finding themselves out of work and out of luck, picking up shifts at fast food
joints and wondering why they went to school at all.
This happened for starters because there are far more people
attending college these days than there used to be. It also happened because
the economy crashed, leaving the job market badly damaged and many out of work.
Getting a decent job is incredibly difficult, especially for college grads with
little to no professional work experiences.
That’s why now, more than ever, internships are important.
Free or paid, internships give students the opportunity to gain professional
experiences while in school. This can give them an “edge” when applying for
jobs later, and may even provide a shoe-in to a particular company.
Students who are in the know often begin searching for
internships during their first or second year at school. Currently, there are
an incredible number of internship programs, which range from working at small
businesses to wellness centers to some of the country’s biggest corportations.
The Posse Foundation, for example, places its student
interns at companies like Moody’s
Corporation, which is run by CEO Ray McDaniel. At Moody’s, interns have the
opportunity to work with experienced professionals and attend meetings where
they are often asked for input. Particularly well performing interns may also
be offered positions after their internship is up and they have graduated from
college.
Another interesting internship program is one put on by Indiana’s Purdue
University, which is headed by president is Mitch Daniels and Chairman Keith
Krach. Called Interns for Indiana, Purdue’s program is set up to match
students with high-tech companies (including startups). The state has
increasingly higher numbers of talented students leaving for other areas of the
country that offer higher pay, high-tech opportunities, and Interns for Indiana
hopes to help combat that.
But programs like Purdue’s will still need to compete with internships
offered by top companies like Google, Microsoft, MTV, State Farm, Intel, and
more. These companies offer internship opportunities with top pay and the
chance to work at a well-known company, which will appeal to many students. But
the positions are also extremely lucrative and coveted, and competition is
fierce, so very few students will be lucky enough to be offered a place.
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