Collegiate Times

Out of the 2735 Virginia Tech graduates who were surveyed in Career Services' 2005-2006 Post-Graduation Report, 2069 reported having career-related experience prior to graduation and 605 said they wished they would have gotten more experience relating to their major or career goals. The numbers add up to show that career-related jobs—including internships, volunteer work, and co-ops—are a plus.

Of the survey participants, 1257 graduates had an internship before they received their diplomas. Many say those students were more likely to land a job.

"Your best chance of finding employment with an organization is to intern for them," said Steven Rothberg, the founder of CollegeRecruiter.com. The site is a job board for internships and entry-level jobs.

He added that the leading employers want to place their current interns into permanent positions, and then they look for other grads.

However, this process is relatively new. Fifty years ago, an internship as it's now known practically didn't exist.

"(Students) essentially did their internship in their first job out of school, but over the last 15 years, the popularity and necessity of having an internship has increased dramatically," Rothberg said.

Pam Herrmann, senior assistant director of Career Services, agreed on the importance of internships and career-related experience in general.

"Career-related experience, to me, is just a critical piece of your education," Herrmann said. "Almost all (fields) support the internship, whether they're paid or unpaid. They sort of look at it like a long-term interview process in many cases."

Herrmann stated that different career fields support different types of internships.

"I think where we see a bigger difference with the internships is whether they're paid or unpaid and whether they're for academic credit or not," Herrmann said.

Herrmann added that companies seeking technical students, especially engineers, love the co-op program.

The major difference between internships and co-ops are that the former are usually for one summer term while Co-ops tend to be multi-term. According to Career Services' Web site, some employers such as tax preparers or political campaigns have a busier season during the fall and spring, so they usually offer internships then.

Ernst & Young, a global organization with 130,000 employees who help companies in all industries deal with business issues, hires about 2,200 interns throughout the year. Holly Humphrey, assistant director of America's media relations team at Ernst & Young, said the company holds a 3-day leadership conference every August in Orlando for all its interns.

She said that their internships are a top priority for the company because they are critical in terms of full-time hires. They provide an opportunity that allows students to experience the firm while allowing the firm to get to know potential full-time employees. Tech is one of Ernst & Young's top recruiting schools, and 90 percent of its interns who are offered a full-time position accept.

Some majors will grant internship participants academic credit, while some never do. Career Services advises students to ask their academic department and tells students that some careers offer more geographic opportunity, while other careers fields require their interns to go wherever they are needed. Employers also sometimes assist with living expenses.

Students should begin looking for internships in the fall, and continue throughout the spring. Employees advertise and hire for summer interns from September to May, but January is a peak month in the process.