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Why would any student sacrifice sunny summer months to
toil, at low wages? No mystery there. Those who are smart know the value
of an internship especially when first jobs are hard to come by
especially at prestigious big-name companies, and more especially in
rough economic times. Although an internship can be an unpaid
proposition, it is one of the few vehicles that provide business
credentials to the college undergraduate who doesn't have work
experience.
For some, the internship is nothing short of traumatic,
rife, as it usually is, with mundane work-place demands that for the
first time bring students face to face with the proverbial real world.
Young adults bred with a keen sense of entitlement to only the best
sometimes naturally expect internships to be an extension of the
classroom: two or three months of learning things germane to their
chosen careers. So, many interns can be taken aback when the boss barks
for a cup of coffee or a supervisor orders them to man the phones tasks
others might accept as part of paying one's dues.
The payoff of an internship, for all its attendant
drudgery, can be wider access to a good first job, a mighty advantage in
today's economy. Everyone knows that a shining transcript isn't the
only thing employers are looking for now.
Potential employers couldn't agree more. In a pool of
college graduates with similar education and grades, employers will
obviously pick the ones who have the most practical experience. The
summer internship is an important recruiting tool because it provides
additional references and rough sketches of the candidate's interest.
In some cases, it assures employers that they'll get someone who can
withstand the pressure of the real world and who won't just fall apart
three days into the job.
So, it's no surprise that the internship hunt can require
stamina. In New York alone some 500 undergraduates elbow each other for
the 45 summer positions available at Sotheby's. Each spring in
Washington, D.C., legislators and their aides are busy sorting through
piles of resumes for each congressional internship slot is not unusual.
With the competition so fierce, some companies offer
internships simply as a way to get cheap labor, and load the upstarts
with the kind of grunt work that secretaries and clerks themselves
dislike. Others try hard to structure a program in which students have
a genuine opportunity to learn how the business works. Historically,
the term intern applied to newly graduated medical doctors who worked
long hours for low pay in hospitals, under the supervision of seasoned
physicians. But by the 1950's, employers in all sorts of fields began
instituting internships. Ironically, government regulations including
EEOC rulings regarding employment practices do not apply to interns who
are not paid or are given a stipend.
Today, thousands of businesses have interns helping out
in their offices. The best internships are not necessarily those with
blue-chip companies. A host of small but prestigious establishments,
including museums, auction houses and fashion houses, have been among
the most desirable places for sharp undergraduates to get their first
taste of the world of work. Very often, the intern rosters at such
institutions as the Louvre, Sotherby's, Christie's and Yves Saint
Laurent read like a junior edition of the Social Register. Investment
and commercial banks also attract big names with big ambitions.
Though the application process varies some concerns ask
only for a cover letter; others require the candidate to complete a
lengthy application, which is followed by an interview connections
remain one of the surest ways to the top summer positions. A case in
point, students planning careers in politics or public affairs have long
sought after jobs in the Capitol Hill offices of U.S. senators; nearly
half of all students at Harvard University majoring in government
interned in senatorial offices.
The summer internship whether it offers total immersion,
an opportunity to get your feet wet or just dirty your hands affords a
taste of reality you could never find on a college campus. It doesn't
matter if you love it. The point is to get through it, because it might
get you somewhere after graduation. Many come to view it as a rite of
passage. Some may be lucky enough to benefit immediately from the
watershed event. Others may simply walk away from their summer hitches
with a little more insight into themselves and into how the world
works. No small lesson, either way. |
