Internships may be more important to landing a good job than a high-grade point average
“According to a lot of research, internships and prior experience through internships are the first things employers look for in recent graduates,” said Career Center Director Joelynn Stephens.
“Of course, many [other] things are important … but internship [and] experience always comes out on top as most important to employers.”
Competition for internships has gotten heated, but Stephens said networking is the key to success.
“It can be difficult to get accepted for an internship when it comes to different circumstances,” she said. “For example, it will be harder for an international student just because of an employer’s understanding about sponsorship.
“Internships can also be competitive when there are multiple students going for the same position,” said Stephens.
This is where networking, attending career fairs and getting involved on campus becomes important. Stephens said students who know either hiring managers or other employees of a company offering an internship will have an edge on the position.
Atindriya Barai, who is working on a Master’s in Business Administration, understands the challenges of getting an internship.
She is searching for a position in management consulting or investment banking.
“Given I’m an international student competing against graduates from target schools, it’s a little challenging since majority of the banks are not willing to sponsor.”
Stephens said she encourages students to seek out internships, not just campus jobs.
“Being a student worker is not equivalent to an internship, because the student worker rule means a student is employed by PNW and it’s usually to perform various tasks on campus, such as working in the library, assisting in administrative offices, or helping with research,” said Stephen. ”On the other hand, an internship is a more structured professional learning experience that allows students to gain practical experience in a particular field or industry.
“Usually, an intern works for an outside agency at a company or organization that is outside their educational institution, and it is more related to their major,” she said. “This helps students gain hands-on and real-world experience.”
Stephens said the Career Center helps students find internships.
“That’s a big part of what the Career Center does through our system called Handshake, where we work with many different employers who hire interns,” she said. “Any employer looking to hire a PNW student has to be signed up on our online job board … where there are thousands of different internships and full-time roles posted that PNW students can apply for.”
The Career Center is ready to help.
“Students can always make an appointment with our office to help with the process of getting an internship,” said Stephens. “Students should have a solid resume for our office to review. … It is also important for students to research what they might want to try out because part of internships is figuring out if this career is something they might want to do long-term or not.”
