Internships

Today's job market is tougher and more competitive than ever before. Get a step ahead of other college graduates by gaining invaluable skills through an internship.

Regardless of the chosen major, an internship is a good opportunity for any student. Internships can be unpaid or paid, short-or-long-tem, local or national. Granted, some internships may sometimes be unpaid and tedious, but even if a student just fetches the coffee, they gain something of value: insight into office politics. By simply placing themselves in a professional setting, students can begin to understand how to manage themselves in the corporate world.

Overall, internships can increase the chances of employment for graduates by providing them with practical skills necessary in a particular job market of their choice. There are also numerous other benefits from participating in an internship.

1) Get a feel for the profession. Changing majors in college is common for most students. After taking courses in a particular subject, a student may come to the realization that the subject is not for him or her. By interning early during college, students may find that their idea of a job may be far different in reality. Regardless of an internship being better or worse than a student's idea of a job in the profession, the benefits of knowing what a career is in reality before graduation is one of the best advantages of an internship.

2)Strengthen abilities desired by employers. By interning, students can become more proficient in sought after areas such as problem solving, oral and written communication, interpersonal communication, time management, leadership, discipline, professionalism, and confidence. Internships help to strengthen these abilities early on, making graduates more effective in their careers.

3) Networking. During an internship, students work closely with business professionals on a day to day basis. After much interaction, these already established employees may serve as connections to possible job openings or prospective employers.

 4) Gain real world experience. Learning theoretical applications of a subject in a classroom is beneficial, but gaining practical experience through hands-on application brings more benefits to employees and their future employer. In other words, graduates who have interned are a step ahead because they have already gained the actual skills needed within a company, which provides employers an advantage by spending less time and money on full training.

5)Possibility of future employment. Perhaps the single most important benefit of an internship is the possibility of finding a future employer. If the interning student performs to the best of his or her ability, and the employer is highly satisfied by the student, it is entirely possible that upon graduation the student may be offered the opportunity to work for the company as a full-time, paid employee.

For proof of these benefits, ask Kesia Rodriguez, a TAMIU graduate student for the Masters in professional accountancy. Rodriguez participated in two internships with Deloitte, a professional accounting firm in Houston. 

"My experience was better than I expected," mentions Rodriguez. "They extended an offer for me to come back a second time around. Internships are important because you're opening up doors. One door for networking and the other is the opportunity for a potential employer you can have after you graduate," she states.

Another student, Cristina Martinez, a TAMIU graduate student for a Masters in business administration with a concentration in management, has also participated in an internship. She was placed in Columbus, Ohio with the Department of Defense in the defense logistics agency.

"I was working as a procurement technician assistant, which is basically working with the contracts to supply the military," Martinez states. "I think the most important part of it all was knowing that this is definitely something that I would want to do," she mentions.

Both Martinez and Rodriguez noted that they learned what it was like to live on their own and how much the internship taught them something about themselves. Through the internship and because of their hard work, both students were offered a job after graduation.

Where and when to intern can be entirely up to the student, or between the student and an advisor. Most, if not all, programs at TAMIU implement an internship within degree plans. For instance, nursing students participate in clinicals, education majors participate in blocks, and communication students can intern for a local company of their choice. The added benefit of internship programs within the university is that they count as course credit while offering practical skills in a desired career.

A good source for internships, and the source which both Martinez and Rodriguez used to find their own, is the Hispanic Association for Colleges and Universities (HACU). HACU offers national internships for almost all majors during the fall, spring, and summer. For more information, visit their website at www.hacu.net.

Regardless of what field a student chooses, internships offer the opportunity to explore a potential career without having to make a long-term, life decision. By interning, students have the opportunity to network in a professional setting and make beneficial contacts. Students have the ability to gauge how their idea of a job measures up to the reality of the career. The skills they acquire and the connections they make could possibly offer them the resources and security for their next step to a rewarding career after graduation.

(Josefina Gutierrez may be reached at kittystomp@dusty.tamiu.edu)