In a survey conducted by Internship.com among 8,000 students, recent graduates, and recruitment professionals, 69% of companies with 100 or more employees offered full – time paid jobs to interns in 2012.
Internships allow students to apply concepts they learn in a classroom environment to a real life situation. It allows them to build on skills they already possess, acquire new skills and helps them make the transition from being students to contributing members of the workforce. However, do internships really providing students with a meaningful experience? On one hand, there are some companies that host internships that are the most sought after by students while on the other hand, there are those who simply lack resources to run effective internships.
New Insights
In an article published by Business Insider on 21 companies that offer the best internships opportunities, auditing and tax advisory companies like Deloitte, KPMG & PWC as well as, tech giants like Google, Apple, Twitter, etc. seem to dominate the list. Why is this so? These companies work with colleges and universities to design and implement well-structured programs which aim to provide relevant learning experiences for the intern as well as, provide opportunities for growth and development. They also recognize that internships help them maintain a talent pool and reduce recruitment costs as, they can absorb successful interns into full time positions.
In an account by a student who worked as an intern in Google on the Android team, the student said he was able to work with teams on real products that impact millions of people. Google interns are also assigned mentors who provide advice, and give feedback on their progress. Another intern from Google also, spoke about her experience in the Google + department where she felt responsible as, she was driving a lot of decisions that were made. She ended up creating the page for signed - out search.
Internships should offer students hands-on educational experience wherein, they gain real life immersion into a chosen industry under the direct supervisor of not just an employer, but an effective internship manager. However, most companies do not offer internship programs that incorporate these guidelines. They look at interns as an extra pair of hands for administrative tasks or coffee fetchers! They look at interns as cheap labor.
What companies don’t realize is that they are not just doing the interns injustice, they are leaving their company hanging too. Hiring talented interns doesn’t just build up your talent pool, it can actually help a company make money. Offering paid internship opportunities can impact a company’s bottom line. No wonder, companies such as Apple and Google who are known for their internship programs, are also known for bringing the most innovative and game changing products to the market!
Trends
The biggest debate at this point, is whether college/ university students or graduates should be offer paid or unpaid internships.
In fact, several companies in the US are facing law suits for not paying their interns. For example: Gawker Media LLC & Elite Models who were sued by their interns, who claimed they were entitled to back pay under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. However, some industries are highly competitive and the only internships or jobs available are unpaid. This is especially true for fashion and magazine industries.
Not only is it difficult to kick start a career in these industries but, these sectors are also not performing well. For example: The U.S. fashion industry has faced massive layoffs since 1996 which goes up to 80% in some parts of the industry. Also, the employment of writers and authors for magazines is projected to grow only 3% from 2012 – 2022. In most sectors, unpaid internships are available because there simply aren’t enough jobs.
Students and recent graduates are so desperate for experience that, they are willing to go to all extents to secure an internship even if it is unpaid. However, in a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the hiring rates for students who had completed unpaid internships (37%) were almost the same for students who has not completed any internship at all (35%).
On the other hand, students who completed paid internships were far more likely to secure employment (63%). Also, those students who completed unpaid internships or, no internships where offered lower salaries ($35,721 and $37,087 per year) than students who completed paid internships who earn an average of $ 51,930 per year.
There is a lack of regulations around internships that are unpaid. This brought even bigger problems to the surface. For example: In the case of Lihuan Wang an unpaid intern who filed a sexual harassment case against Phoenix Satellite Television. The case was dismissed when the US District Court for the Southern District of New York found that she was an unpaid intern and not an actual employee. Therefore, she was unable to bring a claim under the Human Rights Law.
Also, the lack of regulation means that companies have little incentive to provide comfortable working conditions for their interns. For example: In the case of an intern at Bank of America who died of a seizure towards the end of a demanding internship. This led to the bank re-examining the working hours and work – life balance for entry level staffers.
There exists a symbiotic relationship between the college/university, students, and companies when it comes to internships. To ensure the intern gains a valuable learning experience, companies aside from providing paid internships need to outline a clear structure. This should be done by working with internship coordinators, career development offices or different schools in universities and colleges to create opportunities for experiential learning by reviewing course material and developing specific learning outcomes.
Companies also, need to conduct an internal assessment of company needs and resources. This will determine the number of interns you are able to recruit, possible projects the company can involve them in and, the type of compensation the company is willing to offer them. Also, companies need to choose one or more effective intern managers to help train, guide, mentor interns.
College/universities should conduct site visits before the student begins his/her internship and meet with the intern manager/ graduate recruitment officer at the company (Díaz, León, & Hernández-Luna, 2015). The intern manager will be responsible to ensure that the student is receiving training appropriate to his/her field, assign mentors for the student, and provide feedback to the university representative and student.
Also, the college/university should inform the company if, the student will be receiving credit towards his/her grades for completing an internship and, discuss about compensation and work conditions for students (Tyson, 2014). College / universities should invite companies to conduct on campus recruitment and information sessions for their internship programs.
This will help students receive valuable learning experience, ensure that they work for a company with a well-regulated internship program and, increase their chances of employability in future. Although some companies may not be as big as Apple or Google, they can still create internship opportunities for students in their own capacity.
On line portals such as Internships.com provide employers, higher education institutions as well as, student with a platform to connect with each other. It offers interactive tools and services to students, employers and higher education institutions to better understand and optimize internship opportunities, enable businesses to identify promising students, and for students develop real world skills that will ease their transition from college/university to the work place.
Web conference
My learning partner provided me with as interesting insight. As an Assistant Manager working in the human resources department she said that researching on this topic led her to re - examine the work exposure program at her own work place. She also shared similar perspectives about how internships don’t always provide meaningful learning opportunities to the interns and, stressed the importance of maintaining ties with universities and colleges to attract quality interns as well as, ensure that structure of the internship program provides opportunities for experiential learning based on program of study, and is updated from time to time to suit changing needs of industry.
Díaz, P. C., León, C. M., & Hernández-Luna, A. A. (2015). A Model for Effective Internship Programs: An Opportunity For Increasing Synergies between Universities and Companies to Enhance Student Learning. IIE Annual Conference. Proceedings, pp. 3035 - 3044.
Tyson, R. (2014, April). Is Your Internship Program Compliant? Employee Benefit Plan Review, 68(10), pp. 5-6.
Internships allow students to apply concepts they learn in a classroom environment to a real life situation. It allows them to build on skills they already possess, acquire new skills and helps them make the transition from being students to contributing members of the workforce. However, do internships really providing students with a meaningful experience? On one hand, there are some companies that host internships that are the most sought after by students while on the other hand, there are those who simply lack resources to run effective internships.
New Insights
In an article published by Business Insider on 21 companies that offer the best internships opportunities, auditing and tax advisory companies like Deloitte, KPMG & PWC as well as, tech giants like Google, Apple, Twitter, etc. seem to dominate the list. Why is this so? These companies work with colleges and universities to design and implement well-structured programs which aim to provide relevant learning experiences for the intern as well as, provide opportunities for growth and development. They also recognize that internships help them maintain a talent pool and reduce recruitment costs as, they can absorb successful interns into full time positions.
In an account by a student who worked as an intern in Google on the Android team, the student said he was able to work with teams on real products that impact millions of people. Google interns are also assigned mentors who provide advice, and give feedback on their progress. Another intern from Google also, spoke about her experience in the Google + department where she felt responsible as, she was driving a lot of decisions that were made. She ended up creating the page for signed - out search.
Internships should offer students hands-on educational experience wherein, they gain real life immersion into a chosen industry under the direct supervisor of not just an employer, but an effective internship manager. However, most companies do not offer internship programs that incorporate these guidelines. They look at interns as an extra pair of hands for administrative tasks or coffee fetchers! They look at interns as cheap labor.
What companies don’t realize is that they are not just doing the interns injustice, they are leaving their company hanging too. Hiring talented interns doesn’t just build up your talent pool, it can actually help a company make money. Offering paid internship opportunities can impact a company’s bottom line. No wonder, companies such as Apple and Google who are known for their internship programs, are also known for bringing the most innovative and game changing products to the market!
Trends
The biggest debate at this point, is whether college/ university students or graduates should be offer paid or unpaid internships.
In fact, several companies in the US are facing law suits for not paying their interns. For example: Gawker Media LLC & Elite Models who were sued by their interns, who claimed they were entitled to back pay under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act. However, some industries are highly competitive and the only internships or jobs available are unpaid. This is especially true for fashion and magazine industries.
Not only is it difficult to kick start a career in these industries but, these sectors are also not performing well. For example: The U.S. fashion industry has faced massive layoffs since 1996 which goes up to 80% in some parts of the industry. Also, the employment of writers and authors for magazines is projected to grow only 3% from 2012 – 2022. In most sectors, unpaid internships are available because there simply aren’t enough jobs.
Students and recent graduates are so desperate for experience that, they are willing to go to all extents to secure an internship even if it is unpaid. However, in a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the hiring rates for students who had completed unpaid internships (37%) were almost the same for students who has not completed any internship at all (35%).
On the other hand, students who completed paid internships were far more likely to secure employment (63%). Also, those students who completed unpaid internships or, no internships where offered lower salaries ($35,721 and $37,087 per year) than students who completed paid internships who earn an average of $ 51,930 per year.
There is a lack of regulations around internships that are unpaid. This brought even bigger problems to the surface. For example: In the case of Lihuan Wang an unpaid intern who filed a sexual harassment case against Phoenix Satellite Television. The case was dismissed when the US District Court for the Southern District of New York found that she was an unpaid intern and not an actual employee. Therefore, she was unable to bring a claim under the Human Rights Law.
Also, the lack of regulation means that companies have little incentive to provide comfortable working conditions for their interns. For example: In the case of an intern at Bank of America who died of a seizure towards the end of a demanding internship. This led to the bank re-examining the working hours and work – life balance for entry level staffers.
There exists a symbiotic relationship between the college/university, students, and companies when it comes to internships. To ensure the intern gains a valuable learning experience, companies aside from providing paid internships need to outline a clear structure. This should be done by working with internship coordinators, career development offices or different schools in universities and colleges to create opportunities for experiential learning by reviewing course material and developing specific learning outcomes.
Companies also, need to conduct an internal assessment of company needs and resources. This will determine the number of interns you are able to recruit, possible projects the company can involve them in and, the type of compensation the company is willing to offer them. Also, companies need to choose one or more effective intern managers to help train, guide, mentor interns.
College/universities should conduct site visits before the student begins his/her internship and meet with the intern manager/ graduate recruitment officer at the company (Díaz, León, & Hernández-Luna, 2015). The intern manager will be responsible to ensure that the student is receiving training appropriate to his/her field, assign mentors for the student, and provide feedback to the university representative and student.
Also, the college/university should inform the company if, the student will be receiving credit towards his/her grades for completing an internship and, discuss about compensation and work conditions for students (Tyson, 2014). College / universities should invite companies to conduct on campus recruitment and information sessions for their internship programs.
This will help students receive valuable learning experience, ensure that they work for a company with a well-regulated internship program and, increase their chances of employability in future. Although some companies may not be as big as Apple or Google, they can still create internship opportunities for students in their own capacity.
On line portals such as Internships.com provide employers, higher education institutions as well as, student with a platform to connect with each other. It offers interactive tools and services to students, employers and higher education institutions to better understand and optimize internship opportunities, enable businesses to identify promising students, and for students develop real world skills that will ease their transition from college/university to the work place.
Web conference
My learning partner provided me with as interesting insight. As an Assistant Manager working in the human resources department she said that researching on this topic led her to re - examine the work exposure program at her own work place. She also shared similar perspectives about how internships don’t always provide meaningful learning opportunities to the interns and, stressed the importance of maintaining ties with universities and colleges to attract quality interns as well as, ensure that structure of the internship program provides opportunities for experiential learning based on program of study, and is updated from time to time to suit changing needs of industry.
Díaz, P. C., León, C. M., & Hernández-Luna, A. A. (2015). A Model for Effective Internship Programs: An Opportunity For Increasing Synergies between Universities and Companies to Enhance Student Learning. IIE Annual Conference. Proceedings, pp. 3035 - 3044.
Tyson, R. (2014, April). Is Your Internship Program Compliant? Employee Benefit Plan Review, 68(10), pp. 5-6.