Sydney Scott is a third-year undergraduate at Southeastern Louisiana University. She shares practical advice, inspiration, and tips for high school and college students using her unique brand of candor and humor.
If you are a high school or college student, there’s a good chance that at some point you’ve experienced a mild crisis brought by sudden feelings of being vastly unprepared for the “real world” in comparison to your peers. I get that feeling all the time in my Corporate Finance class, when my classmates talk about their fancy-sounding jobs at impressive firms, or how many years of experience in their respective fields they already have under their belts.
In an age when students are pushed to have good grades, be involved in school-related organizations, make new friends, and find an internship that earns them experience in their field of study, we are often left to wonder -- how do we accomplish that?! Well, I have some good news and bad news. I’ll start with bad news: I don’t have all the answers! The good news is, I do know something about finding a meaningful, relevant internship as a student… and that’s what I’m here to help you with!
So… what exactly is an internship?
An internship is a work position that can be paid or unpaid (we’ll talk about that later!), in which the intern’s work exposes them to new field-related experiences. Sometimes, internships may be required to fulfill credit for school, but in most situations, students seek internships to gain experience and real-world exposure to the field they wish to enter after graduation.
How does an internship differ from other jobs one might have in high school or college? Internships are industry-specific and are geared towards specialized fields, which allows you to explore what a career in said field might be like. Internships can serve as a means to gain insight in a field you are interested in, while also adding some experience to your resume, which can be valuable when searching for a job later on.
What are the advantages of having an internship?
The post-grad world can be a scary one: you’re suddenly met with the task of competing for a job alongside millions of other people with varying levels of experience. An internship in your field of work can help you stand out as a viable candidate for a job position. Or, maybe you aren’t even sure what exactly you’re looking for in a job. Guess what? An internship can help with that, too!
Internships provide you with the opportunity to see how a job works from the inside and can help you land a job later on. While you are gaining important industry-related skills at your internship, you are also upping your chances of standing out among other applicants for jobs. Plus, there are several companies and organizations that offer intern-to-full-time programs that guarantee students a job upon graduation. Doesn’t that sound like every student’s dream?
Do I need an internship in college?
You may. It depends on a few factors.
Do you plan on going straight into the workforce after graduation? Are you in a field where experience would offer you an advantage when looking for a job? What do your expectations (position, salary, etc.) for a job immediately after graduation look like? These are all questions to consider when deciding whether or not an internship would benefit you.
What’s more -- some schools may require you to complete an internship as part of your program. These are typically unpaid or lower-paying positions that offer students experience in a field that is otherwise challenging for undergraduate students to access. I’ll use my university as an example: Southeastern Louisiana University students enrolled in the Social Work program are required to complete an internship their senior year as part of their course work. Social work is a profession that often involves working with highly-confidential information that only certified professionals are allowed to handle. These requirements for highly-qualified professionals make it hard for social work students to land an internship before graduation. Southeastern still wants them to have experience upon graduation though, so they partner with organizations around Hammond to offer for-credit internships to upperclassmen social work students.
Many programs with this requirement have similar resources to help students land an internship. Your college may have specifications as to where exactly you can obtain internships for credit, so check out your department’s website for resources and guidelines before rushing to apply somewhere you heard was hiring interns!
So what about paid vs. unpaid internships?
While there are plenty of paid internships out there, many workplaces still don’t see it as necessary or viable to pay their interns. After all, they’re giving you, a student, the chance to get your foot in the door of a fast-paced profession, so ultimately, they’re doing you a favor… right? It’s not that simple, though:
While an internship at a prestigious company may make your resume look great, many students (raising my own hand here!) don’t have the financial means to work 20-30 hours a week without pay.
Imagine juggling 15 hours of school plus a job, and not even being paid for the work you’re doing -- it’s a situation that students these days are often put in. The good news is that as the ethical dilemma of not compensating students for their hard work creates more of a buzz, many workplaces are changing the framework of their internships to include hourly pay. However, there are still plenty of places that don’t offer to pay their interns. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide if that unpaid internship offers an advantage great enough to make up for not being compensated.
How do I get one?
Actually finding an internship can be tricky, especially if you’re not looking in the right places, or you don’t have the right connections. In fact, most of the places I’ve ever had interest in applying to haven’t even advertised their intern positions on their own websites! Don’t let finding an internship feel like a wild goose chase -- be strategic about where you are looking.
The first place I’d suggest looking is your school’s website. As I mentioned before, most departments have website pages specifically devoted to helping students with internship placement. No luck? Take a visit to your college’s career center, or ask an advisor about intern positions. Most colleges have some sort of database of vetted, local internship opportunities, so take advantage of those resources first.
Looking for something else? I’ve found Indeed and InternshipFinder to be helpful databases. This list from FastWeb of recurring summer internship opportunities is super helpful as well. And if you’re still not running into any internship openings that spark your interest, do the old fashioned thing by asking around! Supervisors, instructors, and current or former bosses may have some useful information to offer. You never know until you ask!
What if I’m in high school?
Luckily, if you’re in high school, the need for an internship is much less great than it is for college students. However, if you are a high school student in Louisiana and are currently enrolled in a JumpStart pathway, you may be eligible to partake in JumpStart Summers, a summer internship program put on by JumpStart and partnering organizations. This program offers summer internships for credit plus a work stipend, which can be a great way to get ahead. Ask your college & career coach for more information if you are interested in participating in JumpStart Summers!
To sum it all up:
Internships can offer real-world experiences, and they look great on your resume, too! The most important part of finding an internship is making sure that it works for you and your individual needs. So -- talk to an advisor or your college & career coach to find out what opportunities await you, and then get to applying!
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