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Internships as Part of a Good Education

© ML Arthur

Internships can be a valuable part of your college or graduate school education. They provide exposure to the actual world of work, which can help you both understand whether or not a particular field is right for you and gain experience & skills which will get you a job and ensure your success in it. Some colleges and universities have now made internships a required part of the curriculum (though often under another name, like externship, co-op, work requirement, or field study. This is particularly common in experimental colleges and as part of undergraduate and graduate programs in business, education, health care, social work, law, museum and library studies, and anthropology.

Even if your school or program does not require internships, it is a good idea to undertake one. Many schools offer credit to students who complete an internship, either as part of an upper-level fieldwork or community based learning course (often in new subject areas like women's studies and Asian American studies) or as an independent study. You will often have to complete some additional work in order to earn your credit, including some or all of the following:

• A certain number of hours a week, certified by a supervisor
• Pre- and post-evaluations of the internship and your performance in it
• Evaluations by supervisors
• One or more reflective essays about your experience and what you learned
• Interviews of supervisors or reports on your site

If your school does not give credit for internships (many liberal arts colleges and elite universities do not). They may still offer a transcript notation so that future employers and graduate programs can be aware of the nature of your internship. Best of all, some internships even pay the students who participate! You can earn money, receive credit, and learn about a career field all at the same time.

Now that you know that you want to do an internship, how do you decide when and where to do it? Well, the when question is the easiest. The most common points during student's academic careers for them to undertake internships are the second half of their junior year, the summer before their senior year, during the senior year, after college graduation, or towards the end of a graduate program. However, there are opportunities for everyone, even first-year students. Don't wait and miss a chance!

There are three main times during the year when students do internships: the summer, an academic semester or year (full- or part-time), or the special January Term offered by some colleges. If you can't afford to forgo summer earnings, a part-time semester-long internship may be for you. If you are going into education or another professional field, you may need to do a full-time semester internship. Summer internships are great if you live near a city, for internships requiring concentrated work on a big project, or if you are working in a field that pays well. And if you just want a brief taste of the work world or if you live far from a population center, then try the January option.

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