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Spelman Spotlight March 12, 1980 Page 6 Opportunities Unlimited! Getting Practical Experience By Marti Moore Quick! What is the number one quality recruiters look for in in terviewing college graduates for employment? If, like most people, you said grades you missed the mark, (leadership in activities is second). The number one thing prospective employers look for is relevant work experience. Which is all very nice to know, you say, but how can you get adequate ex perience while you are a college student? Oh sure, anyone can easily develop a work record of the usual things like waiting tables, cashiering, doing clerical work, caring for children. But gaining meaningful work experience in a professional field that causes recruiters to notice you is something else. It’s the old story of needing the experience to get the job but not being able to get the job without the experience. Well, there is a way to get ex perience—meaningful, professio nal experience which will catch the recruiter’s eye. That way is through internships served while you are still in school. What exactly is an intership? Internships have been defined as any on-the-job learning ex periences designed for college students considering a career in a particular field. Ideally, the program should offer you about the same degree of involvement and responsibility as you would have in an entry level position as a college graduate with the same organization. Internships generally last a minimum of one term, although some may run for two con secutive terms. They may be full time positions or may require as little as ten to twenty hours per week. In other words the equivalent of a quarter or half- *time position. Internships may take place either during the regular academic year or during the summer. Kinds of Internships What are some of the kinds of internships that exist? Internship possibilities are as broad as the world of work and they en compass everything from working as a public relations aid for a legislator in Washington, D.C., to working as a reporter or copy editor on a big city newspaper, to doing ecological/biological research on the Chesapeak Bay. Here are a few job descriptions of typical internships chosen at random from internship direc tories. •Summer internships on newspaper, broadcasting, ad vertising and public relations; plus enrollment in a special cour se concerning minorities in jour nalism. New York, New York. Salary: $135 week minimum. •Research, coordinating small projects,field aids for coun- cilpersons, etc., in municipal government, Los Angeles. California. No salary. •Wide variety of summer professional experiences in en Internships provide practical application of classroom experiences, such as the one pictured above. vironmental area of student’s choice with public and private agencies. New York and New England. Salary $1,200 for un dergraduates. •Summer work in museum on some of following: design and in stallation of exhibits, research on American Indians, restoration, development of radio/tv and/or journalism programs. Florida. No salary. •Summer work doing short term research, assisting staff with on-going research and meeting with business, labor and govern mental experts and civic leaders to gain insight into public decision-making process. New York, New York. Salary $100 week. These are just a tiny sampling of the possibilities. Other Advantages What are the other advantages to serving an internship besides gaining professional experience? 1. Most important, for almost all internships you will receive academic credit through your college or university. For exam ple, for a one-term full-time in ternship as an administrative aid to a state legislator you would probably receive 15 academic credits applicable to your graduation. 2. Some internships also pay a salary commensurate with the work you will be doing. Some placements which require that you live for a term away from your campus or home, may pay your living expenses instead of paying a salary. 3. Internships will supplement your classroom learning and give you a chance to see and practice applications of the theories that otherwise you may only get to talk about. 4. Internships can help you to define and develop your skills and in many cases to discover skills that you may not have realized that you had. Thus they are a source of self-awareness and self-confidence. 5. They allow you to “really test”. The only wav to discover whether you really enjoy a par ticular field is to try it out. Often early reality testing can change your mind about a career, saving you a later mistake which would be far more costly in terms of in vestment of time, money' and your own energy. 6. Internships will of course help you to develop an important network of contracts—contracts who can help you not only when you are looking for your first job but later on as well, when you are making your way up the career ladder. Requirements Most internships require that you have completed your sophomore year. Some have some grade requirements such as ranking in the upper half of your class or maintaining a “B” average. Some internships require that you be a minority group member. Others will require some special coursework or ex perience that pertains to the in ternship. For example, a museum might require that you have taken courses in studio arts or fine arts. A newspaper might require that you have a portfolio of papers and perhaps clippings of articles that you have written for your school newspaper or year book. Some internships are limited to particular majors, political science, for example, for a government internship. Many internships are also available io graduate students. Finding Out What Is Available All right, where do you go to find the right internship for you? If your college has an in ternship coordinator you are in luck. He or she will have a large file of directories of existing in ternships and will probably also be able to help you to create a new internship tailored to your own needs through making initial contacts for you. Y ou should not, however, make the error of ex pecting the coordinator to taxe control and find you an ap propriate internship. You should approach the office with a pretty good idea of what you want and need in an internship and use the coordinator’s experience and knowledge to help you through the process. For example, you should be able to say something like “I’m looking for an internship in the area of professional sports management and publicity, not I’m looking for a career direction and thought an internship might help—what do you suggest?” In other words you need to have some idea of what you want from an internship. In any case, the coordinator can help you on both ends of the process by: 1. Finding an appropriate in ternship and completing the ap plication procedure. 2. Explaining how to go about arranging to receive academic credit through your college. Generally, you will need a faculty sponsor or advisor to assure this. If your college does not have an internship coordinator, there are plenty of other potential sour ces of help. Black Collegian By Marti Moore December/January 1979/80 Vol. 10, No. 3 Preston J. Edwards, Publisher ABt Mrs. Kattie Jones mty Palac e Mrs. Henry Dorsey 812 M.L. 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