Aside from having paying jobs throughout college, I was always interning at one place or another. My friends and family thought I was nuts for stacking my schedule to the brim, but internships were an integral part of my education because I learned so much from those experiences.
They allow you to peek inside various jobs and make an assessment about whether or not they are something you'd want for your future, and hop around at a pace that wouldn't be acceptable as a higher-up employee. Have you ever had an internship?
Versace
Jean Marie
Topshop
Not yet but I'm hoping to get one soon! I'm signed up for the FBI but it's really HARD to get in.
1I interned at Island Records (twice, in two different departments) and Nasty Little Man -- both music related and in NYC. Great experience and a lot of fun!
2Yep. It was required at my high school--we only had classes four days a week, and the fifth day we had to be off doing our interning-type projects. I worked at a local Chinese television station. It was great fun.
3sure did! at a city parks and recreation department. i was in charge of food vendors and non-profit exhibitors for a free arts festival that hosted 28,000.
which was great experience - and also helped me decide that i NEVER want to be a (full time) event planner. ugh.
4I still have one! I've interned for the same company for the last 2 years. Not only is it a great learning opportunity, I may also be able to stay with them after graduation .
5I interned with a senator but nothing came of it.
6I had four during my college career in public relations. I just graduated and I am still looking for a job!!!It was a great experience though and I learned a lot.
7I have but not in any fields that I would actually be interested in going into. I'm thinking about another one for my last semester in college. I'm terrified!
8yeah it was required for dental assisting school. it was great, i learned TONS more than just school stuff and it helped me get my foot in the door.
9Yep. That's how I got my first job out of college.
Now I get the unique pleasure of being on the other side- hiring interns!
10Yup, in highschool as part of the co-op program (mandatory for graduation), and again in university (again mandatory). Amazing experiences, wouldn't trade it for the world as the education was simply something you can't learn in school...
Only issue is REALITY. If it's during school great... but summer or post-school... one cannot survive working for free. I'm in graphic design and I'm STUNNED at how many studios expected me to intern for at least 6months (for free) after I graduated, before they would even consider hiring me. That's just taking advantage, and I'm hugely opposed to that practice within my industry.
11Yup, several times. Law firm, art gallery, assistant to professor etc. My last one was at an internet start up during my senior year at Berkeley and they hired me upon graduation. I just wrote a really long post about how I turned the internship into job... if your interested you can check it out here: http://www.wisebread.com/forums/bloggers-corner/ask-allese-wesabe-questi...
12I've done a couple internships and a couple job shadows and they were really helpful in showing me what it would be like to work in those fields. The last internship I did helped me get the job I have now in the environmental field.
13Medical internship.
14internships are so important. all of mine gave me great contacts, and led to paid opportunities. i think if you show up and are truly motivated to work hard and learn as much as you can, your supervisors will notice and appreciate it. mine did, and that led to my last two full-time jobs!
15Never! Although it might have been helpful if I had.
16I am technically in an internship now because I am finishing my student teaching this semester. It is great and the school I am at will have an opening in January in my subject area. Not only is it a rare occurrence for a mid year job but it is awesome that I am getting to know the people who will be doing the hiring.
17No, it's as hard to get one as it is to get an actual job. May as well just try for the real thing.
18i did have an internship when i was in college and i have to say that they are perhaps one of the smartest things that colleges have you do. not only do you get the chance to see if it's something that you're interested in doing once you're in the 'real world' but a lot of the time if you do a good job you might have a paying job when you graduate. that's what i found when i finished my internship and was ready to work. i was able to slip right into the company and hold a paying position doing EXACTLY what i did as an intern and it was great.
19I had one in high school and two in college (all three took place during the summer) in addition to the various part-time jobs I had during the school year. They were all paid and I learned a lot. While I may not work in any of the fields I interned for, they did help me define what I do and do not like when it comes to a job.
20I was an intern at a Crime Lab for one summer. Mandatory for graduation but gratifying
21I'm currently an intern, but I'm not really a proponent of the whole internship system. I know a lot of industries use internships as a way to scout new talent, and in those industries internships often result in jobs, but the reality of my industry (journalism) is that college graduates are essentially forced to do internships to get experience, but there are so few jobs available that they rarely are offered employment at the end. Sure, you learn a lot, but when so many magazines and newspapers essentially staff their publications with (unpaid) interns, it starts to look like exploitation to me.
22I interned this last summer for a wardrobe consultant, and now she's hired me as her assistant! It's a super fun job, and right up my alley in the fashion industry
23I graduated with an Arts Management degree last may and am doing a year-long "apprentice" program at a theatre in DC. I get paid just above the starving artist level, have a "grown up" life, and I'm making all kinds of connections.
24Nope, but it would be interesting...I need to be making the money now though...
25I interned at a newspaper, my junior year in college.
26i did a mandatory coop in postgrad but it was paid
27I had 4 in college and took on another one after I graduated (in 2002, lousy economy) instead of a dead end entry level type job. It paid off and gave me more relevant experience on my resume to beat out other candidates for my first full time job out of college.
28I don't know how college kids today could get a job out of college without an internship these days. Not only do you have to have very specific majors in this kind of economy (at least in my experience, kids can't just do liberal arts and expect to find any job in any industry anymore) but relevant experience via internships.
I interned at a bridal boutique one summer YEARS ago. It scared the crap out of me but I learned so much.
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