Even in today’s bull market economy, risk-adverse employers have become more selective in hiring and have placed increased emphasis on experience. A college degree, once a virtual passport to success, holds no promise of success in today's competitive environment. Put bluntly by Howard University's Director of Career Planning. "A college degree today is like yesterday's high school diploma." Even those students who have earned high marks and who have pursued the "right" majors at the "right" schools are increasingly finding their hard-earned degrees to be little more than starting points in their career searches. The new, highly competitive job market emerging today demands, according to American University's Director of Career Counseling Patricia Vandervorm, that "students will have to market themselves much more aggressively than in the past."

Competing for jobs with more experienced candidates as companies and other organizations "downsize" is an uphill battle for graduates. They can't compete effectively for jobs without experience -- they can't get experience without jobs. Academic distinction and extracurricular activities notwithstanding, graduates are increasingly finding themselves in need of pre-professional field experience which demonstrates that they can "hit the ground running" and make an impact from day one. Experience counts, but graduates may not be inexperienced. For many, an internship is the answer.

An Emphasis on Experience

The message, that experience counts, appears to be hitting home. According to Kerry Willigan, Internship Director at Georgetown University's Career Center, "students know how tough it is out there and how critical it is to gain an edge." Although she believes that pre-professional experience has been "undervalued in the past," Willigan has in recent years tracked a 25-30% surge in the percentage of students interested in gaining pre-professional experience before graduation. Vandervorm sees a similar trend, noting that: "Students believe that internships are worth doing. They see them as a logical way to prove themselves and to sample a career field."

Responding to the new realities of the job market, Willigan, Vandervorm and their colleagues at colleges and universities around the country are placing growing emphasis on internships and cooperative education (those programs which actually integrate for-credit, pre-professional work experience with academic studies) as a key ingredient in the formula for a successful transition from academia to the work world.
Vandervorm notes that this formula, well understood in some fields (for example communications) as a prerequisite for meaningful positions, is just catching on in other disciplines.

Despite an increased awareness of the value of pre-professional experience, the majority of students fail to gain meaningful pre-professional work experience before graduation. Having completed their degrees without completing their resumes, these graduates find it difficult to compete. The result, according to the US Department of Labor, is that graduates increasingly take jobs out of their field of interest
and training, jobs for which they are overqualified. A recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that while in the 1980s one in five college graduates worked in a job that required a high school diploma, one in three graduates entering the market between 1990 and 2005 will be underemployed.

Internships: Key to Beating the Odds

While landing a meaningful internship of is often a matter of "being in the right place at the right time," there are things that you can do to help your chances both of getting an internship and parlaying that internship into a job.

Research, research, research.
Take advantage of the personnel and holdings of your college or university's Career Planning Office. Seek out current, reliable sources of information on internships and pre-professional employment, such as those offered by National Internships (on the web at www.internships.com)

Begin early.
This illustrates to employers that you are on the ball and immediately distinguishes you from the majority of students -- who wait until the last moment to apply. With few discriminators among applicants, this is an advantage to be gained. Secondly, beginning your search early will help you to better screen the opportunities available to you and allow you to make a more informed decision.

Network.
Get involved in professional associations related to your career interests. According to Vandervorm, professional associations provide an excellent method to network, and involvement in most is quite appropriate for students and professionals at any stage in their career or development.

Pick your spots.
Remember that not having a structured internship program in place does not mean that an organization is unwilling or uninterested in having an intern. While larger firms are those most likely to have established internship programs, statistics indicate that it is smaller firms (those with less than 100 employees) that are doing the hiring today. If you are genuinely interested in working for an organization, don't hesitate to take the initiative.

Follow through.
When you have identified those opportunities of greatest interest to you, make certain to follow through. Be persistent. You must get noticed

Write a contract.
A part of having a rewarding experience is defining at the outset exactly what the position will entail and where it can lead. Be forthright. Make explicit what you believe is implicit and make certain your thoughts are shared by your employer.

Perform and assess.
Once you land a position, treat it as a real job regardless of the compensation. According to Willigan, three months should be sufficient time to determine whether you have a future with the organization. Be prepared to move on.

Take something away.
Most students who undertake internships do so, at least in part, for the opportunity to make connections to help them in their future. They accept meager (or no) pay, often for performing almost exclusively clerical tasks, and yet fail to appreciate the degree to which, in most cases, employers (and co-workers) are willing to assist them in beginning their careers. When you take an internship, realize that
along with the spoken (or written) terms of the internship there is generally an understanding that a professional bond
has been established. In other words, don't leave your internship with just a handshake.