What’s the  411 on Internships?

In their 2010 Student Survey of 31, 470 students from over 400 colleges and universities across the nation, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported the following in their May 2010 edition of the Spotlight Online:

• Students who have internship experience are more likely to receive job offers when they apply for full-time employment after graduation.
• The median starting salary for 2010 graduating seniors who had internship experience was $45,301, 31 percent higher than the starting salaries ($34,601) of students from the same graduating class who did not have an internship.
• Whereas, 42.3 percent of the seniors who had internship experience and applied for a job received at least one job offer, only 30.17 percent of seniors without internship experience received an offer. 

It’s not rocket science. Securing an internship during college increases your chances of landing a full time position when you graduate.

Summer is around the corner.  Have you started your internship search?  If you haven’t, here are tips to get you started:

1. Register with the CEDAR Center to receive weekly emails with internship leads.
2. Develop your resume and cover letter.  Then, participate in a resume writing tutorial or schedule an appointment with a Career Specialist to have them critiqued.
3. Be as prepared for the internship interview as you would be for an interview for full-time employment.  Participate in interview coaching sessions offered by the CEDAR Center to help you develop strong interviewing skills.
4. Attend the Career Fair to meet employers who have internship openings for the summer or throughout the school year.
5. Even if employers at the fair do not have internships that you qualify for, take full advantage of the opportunity to network for future openings.

To give you a head-start on your internship search, peruse the internships sites below: