A Key to Your Career
Internships during college may be the key to finding a good job when you graduate.
Global competition, tougher job markets and a lack of work-related experience might mean you will not be able to do the work you want to do, even with your bachelor’s degree in hand.
Emile Gottschlich, a psychology major who graduated in 1998, said: “It took me four months to find a job that I didn’t even really want. I had some offers that didn’t seem to have anything to do with psychology. And after four years of long, hard studying, they offered less than $20,000 a year.” Gottschlich went on to become a mother and obtain a real estate license.
Kevin Pierce, a graduate with an interpersonal communications degree, did not find a job until he relocated to another city, taking his new wife with him. Neither Gottschlich nor Pierce completed internships while at UCF, but said there was little encouragement to do so until their last semester.
Many students, especially freshmen, know little about internships, sometimes even when internships are required for their majors. Three freshmen all said they “hadn’t thought that far in advance.” One student, a junior in sociology, said she “wasn’t planning on it at all.” Steven Marshall, a sophomore in radio/television, said, “No one has actually told me anything about [internships].” He said, “I know there’s an internship class for credit but I haven’t taken it.”
Competition Will Be Tough
About 4,000 freshmen enter UCF every fall, and about 36,000 students are enrolled overall, according to UCF’s Office of Institutional Research Web site. Statistics from the site show that, of the 5,441 students who graduated in the spring of 2000, only 1,101 got degrees that required an internship. Do the math; that leaves 4,340 students that must inquire about career-related experience on their own.
Annie Ware, the assistant director of the Career Resource Center, said, “Surveys show that the No. 1 reason students come to college is to get a good job [and] we help to prepare them for that job search.” She sat down with UCF administrators to discuss the future majors that will require internships. Ranging from speech pathology to hospitality management to theater, 10 majors require internships that may or may not be paid and may or may not receive academic credit.
"Employers indicate the No.1 thing they look for [in a prospective employee] is experience." What about the degrees that do not require internships? Angela Raila, a senior accounting major, took a semester off to intern. The firm paid her to do auditing 40 hours a week, and she kept her bartending job at Friday’s on the weekends. Raila said: “I will absolutely have a job when I graduate. If it’s between me and someone else who didn’t intern, I will get the job, even though it’s not required for the degree. Also, a lot of companies won’t interview you unless you’ve signed up through the Career Resource Center and put your resume in their files.” She also went to job fairs and a Leadership Conference in Tampa. Raila explained, “You get your foot in the door to see if that’s what you really want to do.” Raila works with a waitress at Friday’s who graduated last December from UCF with a degree in psychology, and no career-related work experience. Her friend is still waiting tables and said, "Everywhere I go, they want experience."
Melanie Parker, the director of the Career Resource Center, said: “Employers indicate the No.1 thing they look for [in a prospective employee] is career-related experience. It’s all about risk and the risks they are taking when they hire someone.
Melanie Parker, the Career Resource Center Director If you have had experience, you are less of a risk. Approximately 60 to 70 percent of students at UCF utilize some part of the CRC.” It offers job fairs, internships, on-line resources and counseling. The CRC catalog also gives interviewing tips and is free.
Should professors and advisors stress the importance of career-related experience? Professor Fred Fedler starts almost every class period with flyers and information on jobs and internships for journalism majors. Mary Ann Eastep of the Department of Criminal Justice and Legal Studies said: “We have a very active internship program at the Criminal Justice Program. Upwards of half of all eligible students inquire about an internship, even though they are not mandatory. We have about 45 to 50 students per year participating in the internship program, and faculty support is very high.”
Engineering Internships
Engineering majors have a 90 percent employment rate after graduation, according to Linda Sikes, the Public Relations Associate for Engineering. Sikes said: “Each professor in each department has students working with research programs. Those students usually go on to intern and a relationship [with the company] is established. This way, 90 percent already have a job when they graduate.”
Dr. Manoj Chopra, the assistant chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, added: “CEE faculty always stress the need for such experience in order to better prepare oneself for the real world after graduation. Almost 85 percent of our students have some type of interning experience while at school.”
"America is still a great country with lots of prospects, as long as you don't sit around and wait for something to happen." Education Internships
Valerie Perdue, an elementary education major who graduated from UCF in 1999, had three job offers immediately. Education degrees require two semesters or 800 hours of internship. However, Perdue said that the internship should be longer, lasting a whole school year so interns could “see a classroom from beginning to end.” She also said: “Unfortunately, I had four different advisers and internship teachers who expected too much of me when I was a junior, with no experience in the classroom. Longer classroom hours might have helped me learn more about the politics and the paperwork involved.”
However, education internships are unpaid. Patricia Quigley, a junior at UCF and a foreign language education major, works 40 hours a week in addition to school. Quigley said, “[Internships] don’t even include observation hours, which can be up to 70 hours.” She said: “Save a lot of money now because it’s nearly impossible to work anywhere else while you’re getting an education degree. You have to be prepared for this.”
Prospective employers and students who have graduated from UCF see internships as an important step toward a good job related to your field of study. Scott Wallin graduated from UCF in 1988 with a journalism degree. He completed a summer internship at The Tampa Tribune and it hired him after graduation. He worked for the Tribune for eight years and now works as the publication coordinator for Sports Whirl Marketing.
Hospitality Internships
Ralph Schmitz, the general manager of Renaissance Resort said: “In our company, Marriott, we hire as interns at least 400 to 500 students. However, with ambition, it’s still possible to start as a waiter or dishwasher in hospitality and eventually become the general manager. Experience is always important.” He then explained what might be the key to your future. Schmitz said, “America is a great country with lots of prospects, as long as you don’t sit around and wait for something to happen.” Perhaps today is the day, whether you are a freshman or a senior, to stop by the Career Resource Center or your adviser’s office and start asking questions.
