How Important are Internships for One's Future Career?

[LoganSnake]

Basically what the title says. I am currently in the process of getting an internship at a marketing studio as a graphic designer (one interview down, sample project and possible second interview to go). When I told about this to my friend, he said that internships are a waste of time and that he doesn't understand why anybody would want to waste their time interning for little to no pay. The reason I am going for it is to get some experience working for an actual company (as opposed to side projects) to put on my resume as well as some professional work to add to my portfolio.

I am sure that some of you have interned before or look into it if you are an employer. I would like some responses regarding whether or not it is an important thing to have accomplished and whether or not it plays a role in your opportunities later on, after college.

[analog]

Internships are invaluable. Networking, getting your foot in the door, getting your name/face known... and the experience alone of being able to say you did x job for a period of time. If you can afford the time and money to be an intern, it will pay off multiple times over as long as you put your effort into it. Networking is huge.

[LoganSnake]

The thing here is that the girl that interviewed me said that I will be able to work from home, which means continuing my current full time job. I think this is the best offer I could have gotten. Plus, it's a paid internship. She quoted an $8-$10 range. So I will be paid for that, plus whatever I make at my current job.

[The_Jazz]

I think it depends on the field. For folks like Analog, it might be invaluable.

I would never hire someone who interned for us unless they were someone's relative and had already proven some level of competence. Anyone who wants to be an insurance intern is already suspect in my book. Nothing screams "nerd" louder in my world.

That's the world of wholesale insurance brokers, though. There's a much larger universe outside of what I do, and I know that my wife's internship directly led to the only paid job she's ever had in her career. Something like 45 people applied for it when she left.

[Lasereth]

Yeah it really depends on your field. If you intern at a bank, you're most likely gonna be hired by them when the time comes. If you intern in the IT field, that's extremely valuable as well as long as you learn something. In other fields...it means precisely dick. I'd say go for it. It'll either be immensely valuable or not very valuable. Win win situation.

[snowy]

All of my friends who did internships during their college career, paid or unpaid, had little trouble getting jobs post-graduation, and the ones who didn't now wish they had.

I count among my friends business majors (one who is now going to work for Adidas in Germany in international marketing, having completed marketing internships for Nike), microbiology major (who didn't do any internships and it took him a year to find a job in his field), animal science major (who has lots of unpaid and paid intership experience, who got easily hired where she wanted to move to), and an economics major (who is now working for the State of Oregon in a field unrelated to his major, after looking for work for almost a year), and a mechanical engineering major (who graduated in March and is the only person out of his senior design group not to have landed a job yet, largely due to the fact he did not do any internships).

I literally HAVE to do an internship to be admitted to grad school in my field, and I also have to do a lengthy internship as part of my Master's degree. What field? Teaching.

The fact is, having practical experience in your field is important, whether it's paid or unpaid. My question is, though, who is this company? It sounds like you actually might be signing up to sell Cutco knives. Always investigate any employment offer--especially if it sounds remotely too good to be true, and is in "marketing." "Marketing" in paid summer jobs to college students frequently means commission-based sales of some kind.

[clavus]

Absolutely KEY to getting hired. My internships got me my first jobs.

[LoganSnake]

Originally Posted by onesnowyowl

My question is, though, who is this company? It sounds like you actually might be signing up to sell Cutco knives. Always investigate any employment offer--especially if it sounds remotely too good to be true, and is in "marketing." "Marketing" in paid summer jobs to college students frequently means commission-based sales of some kind.

Oh, no. It's not a telemarketing job. If I lend it, I'll be doing graphic design for print and web. This company has such customers as Infinity and Lifeway.

[Cynthetiq]

Internships are invaluable for those that have gone that route. It gets you in the building and networking with people. I created an extra intern program because the IT one was broken. I cannot tell you how many interns I've had, how many I've hired and how many I've tried to help place because they were good. This is for almost all industries that have corporate offices.

My best friend interned at a manufacturing company and then stayed on there for 17 years.

I know of people who have been interns that are now in upper management of large companies.

YMMV.

[LoganSnake]

Well, that's what I'm hoping. To prove myself valuable to the company so that they would hire me after my internship is over.

[Cynthetiq]

Originally Posted by LoganSnake

Well, that's what I'm hoping. To prove myself valuable to the company so that they would hire me after my internship is over.

That is the key right there... To prove myself valuable to the company

Some of the interns I hired were forgettable. To this day I can't tell you anything about them. The ones that were memorable, some of them are still friends to this day many years later.

[cyrnel]

They're also a good reality check vs. your target field. I've seen interns switch directions. Sometimes because they didn't like it, sometimes because it exposed them to something better.

And for a few, interning provides a head start on transitioning from college to the professional world. Interns get plenty of "new guy" slack while being exposed to what's acceptable for the rest. Not that you need this but some segment of new hires certainly do.

Originally Posted by Cynthetiq

That is the key right there... To prove myself valuable to the company

Some of the interns I hired were forgettable. To this day I can't tell you anything about them. The ones that were memorable, some of them are still friends to this day many years later.

I'll second that. Attitude is big; as important as material results. Treat the job as one big, important project. Be among the last to leave for beer bashes, unless co-workers drag you along.

[Jinn]

It's heavily dependent on the career.

On things that require inherent skill or artistic ability, I think they're very important. It's really hard to demonstrate being a good "designer" or "artist", even with a portfolio. But if you can work in the same office as them, they can see first hand the process and product.

For jobs that require incredible amounts of schooling, education and credentials, they are less important. I'd say if you can get a PHD in the field you're pursuing, internships are less important. Astrophysics and aerospace engineering come to mind. They're more education than experience, because if you have the requisite knowledge you can easily pick up the tasks they provide you.

With something like an Art Designer or Storyboarder, etc.. you can know encylopedias worth of information about Art and still suck at it.

[merlin]

This thread reminds me of an essay written by Paul Graham:

...But unfortunately when you graduate they don't give you a list of all the lies they told you during your education. You have to get them beaten out of you by contact with the real world. And this is why so many jobs want work experience. I couldn't understand that when I was in college. I knew how to program. In fact, I could tell I knew how to program better than most people doing it for a living. So what was this mysterious "work experience" and why did I need it?

Now I know what it is, and part of the confusion is grammatical. Describing it as "work experience" implies it's like experience operating a certain kind of machine, or using a certain programming language. But really what work experience refers to is not some specific expertise, but the elimination of certain habits left over from childhood.

One of the defining qualities of kids is that they flake. When you're a kid and you face some hard test, you can cry and say "I can't" and they won't make you do it. Of course, no one can make you do anything in the grownup world either. What they do instead is fire you. And when motivated by that you find you can do a lot more than you realized. So one of the things employers expect from someone with "work experience" is the elimination of the flake reflex—the ability to get things done, with no excuses.