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Top Ten Internships for 2005
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By
Susan Johnston
16 September 2005
Thousands of college students worked as interns this summer, doing everything from running press conferences to running the fax machine. These internships can be a great way to explore career options and build a resume, but choosing where to intern can be daunting, since so many companies offer internship programs.
Intern’s responsibilities, payment, and work environment vary drastically depending on the company and the industry, so it’s important that aspiring interns search beyond the company’s website to get an accurate picture of what lies ahead. (Three months with only Mr. Coffee and the photocopier for company is not a good way to spend your summer, even if the internship sounded good online.)
One way to dig deeper is by searching Mark Oldman and Samer Hamadeh’s "The Best 109 Internships" and "The Internship Bible," both published by The Princeton Review. Oldman and Hamadeh also compiled a list of ten internships which are among the most sought-after opportunities for students in the U.S. These internships are listed in alphabetical order and cover a broad spectrum of industries and interests:
- Academy of Television Art & Sciences (produces the Emmy Awards)
- Electronic Arts (America’s largest video game manufacturer and distributor)
- Hewlett-Packard
- Inroads (offers management training for minority students)
- National Institutes of Health
- New York Yankees
- Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
- Procter & Gamble
- SEO Career Program (business-related internships for African American students)
- U.S. Supreme Court
According to co-author Samer Hamadeh, the internships were chosen based on several criteria and considerations according to the standards of their industry. First and foremost was selectivity. "Some of these internships are harder to get into than Harvard!" Hamadeh explained. For instance, the New York Yankees receive more than 4,000 internship applications but chooses only twenty students to participate in their popular internship program.
The next consideration is compensation, which Hamadeh said varies dramatically based on the industry. About half of the 1,500 internships offer money but payment varies according to industry standards. Hewlett-Packard pays its interns $700 to $1,350 weekly, as well as covering round-trip travel expenses, but internships in other fields, such as the U.S. Supreme Court internship program, sometimes offer no monetary compensation.
Other non-monetary perks given to some interns include housing, free products, face time with CEOs, or invites to special events. Procter & Gamble even offers use of a car to its sales interns. Other important factors for prospective interns are the opportunities for mentoring and, ultimately, offers of full-time employment.
"That’s pretty key," said Hamadeh, "because you want to work in that industry. If a company does a good job of recruiting [interns] they should know if that person is a good fit for the long-term."
At the Academy of Television Art & Sciences in L.A., about 75% of interns land jobs in television after completing the eight-week internship. More than half of the students who intern through Inroads receive job offers from their sponsor companies. Also, according to Ria Braganza, a junior at Boston University and an intern for Hewlett-Packard, "thirty-nine percent of university interns became full-time hires" at HP. She added that they also provide mentoring and job search assistance after the internship is completed.
In addition to HP, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network also has a high rate of interns-to-hires. Ryan C. McIntyre, a 2005 graduate from the University of Wyoming, made the transition from intern to full-time financial representative at Northwestern Mutual this past summer. McIntyre said his experiences meeting with prospective clients and learning from mentors at Northwestern Mutual as an intern "really got to test-drive the career… helped me solidify my thoughts on a career path."
Brooke R. Williams, another intern-turned-full-time employee at Northwestern Mutual, agreed, saying her internship "gave me a running start to my career." The 2003 Florida State University graduate also said it "enabled me to see the diversity of the business in the way we help people plan for their future, as well as the other personal and financial rewards that come along with the business."
Braganza’s experience at HP was also encouraging. She said her current internship in business planning and administration "gives me the opportunity to use all parts of my brain to solve problems and the challenge keeps me engaged. Another benefit… is being able to interact with people up and down the levels of the organization and share in their knowledge and experiences."
© 2008, Young Money Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
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I’d enjoy hearing from people who have had experiences with government internships.
Thanks, Debra Karplus, author