The Impact of Internships on Graduate Employability - Term Paper Example

? The Impact of Internships on Graduate Employability Executive Summary Internships play a major role toboth the student undergoing internship and the employer. This paper discusses the importance of these programs to the interns and the employers. Internships help students to acquire practical knowledge. This is through the engagement with different people in the profession. It also provides participants with an insight of what is required of them in order to qualify for the profession. This is also important to the employers as it gives them the opportunity to evaluate the interns to be considered for job opportunities should they arise. Thereby, employers will be able to employ people who are qualified and knowledgeable. However, some employers mistreat interns. Some organizations may not set aside budget for internship programs. By not having this program, employers are not able to teach potential employees on the competencies and skills the company wants. Introduction Internship is the period of time when students are attached to organizations where they are supervised to gain firsthand experience to the professions that they are studying. This normally comes after they have been taught about the profession in class before they are allowed to participate as interns in different organizations. While working as interns, the students are evaluated by supervisors and a report on the students’ performance is sent to their school after completion of the internship. The report combined with the course work contributes to the final score for the students (Sweitzer and King 2009). Students can either get internships through applying for the position in organizations or their college might partner with organizations in order for them to offer internship programs to their students. Internships normally vary depending on the organizations policy. Many organizations pay students who are interns in their organization. On the other hand, some organizations don’t pay interns, but rather they have incentives such as transport or lunch to motivate them. Internship period also varies on how students and the organization agree to work together. However, being an intern in a certain organization does not automatically qualify the student to get a job in the organization. However, depending on the students’ hard work, they can be considered should any vacancy arise in the organization. Students can attend internships locally or internationally so long as it is in relation to the profession that they are undertaking. In some cases, students may decide to take internship programs while they are on vacation to increase their experience on the profession (Sweitzer and King 2009). Most companies normally hire interns to equip them with the necessary skills required to perform the profession that they have specialized in. Companies also hire interns to minimize the costs required to finish some tasks. This is because companies know that when they hire interns certain tasks will be able to be accomplished with minimum expenses or with no expense at all. It is upon an individual to work hard during the internship period to acquire a range of skills and knowledge. This paper will critically analyze both the positive as well as the negative impacts of internships on graduate employability. Positive impacts of internships Internships help students to acquire knowledge. Through internships, participants get to interact with professions who guide them on how to go about the profession. During class lessons on professions that students undertake, the teaching is mostly theoretical. But once students are working as interns, they get to learn the practical bit of the profession thereby gaining knowledge from the different professionals they engage with. This also makes the student to gain professional knowledge on the profession that they are studying (Hergert 2009).  Internships provide students with an insight on what is required of them in order to become successful in the field. Through the one on one contact with professionals in the field, students get to set their own targets on what they want to become after the internship. This also makes them to lay down the strategy on how to achieve the desire they want be. Internships provide students with professional referees. While undergoing their day to day work as interns, students interact with various professionals who once requested may agree to become professional referees for the students (Hergert 2009). This will give the students an added advantage when they are looking for jobs. By having professional referees in their resumes, their credentials are considered to be high thereby increasing the chances of convincing employers that they are best suited for the job. Internship also helps students to create a network of contacts. This is important to the student as it will lead to easier ways of getting jobs (Rothman 2007). The people created as contacts can recommend or call the students for an interview. It also helps students to be able to explore various career alternatives before they can decide on which area suits them best. When students are in internships, they gain vast experience as they are trained and rotated in different departments within the organization. Through this, students get to know their strong areas (department). Employers benefit from this as they are able to identify students who posses strong qualifications for job considerations (Hergert 2009). Internships provide the employer with the opportunity to evaluate students before they can decide to offer full time jobs. It gives students a chance to advance opportunities. While students are working as interns, employers can gauge their abilities and decide in advance on whom they should offer a job should a vacancy arise in the organization. Employers will be keen to monitor students’ skills and talent before they decide on the course of action after the period of the internship is completed. Hence the Internship period becomes like a prolonged interview for the employer to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the intern (Hergert 2009). It also gives employers a source of fresh talent from whom they can pick because most internship last between two months to one year (Gault and Leach 2010). Internships enhance self confidence on students. By undertaking internship programs students become self confident through the practical experience, they gain while working. This makes it easier for them when they are applying for jobs as they know what the job they are applying for entails and also when they are called in for interviews, they are confident in handling the interviews because they know what they are supposed to do. Negative impact of internships Some employers take advantage of interns by not paying them. Some organization might not offer any kind of incentive to appreciate the hard work and commitment students are offering in the course of their internships. This demoralizes students a lot, thereby making them not to perform to their full potential. In turn, employers may not be aware that it is the lack of appreciation that makes the students to perform poorly (Bukalinya 2012). Thereby, employers might lose hard working students who could have later on become employees of the company or organization. Employers usually over work interns- It particularly happens when interns are assigned extra work including work meant for the subordinate staff. This also makes the interns to have a low self esteem toward the internship as it does not add any knowledge about the profession (Rothman 2007). Too much internship in applicants’ resume may make potential employers skeptical of employing them. This is because the employers might think that the stunt attended the much internship because they were not able to meet the required standard of performance in the various companies or organizations they attended internships. At times, students get less of the ideal internship experience (Greifen 2007). This may make the students to opt for other alternative experience in other organizations in order to be equipped with the required expertise. In the case where students get less experience, the reason is mainly that employees at the organization are not willing enough to guide the students. Some employees may see the students as a threat in regards to their jobs (Bukalinya 2012). Some organizations might consider it costly to have interns in their organizations. Small organizations might not have a budget for interns thereby turning them away (Garnerman 2006). This makes students without an internship experience hard to get a job as it is a requirement by employers. This might also make the small companies to hire unqualified personnel in order to cut on the extra cost that could have otherwise been paid to a qualified person (Rothman 2007). Big organizations or companies might not employ people who went for internships in small companies. Big organizations tend to employ staffs who were interns in big organizations. This affects both the employer and the student negatively. The employer might miss to employ a staff in such grounds not knowing the potential they have in their company. Students, on the other hand, get to view such an act as discrimination thereby making one to lose a job that they are qualified for. At times, employees of a certain organization look down upon interns. This is a demoralizing act to students who are working as inters. This may force some interns to quit the internship (Garnerman 2006). Conclusion It is apparent that internship plays a great role in enhancing students’ skills in their area of study. Internship also helps students acquire knew knowledge. It is evident that during the internship, students interact with various professionals, who can mentor them in several ways. In fact, many get opportunities to build the confidence of potential employers while they are in internships. It has also been documented that internship enhances the student’s self esteem. However, it is also apparent that some employers take advantage of interns by not paying interns. This has a negative impact on students in that they feel demoralized. As a consequence, the students may fail to perform due to lack of motivation thus employers may lock out potential employees. Bibliography: Bukalinya, R., 2012. The Potential Benefits and challenges of internship programmes in an ODL Institution. International Journal on new Trends in Education and their implications, 3, 1, 1-25. Garnerman, E., 2006. Internships for sale. Wall Street Journal. Eastern Edition, 247, 135: 1: 5. Gault, J and Leach E., 2010. "Effects of business internships on job marketability: the employers' perspective", Education + Training, 52, 1: 76 – 88. Greifen, L., 2007. Panel Favours extended View of Learning. Education Week, 26, 20: 1-27 Hergert, M. 2009. Student Perceptions of the Value of Internships in Business Education. American Journal of Business Education, 2, 8: 9-14. Rothman, M., 2007. Lessons learned: Advice to employers from interns, Journal of Education for Business, 82: 140-144. Sweitzer, F. H and King, M., 2009. The successful internship: personal, professional, and civic development. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole. Read More