Interns Fare Better in the Job Market

A recent Student Survey conducted by The National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) has confirmed that new graduates from the Class of 2009 who completed one or more internships while in college fared much better when seeking jobs in the current economic downturn than their peers who did not do an internship.

The report showed that 23% of students who did an internship was given a job offer versus only 14% of those that didn't.  Only 19.7% of those students who had applied for internships had received a job offer by April 2009.  More than 16,500 from over 840 colleges and universities from across the country had completed the survey.

Overall, just 19.7 percent of the Class of 2009 who had applied for jobs had one by the end of April, but grads with an internship under their belt beat that average--23 percent had a job in hand. For those who didn't do an internship, the job market was especially unwelcoming: Just 14 percent of those who hadn't been interns landed jobs.

The competitiveness of today's job market can only predict that the same will hold true for the Class of 2010. For students thinking that doing an internship is an option, should begin to think again when looking ahead to the eventual job search. Employers have repeatedly expressed that they prefer candidates who possess the skills required to do the job; while students wonder how can employers expect them to have experience when they've been in college for the past four years.  Internships are the answer and they are the bridge that brings the student from the academic world into the real world of the job market.