Adelphi professors and national statistics agree that students who have internship experience have a better chance at receiving a job directly out of college.
by Jordan Chapman
Recent statistics show, and professors in the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business agree, that internships are a crucial asset to pair alongside degrees when it comes to young job seekers achieving success.
Figures produced by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) show that 55 percent of all students with internship experience received a job offer after graduation, while only 40 percent were hired out of college without one.
Though the numbers are close enough for some students to ignore the need for a leg up in the job hunt, Adelphi professors Neil Halloran, part-time faculty member in management, marketing and decision sciences, and Arthur Leibowitz, lecturer in the Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics, can give more than one reason why an internship is in a young scholar’s best interest.
The biggest argument for internships, other than the possibility of getting hired after an internship expires, is the experience a student receives while working there.
“That student may say, ‘This is not for me,’” Mr. Halloran said. “If you have some free time, what better way to get experience in business than working in a business?”
Mr. Halloran explained that in most circumstances an executive or a manager mentors business interns. “They tell you what to do and what not to do, you get active and very positive, constructive criticism and you learn the good parts of the job and the worst parts of the job,” he said.
Mr. Leibowitz agreed that the different advantages to internships are almost limitless, but common sense was the dominant response when asking faculty members and students why an internship is important.
“If you’re a recruiter and looking at someone who has a 4.0 [GPA], and another person who has a 3.5 [GPA] with an internship at a major corporation, guess who’s going to get hired?” he asked, drawing on his own experience interviewing and hiring interns during his career.
“The view of the firm was, generally, if [an intern] does as good a job as they think they are going to do…if they impressed us as an intern, they will get an offer nine times out of 10,” he said.
Adelphi’s Center for Career Development helps students prepare for internship interviews and find internships as well as application requirements.
For further information, please contact:
Todd Wilson
Strategic Communications Director
p – 516.237.8634
e – twilson@adelphi.edu