How important is internship in college?

[Lager]

How important is internship in college? Is it just as important as GPA? What if you have to work part time to support yourself and don't have time for internship?

 

[Anubis]

really doesnt matter
of all my friends only 2 people had them when in college

go abroad instead, its a much better expirence

 

[Schadenfroh]

are you talking about work-study?

 

[Lager]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
are you talking about work-study?

No. Working without pay for experience to build your resume in the future I guess that relates to your major?

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
are you talking about work-study?

work study at my school just ment you had a job on campus someplace and they paied you, i worked for IT and the Physics Dpt

an Internship is usially not at your school but can be in the same city, its like takeing a semester off and working for a company but you get credit for it, some are paied some arnt

 

[ggavinmoss]

I'd say it's pretty important. Employers are usually looking for somebody that can produce. Having a great GPA doesn't always translate into a good real-world worker.

-geoff

 

[dionx]

id say its more important than GPA. gpa is just a number.

 

[Shyatic]

Internships in the IT field and a bunch others are *extremely* important. This is where you are going to get hands-on experience that your school will NEVER teach you. Unless you are self-taught (as I was, fortunately) you won't have a leg-up on ANYBODY getting a job. And besides, it's HARD AS HELL to get a job unless you have 'prior work experience' -- just take my word for that.

Get ANY internships you can, the bigger the better. If you can get an internship at IBM making $0 an hour, or at some small no-name where you make $15/hr... Go with IBM. I was stupid and took the small company and it didn't benefit me at all.. I was a glorified coffee boy and didn't learn sh!t. If you get into a big company you will have a much better learning opportunity than at a small company.

Just make sure you find out your exact schedule on what you'd be doing as an intern. The more hands-on they let you get, the more training they provide... the better it works out for you in the long run.

 

[boyRacer]

very important from what my friends say... ive got a couple of EE friends that cant find a job because theyre lacking experience supposedly... they finished ahead of time because they never did any internship.

 

[da loser]

a meaningful internship is more important than a gpa as long as you got 3.0+, working while attending school is also a plus

 

[Maverick]

do a summer internship if doing it while attending school isn't an option...but DEFINITELY get one in there...especially if you are in IT. I got a job at the place I interned at when no one else was hiring.

 

[JohnCU]

Internships are really useful in seeing exactly what you'll be doing in the future. I get paid $18.50 an hour for mine.

 

[Lager]

What does IT stand for?

 

[ElFenix]

i would do it at least once.

 

[vi edit]

I'd say an internship is one of the single most important things you can do, professionally speaking, while in college.

 

[cressida]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
I'd say an internship is one of the single most important things you can do, professionally speaking, while in college.

Yeah it is
<---- sad he is applied to lots of compaines but they never call

 

[Spikesoldier]

Originally posted by: Lager
What does IT stand for?

information technology

 

[beer]

I've never really heard of unpaid internships when it comes to IT. After two years, IBM seems to be going at about $18.50 an hour here in Austin. I'm getting $17 an hour at GE...but they paid me a ton of money to drive across the country and are paying for all of our accomodations for the summer, which makes it a much better deal than IBM.

I've only heard of unpaid internships, primarily in radio-television, marketing, and some business internships. Most engineering-ish internships pay, and pay pretty well.

EDIT: come to think about it...no one I know in my EE classes is being unpaid. Cisco/AMD/NI/IBM, and for me, GE, all pay well. Motorola does too, I think, but I can't be sure on that one. Even local companies pay comparable. The lowest I've heard is about $15/hr. Then again, most of my friends are sitting in the top 25% with GPAs 3.5+, so YMMV

 

[PsychoAndy]

My school requires it, and is probably the only thing notable about my school.

I'd say the 4 years of my school + the 1 year of coop puts us at an advantage over regular schools.

At least, that's what they tell me from propoganda. I just see it as seeing how the job really is, and making sure you like it and stuff.

 

[AreaCode707]

Important. Companies look at experience when they make a decision to call you in for an interview. That you have a BA with a 3.7 really does nothing but meet ONE of the minimum requirements for the job. The experience is everything.

<------works in Recruiting.

 

[Lager]

What year do you start internship? How many years is required (that's gives an edge) while in school?

 

[Ketteringo]

www.kettering.edu ownz for co-op (intern) work experience.