Many majors at Johnson State College require students to complete an internship before they graduate. To inform students who may be unaware of how the process works, Ellen Hill, internship coordinator at JSC recently held a workshop. She covered everything from where to start to fine tuning your resume. There is, says Hill, a somewhat lengthy process to go through before you can start an internship, one that is best begun sooner rather than later.

“There is a very intense contract you have to create and it’s part of the process,” Hill said. “So if you are planning on doing an internship for the spring semester it’s good to start now because it takes usually a few weeks.”

Those few weeks, however, will be well worth the effort, according to Hill. “It certainly is a way for students to take everything they’ve learned in the classroom; content, and theory and really apply it to a community based organization,” she said. “We have students placed in both for profit and nonprofit in the public sector, and we’re finding through our graduate surveys that 26 percent of our students are getting jobs and almost that same amount say they feel like they are getting offers at other sites, primarily because of the internship experience.”

Among other things, Hill also listed the acquisition of soft skills such as showing up on time and being motivated as an integral part of the internship experience, as well as showing potential employers that you can perform in a work environment. “Ultimately it’s real world work experience that really arms people with the resources and knowledge to basically get that job offer,” she said.

As internships become increasingly popular, the number of Johnson students taking on internships is increasing. Last year 205 Johnson students interned for a total of 53,000 hours, or 900 credit hours, and according to Hill, the numbers are continuing to grow.

Internships do more than provide valuable training in the workplace and a chance to apply skills learned in the classroom. Another important benefit according to Hill is the opportunity to connect with others “Another thing that helps is the power of networking and because of your internship you will be meeting people in the field who will become your professional networks, and having your network grow,” she said. “With anyone you speak with you let them know you’re a student at Johnson State and hoping this leads to a job offer, so hopefully people can connect you to other people and help fuel your network circles.”

Hill also explained that it is up to the student to do the research and pick where they think they would like to intern. Some places are more prepared to host an intern than others, and it is important to choose the proper location for success and happiness. Hill warns that just because you like a site, it might not be necessarily ready to host an intern.