While there are many different job strategies from which new graduates might choose, there is perhaps only one that has proven, for the most part, its ability to put students and new graduates at the front of a long line of new job seekers seeking entry-level work: an internship. Quickly becoming a critical tool for employers and students alike, the internship as experiential education is both a means for students to gain critical professional skills and for employers to pre-screen potential job candidates and to carefully select new hires based on actual performance and demonstrated potential. In fact, Joe Light of The Wall Street Journal reports that keen employers have now taken to the practice of pinpointing fresh talent as early as possible.
It is no surprise that many employers hire interns after the internship is complete. Hiring outside talent can be a gamble, especially when one understands that a resume is only a snapshot of an individual—accentuating certain features and attributes while softening or paying less attention to others. Hiring an intern seems to remove many of the risks associated with the hiring process by giving employers an extended look at the person whom they could hire. Light indicates that employers seem to recognize this, and this understanding appears to affect their hiring strategy. In fact, according to a recent National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey, “companies say that nearly 40% of this year’s entry-level positions will be filled by former interns.” This trend reflects another statistic, says Paula Loop, whom Light identifies as a “global talent leader”: “Internal data at [PricewaterhouseCoopers] have shown that former interns perform better than non-interns.”
In the case of financial firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, a company constantly scouting for new talent, this means bringing on student interns as early as their freshman year, says Joe Light. Despite recent controversies surrounding unpaid internships, many companies with robust new graduate hiring programs are expanding their intern programs. One can assume this trend will continue as the economy rebounds and experiential education becomes a more critical component of academic curricula. This is something which current students should take note!
AMU or APU students who are interested in or who have questions about internship opportunities are welcome to either visit the Office of Career Service’s Internship Portal for additional information or contact careerservices@apus.edu.
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