What is an appropriate internship?

The major purpose of an internship is to provide students with the opportunity to gain new insights about an organization and a job and to develop skills they haven't had the opportunity to develop in a previous job. An internship also provides students with the opportunity to see the application of course material in theory in practice in a job setting, and students are encouraged to bring their internship experiences back into the classroom.

Internships are an academic experience - not just work experience. In your internship paper you are expected to draw relationships between what you learned in the classroom and what you observed and experienced in the internship.

Internships are important resume material in competitive job markets where actual work experience is valued and often expected. Graduate internships can be valuable research experiences that can be tied into final projects.

It is important to select an appropriate internship. One way to determine if an internship is appropriate is to consider how it ties in with your major and concentration. For example, if your concentration is public relations, working as a server in a restaurant is not appropriate. An internship should be a new challenge and one that "fits" with educational goals.

Another important purpose of an internship is to give students the opportunity to try out a potential job or career. Perhaps you think you'd like television news production. An internship experience will tell you if this is the type of work you really want to do. Perhaps you are planning a public relations career. An internship will give you valuable insight into what it is like to work in the field.

In some professions, internships are expected by potential employers. You will be competing with others for entry-level jobs who have completed an internship so if you have not done an internship, you are at a disadvantage.