INTERNSHIPS & FELLOWSHIPS

ü  Internships are very important part of our education program, first and foremost.

ü  In setting up internships, not only employers are able to offer students a chance to work with industry professionals, but the students also get an opportunity to take the theory they learn in the classroom and put it into practice here, in whichever activity they're focused.

ü  All big names in the industry today are striving to hire interns.

An internship is:

Ø  A structured work experience related to a student's major and/or career goal

Ø An experience that should enhance a student's academic, career, and personal development

Ø  Supervised by a professional in the field

Ø  An experience that can be one academic term (summer, spring, fall) or multiple academic terms in length

Ø  Paid or unpaid, part-time or full-time

Ø  An experience that is mutually agreed upon by the student, supervisor and/or faculty member

Ø  Meets registration requirements for 0 credit hour or academic internship course

Ø  It’s important to note that to qualify as an internship the position does not have to be labeled “internship”. Many part time jobs, volunteer opportunities, or even summer jobs can qualify as an internship. Internships might also be called a practicum or co-op.

 

The Differences between Fellowships and Internships:

•      While both internships and fellowships are great ways to meet people, make connections, strengthen your abilities, and gain experience, there are characteristics specific to each of them.
It is important to know the difference in order to appropriately place yourself in your professional field.

•      An internship can be described as a trial period at a company that helps students gain insight into a field they are considering as a career. The length of the internship as well as responsibilities that come along with the position varies from company to company. Internships are designed to expose the participants to the dynamics of working in a specific field by using real-life applications.

•      Often, people may use the term "internship" and "fellowship" synonymously, when the two are quite different. Fellowships can have various definitions attached to them, depending on the extent of the fellowship.

Top 10 Benefits of Starting an Internship Program:

1. Find future employees. An internship program is a year-round recruiting tool. Fall internships, summer internships, semester internships, and quarterly internships, implementing an internship program means you have an ongoing pipeline of future fulltime employees.

2. Test-drive the talent. It's a human resources reality: A new employee makes a solid impression in the interview, but then just doesn't gel with your current team or your company's way of doing things.

3. Increase productivity. Speaking of additional manpower, setting up an internship program allows you to take advantage of short-term support.

4. Increase employee-retention rate. The proof for the test-driving theory is in the positive employee-retention figures: According to NACE's 2009 Experiential Education Survey, almost 40% of employers reported a higher five-year retention rate among employees they'd hired via their internship programs.

5. Enhance perspective. It's not just the extra sets of hands that make interns advantageous. Especially in an organization of only 12 or 15 employees, new people bring with them novel perspectives, fresh ideas, and specialized strengths and skill sets. These augment the abilities of your professional workforce.

 6. Take advantage of low-cost labor. Interns are an inexpensive resource. Their salaries are significantly lower than staff employees, and you aren't obligated to pay unemployment or a severance package should you not hire them on fulltime

      7. Find free-of-charge. Internships.com allows you to post your employer profile completely free of charge. This means you get extensive exposure to the top colleges and candidates without putting a dent in your recruiting budget.

     8. Give back to the community. As a small business, you likely rely on community support. Creating an internship program is an excellent way to give back. Hiring interns not only helps students in your community get started; it enhances the local workforce as a whole.

      9. Support students. Internships provide students numerous perks: They gain experience, develop skills, make connections, strengthen their resumes, learn about a field, and assess their interest and abilities.

     10. Benefit your small business. When looking for fulltime work, the top talent often go for big-name businesses. But when seeking internships, learning is the leading draw. Many candidates feel they'll get more hands-on training, real experience, and mentoring opportunities with smaller organizations.