Welcome! If you are new to Admissions Decisions, you may be unfamiliar with our key focus.
It is our belief that college and grad school are tools to specific career opportunities. We do not hold a “college is for everyone” view because, it is not.
When you think of a career outcome, imagine driving on the highway to a specific destination. While there are many paths to get there, there are usually some key milestones for success.
The basic path is:
Internships are one of the critical steps in achieving specific career outcomes. This post will provide the basics of internships and why they matter to students.
What are internships?
Internships are temporary jobs primarily aimed at students that are intended to provide real experience they can leverage for future opportunities.
Internships can be paid or unpaid, and sometimes can directly lead to a job offer. Internships are offered either term-time (during fall/spring semester) or during the summer.
Although not a requirement, they are typically helpful for students in variety of ways:
They help students get job experience
They help students determine whether they want to work in a given industry or type of role
Provide experience for potential grad school applications
Why do internships matter?
Internships matter because they help to differentiate you from applicants. Remember, you want to take every advantage and use it for your benefit.
Use investment banking as an example.
If two people apply to Goldman Sachs, and one has experience working at an IB in the summer and the other does not, the one with IB experience has an advantage. The more competitive the career, the more you will need to give you an edge against the competition.
Internships give you that edge. And remember as a college student, you don’t have very many competitive advantages that you can really gain.
But beyond the advantages, internships give you a “free pass” to try a job before you have to make a commitment.
If you go into a consulting internship and hate it, you know consulting is likely not for you. That saves you time of going through consulting interviews and can help you refocus on something you do care about.
How much do internships matter?
Internships matter a fair amount, but they are not the end all.
First, know that not all internships are equal. Internships completed during the summer after junior year will typically have more weight than an internship after freshman year due to the additional responsibility that you have.
Secondly, know that internships will matter the more directly correlated they are to what you are trying to do. For example, an internship working at a legal aid bureau will matter more if you are trying to work as a paralegal or for a nonprofit than it will if you are trying to work for a venture capital firm.
As a general rule, you always want to try to get an internship. No matter what it is, the experience will help make you more employable.