While the average person might see signs of spring as motivation to hop
on the treadmill and start eating healthier for upcoming bathing suit weather, college students are plagued with the impending doom of a different kind: internship season.
Though internships have traditionally been a worry of upperclassmen, younger students who think they'll get a break from the pressures of r?©sum?©-building may soon find that they're mistaken. As the job market for recent college graduates becomes more competitive, some students are facing increased pressure to get internships earlier in their college careers.
National Director of Program Development of the Environmental Careers Organization Kevin Doyle stressed the importance of internships and work experience, particularly for those undergraduates looking to get into the environmental field after graduation.
"It's critical," he said. "I think it would not be too much to say that not having [internships] or work experience is just a killer ... To not have one is almost like you're not listening. You're sending a message that you're not up on your game."
Doyle, who will moderate a presentation called "Break into Environmental Careers with Internships" this Wednesday at Tufts, specializes in informing students and offering advice about obtaining internships in the field of environmental studies.
"It's never too early," he said. "The more, the better. And the earlier, the better."
Department Administrator of the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning Program Ann Urosevich mirrored Doyle's sentiments, particularly emphasizing the importance of internships for those students looking to go directly from college into a graduate program. "In that case, they definitely would have to have had some internship," she said.
But the necessity of internships isn't limited to environmental studies, according to Tufts senior and international relations major Unaza Khan. "If you're majoring in IR," she said, "it's almost become a requirement."
Doyle attributed the increasing need for internship experience, particularly in the environmental realm, to the growing number of qualified students and applicants. "What's changed is that the number of people has grown so much that to not have [an internship] is to be uncompetitive," he said.
Khan, who did several internships specializing in immigration, also attributes her own ability to achieve a focus in her studies on the internships she obtained during her undergraduate career. "It enhances your specialization in IR," she said.
Stefanie Tiso, a senior and English major who hopes to become a TV news reporter after graduating from Tufts, said she feels getting an internship is not an option, but a necessity.
"[Getting an internship] helps you realize whether or not that's something you want to do," she said. "You learn stuff you don't learn in a classroom ... with each internship, it narrowed down for me what I wanted to do."
Tiso has worked for ESPN Radio Online in addition to MSNBC and New England Cable while still an undergraduate. "Having already been in an environment where I'll hopefully work helped me understand what the people are like," she said.
Khan, who initially had no intention of getting into international relations, doesn't necessarily feel a strict academic focus is necessary in order to seek internship experience.
"It's always a good option, even if you don't know what you want to do," she said. "No matter what you do, you will learn something about it." The senior experienced this first-hand, beginning her studies at Tufts with plans to get into medicine.
"For me, it was a process because I did start off as pre-med," she said. "It took me a while to realize where my interests were."
In addition to r?©sum?©-building, many students are placing more importance on networking through internships, with the hope of eventually using their connections to get a job. Senior Sarah Newton, who worked for John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004, used research she had done in Russia during the summer after her freshman year to boost her application for an internship with the state department during the summer after her sophomore year.
"Those internships led to a study abroad experience," she said. "They all culminated."
Jeffrey Vanderkruik, a senior who interned this summer at Universal Pictures, also used each of his experiences as stepping blocks toward the goal of a satisfying post-Tufts career.
"You have to get through the internships and make a name for yourself," he said, "so that when you need to start working after college, you have the beginner stuff out of the way ... Hopefully one job will lead to another."
Vanderkruik, like Tiso, also attested to the competitive nature of many fields related to media and communications. "I think it'd be very hard to get involved otherwise [without an internship]," he said. "The entertainment industry is a pretty highly desired field."
Though most internships are competitive, Doyle offered reassurance and advice for those looking to pursue environmental careers.
"The competitiveness depends on what you're applying for," he said. "As long as you're applying for something you have to offer, then you're competitive. Apply primarily in the range for things you're competitive for."
Newton gave credit to Tufts Career Services for helping students.
"Tufts has a lot of resources available for funding internships, and there's a lot of finances available for funding research as well," she said. "Those two coupled together make you extremely marketable."
Vanderkruik, whose internship brought him to Los Angeles and presented him with various expenses, also relied on Tufts for support in the form of an internship grant.
The Tufts Communications and Media Studies Department (CMS) has the largest internship program on campus, having given 91 students academic credit for internships done in media organizations over the course of the 2005-2006 school year, according to CMS Associate Director Susan Eisenhauer, demonstrating the accessibility of many internships for undergraduates.
Doyle also offered encouragement to students looking for internships: "There's no reason why everyone who engages in the search shouldn't find a great experience," he said.
