For most students, the idea of obtaining a college education is synonymous with getting a good job. For a good portion of students at a commuter campus like Northeastern Illinois University, a degree might mean getting a better job than the one they already have. While the degree is important, and it might very well put a student in a better position to get a job, there is one key factor to success after graduation that is often overlooked: internships.
In today’s competitive workplace market, it is not enough to walk into an interview armed solely with a bachelor’s degree. Employers tend to prefer candidates who have some real workplace experience that is relevant to their particular field. Having that experience could give the applicant a slight edge over the rest of the field.
At NEIU, almost all degree programs encourage students to take internships to gain practical experience. A few internships even offer course credit, but in most cases taking an internship is not required, so it is up to the student to take the extra steps in researching and getting an internship.
Getting an internship might be difficult and it usually requires extra effort on top of class work, but assistance is available and there are sufficient resources for students that will help move the process along. The placement office is one such resource for internship assistance on campus.
The first thing students should keep in mind when thinking about internships is preparation. Early preparation is quite possibly the most important factor in determining how successful a student will be in getting an internship.
According to Lorn Coleman, director of the placement office at NEIU, students should begin preparing for an internship in their sophomore year and begin their search six-months in advance.
“Most students will come in and say ‘I need an internship and I need it in a couple of weeks or next week,’ and it just simply takes longer,” said Coleman. “That leads to a lot of failure because they are not giving themselves enough time.”
The placement office provides a wide array of services to help prepare for an internship. They offer resume writing workshops, assistance with finding available internships and job placement services.
Yet despite all the services provided by the placement office, many NEIU students are unaware of services that are available. Many students complain that the information is not readily accessible, or that the university does not do enough to emphasize the importance of taking an internship.
According to Lorn, the university’s placement office provides all the help a student might need to get an internship; students just have to be willing to put in the work and seek assistance.
“In a school like this there is so much going on-people coming and going-that a student is not going to know about everything,” said Coleman. “You have to really be looking for something to get the information about it. All the bulletin boards and all the flyers are covered, but if you’re not focused on [them] you are just going to walk by all of it, but the information is there.”
For more information, visit the placement office in Building B, Room 119, or online at www.neiu.edu/~deptpoff. For appointments call 773-442-4680.