By Annette Novoa
It takes more than a diploma to get the right job. Although a diploma is a must nowadays, it’s only half the picture. An increasing number of employers are demanding work experience from college graduates. No matter how impressive your grades are, job applicants inevitably have to answer the question “what experience do you have?”
The 2003-2004 Recruiting Trends survey conducted by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute (CERI) at Michigan State University employed a nationwide survey of 450 employers. Among the surveys findings are:
Internships and co-ops are becoming the preferred path to a permanent position and long-term staffing management.
Because the economy is moving so quickly, candidates must enter their position already demonstrating command of key competencies. Employers want college students to have better developed skills in communication (oral and written), personal attributes (work ethic, flexibility, initiative and motivation), teamwork, interpersonal, and learning (willing to learn continuously new skills, ideas, etc.).
Factors shaping the workforce are global pressures, especially for larger firms, and workforce development (workers with the necessary skills for company to remain competitive).
Linda Levitt, Internship Coordinator at RVCC comments, “In many majors you cannot go off and get a job as a college grad without relevant work experience. So then the question is how do you get that experience?”
An internship is an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in their major field of interest and earn college credit as well. “They’re not sitting, running errands, doing grunt work or doing work that nobody else in the office wants to do. They’re doing work which is going to be for them a learning experience. It’s very exciting,” Levitt says.
As a result students can walk into a job interview with the work experience employer’s are looking for.
“It’s a win/win situation,” Levitt says. “It’s a win for the student because they can walk out with a great deal of pride. It usually complements their course work so as a result of the internship student’s grades often go up and they stay in school longer.
They are a win for the school because we get to teach the students longer and they become happier alumni.
It’s a win for the employer because they get to establish a good relationship with the college and they get to mentor someone who will be in the twenty-first century workforce.” Levitt quickly points out that the greatest win has to be for the student. She encourages students to participate in several internships using them to explore different aspects of their chosen field of study.
Their have been times when students have changed their majors after an internship. “It allows them to decide if their major is the right major, instead of spending four years of college tuition and then realizing, ‘Oh, my God I didn’t know that the work was going to be this!’ Nobody loses with an internship”, Levitt says. It’s the most marvelous thing in the world.”
Levitt works closely with Carrie Rafanello-Bazar, Career Counselor, to help students prepare for job interviews, write up a resume and a cover letter and find out what type of employment would work well for each student.
“Most likely for someone who is currently enrolled, we would really promote taking advantage of an internship,” says Rafanello. In reference to whether or not having a degree is enough, Rafanello firmly believes, “you have to have hands-on experience in marketing and communications.”
“We have some fabulous faculty members who have contact with the outside world. I also go to networking meetings, I talk about my students and I tell them what kind of professional environments I’m looking for,” Levitt says, “It’s a process of relationship building.
According to Levitt, there are currently over 400 registered positions open to RVCC students but less than 10% of them are filled by RVCC students. Getting the information out to the student population is a big problem.
“I need to make sure that the students are aware of what’s available to them. Right now there’s a disconnect between all the wonderful services and resources we have here at the college and what the students are taking advantage of,” Levitt says.
Levitt also keeps department heads and faculty apprised of internships within their fields via email. “I am working with liaisons and we’re trying to find a better ways to communicate and they are going to the departments during faculty meetings.”
She hopes to work in coordination with faculty members to identify the kind of internships that will enhance a student’s learning experience. “I want to work with individual faculty members to create internships that are specific to the course. I also want to establish more classroom internships.”
In the Spring 2005, Levitt was approached by a communication adjunct instructor, Carol Papazian who wanted to create a class project for her Public Relations students. The plan was to find a non-profit organization that would work with her students and permit them to create and present several different public relation proposals.
Levitt called her contact at Hunterdon County Senior Center who liked the idea. Over the course of five weeks, students from Papazian’s class conducted interviews and research studies to put together various campaign proposals.
At the end, the students presented four different marketing plans to the county organizers and other local public relations groups in attendance. As a result the organizers from HCS actually took some of the ideas and implemented them for their new senior center. She would like to work with individual faculty to create similar class projects.
Peter Vogt, Career Counselor of Monster.com wrote in his article “Get Experience: Internships Can Give You an Edge”, “Indeed, from an employer’s perspective, whenever two new college graduates are competing for the same job, the one who has internship experience will almost always have an advantage over the one who doesn’t. So if you’re wavering about whether to pursue an internship, do yourself a favor: Take the internship path to give yourself a competitive edge in the job market once you graduate.”
Internships at RVCC come in all shapes and sizes. There are short-term project- oriented, semester based internships, summer internships, long-term, and direct hire internships for both full or part-time positions. They cover every major course of study.
“I’ve had wonderful art internships but never had a student to fill them. There are a lot of art internship opportunities that just wither on the vine because students either don’t hear about them or they think they’re not qualified because they have no prior experience. They are there to provide the student with the experience they lack.
“Getting an internship takes some work but what I teach them are life long skills,” Levitt says.
She says it’s critical that students learn what she refers to as the “90 second marketing ad” that concisely relates to an employer who you are and what you can provide them.
“That is crucial in today’s world and something that I still use when I go to a networking meeting. It’s 90 seconds to introduce yourself and tell the audience why you are there. You’re using this 90 second self-marketing ad for ever and ever in one capacity or another.”
Students can access available internship opportunities by clicking on the Career Services link under Student Resources in the Lion’s Den and asking their instructors. You can choose up to five possible internships to pursue at a time with the only criteria being that they are carrying a minimum of six credits during the semester. For more information or to set up a personal consultation, contact Linda Levitt at 908-526-1200 ext. 8437 or llevitt@raritanval.edu.
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