St. Thomas students are now transitioning from summer internships back to classes on campus — and of 2015 graduates, over half had made that shift at least once during their college career, according to the Career Development Center.
Career counselor Kristen Murphy has noticed employers making openings to younger students, putting pressure on those who have not yet completed an internship.
“The difference that we’re seeing — in the last couple years — is that employers are open to sophomores now, which is a real shift. It used to be that you had to have completed your junior year,” Murphy said.
Junior Sarah Pranadjaja is part of the new trend, completing two internships in Hong Kong after her sophomore year.
As a communication and journalism major, Pranadjaja gained valuable experience working with CLSA, a financial server, and Li & Fung, a global supply chain manager.
Pranadjaja performed tasks like assisting in media relations and publishing stories for all global offices within the company to see. She said internships are essential because she believes they can give her a better feel as to what she wants to do for a career.
“Being in that work environment different from student life is really helpful,” Pranadjaja said. “It’s good for personal development, too.”
She also stresses the importance of making connections, since that is what led her to these opportunities.
“Really take advantage of the connections that you have,” Pranadjaja said. “Don’t be afraid of reaching out to people and trying to make those connections.
With early involvement growing, some students feel anxious about lacking experience in the form of internships.
“A common thing, when a student comes into my office, they’ll say something like, ‘I’m late. I feel like all of my peers have internships already for next summer,” Murphy said. “And really, I don’t feel like there’s a ‘too late.’”
Murphy pointed out that although internships look attractive on resumes when the skills are relevant, there are other ways to get that experience companies look for.
“Students can get experience outside of internships,” Murphy said. “It could be a part-time job. It could be volunteerism. … There’s research projects on campus that can build some skills … anything that’s going to diversify their skill set will be helpful.”
Sophomore Taylor Lesmeister hasn’t done an internship yet, but has explored other options like research projects. He spent last summer with professor J. Thomas Ippoliti, conducting organic chemistry research. Taylor plans on completing an internship at some point — he has even started applying at 3M — but he still appreciates the experience the research project gave him.
“I definitely understand where people are coming from when they feel like they’re behind on getting into internships, but with my research project this summer, I feel like I gained enough experience that way to not be worried,” Lesmeister said.
Murphy would encourage students interested in internships to focus on making connections. One way she said students can do this is to attend the Job and Internship Fair, which occurs every year in February with around 300 potential employers in attendance.
Kassie Vivant can be reached at viva0001@stthomas.edu