Internships Encourage Real-World Learning
Today's job market requires students to have a palette of career competencies.
Whether your student is planning to work for an organization that is profit or not-for-profit oriented, family-owned or corporate, local or multinational in scope, your student is expected to have a range of personal and professional attributes.
Internships, paid or unpaid, help your student gain personal, academic and professional growth through work experiences that relate to his or her academic major and career interest. Students should complete three or more internships during college. The benefits include:
Personal
- Fosters self-confidence, self-reliance and maturity in areas relating to job performance
- Builds competencies in oral/written communication, critical thinking and creative problem-solving
- Allows for opportunities to hone people skills
Academic
- Applies classroom theory and learning to real-world experiences
- Enables earning academic credit
- Expands learning through hands-on opportunities and resources that differ from those on campus
Professional
- Encourages sampling career paths to experience day-to-day responsibilities and challenges inherent to potential positions
- Develops career-related competencies in interviewing and networking
- Provides valuable resume-enhancing experiences
- Establishes potential job contacts
Students are encouraged to begin their internship search early. Some internship searches can take up to six months to implement, particularly if students need to obtain security clearances or plan to conduct their internships abroad or in another city.
BW's Career Center and Center for Global Exploration are resource centers for students interested in internship opportunities.