Internships and co-ops: Getting ‘real world’ experience
Finding the perfect job out of college is the dream of most students.
Waking up every morning loving life and feeling excited to go to work could happen for the students who have actual experience in their field before graduation.
Internships and cooperative education jobs are common for students on college campuses across the United States.
Students are able to gain on-the-job experience to increase the odds of receiving a better job upon graduation. And NDSU is no different.
Students have the opportunity to find an internship on their own, go through the department their major is in or talk to someone in the Career Center.
The center offers information for student interested in working on the NDSU campus and/or off campus.
“Cooperative education, field experience, internship, practicum, clinical and externship are all basically the same,” Penny Aipperspach, coordinator of cooperative education said. “They are work experience, related to a major, before graduation.”
The co-op/intern program is one program for all majors, Aipperspach said.
“(The program) is not meant to compete with the other academic department programs and is one option for all students,” she said. “Co-ops/interns at NDSU (on campus) are paid, supervised, evaluated and related to a major and/or a career goal.”
According to the Career Center Web site, co-ops can be used to “test a career decision before graduation, gain a competitive edge in the professional job market, gain real life experience, earn money to help with college expenses, network with professionals and potential employers, improve resume writing, job search and interviewing skills.”
Doing an internship or co-op through the Career Center is not the only option for students.
Individual departments within the college offer information on internships for students.
The departments often encourage and/or require the hands-on experience.
A few of the NDSU colleges that require internships to graduate are the College of Business, Art, Humanities and Social Science and Pharmacy.
“Today companies and organizations expect the college graduates they hire will have had a career-related experience as part of their degree program,” Roxann Williams, external relations in the College of Business, said. “The College of Business requires a three-credit practicum experience for students majoring in accountancy, accounting, business and management information systems.”
Several programs in agriculture in the College of Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources also require or encourage internships, Assistant Dean Bob Harrold said.
“Several students in crop and weed sciences serve two or three internships,” Harrold said. “Students in veterinary technology may complete their externship requirement at one of several participating veterinary clinics.”
Some of the departments do not require internships for students to graduate.
“In the mechanical engineering department, we don’t require internships or co-ops for students, but we do highly encourage it,” Alan Kallmeyer, associate professor and interim chair, said. “Most of our students participate in some type of internship/co-op before they graduate.”
Kallmeyer and Charles McIntyre, chair of construction management and engineering, said summer internships are very common, but many students also participate in longer placements, such as spring-summer or summer-fall.
Many students and professors agree that internships are very important in a college career and have a lot to say about them.