Alexander Roberts – Special to the Southern News
Internships have both pros and cons associated with them and can be helpful because of the background experience earned, says Andrew Frentress, junior political science major.
According to Frentress, he will need an internship and is currently looking for opportunities, but he cannot commit the time yet due to school, work, and extracurricular activities he participates in such as the college democrats on campus.
“Professors are also helped by internships because they get research assistance,” said Preetham Bangera, freshman computer science major.
Bangera says he is not looking for an internship because he does not need to at this time, however, he has thought about the internship process and what will be required of him when he is ready to start.
According to Bangera, none of his professors have mentioned anything about internships, but he knows people in successful, ongoing internships and thinks these requirements help students to network.
Almar Rohbar, freshman biology major, said he has done an internship before while attending high school and it was centered on psychology.
According to Rohbar, his professors now haven’t discussed this topic very much, but he is more aware due to his early experience with the internship experience, even though it was not at college.
Rohbar says he thinks internships are helpful and good for gaining experience, but said it is unfair many internships are not paid because programs like this are treated like a job and require a lot of work to do well.
Bangera said any internship should be paid because of all the time and effort that goes into making them successful and the only con he can think of is the financial side of completing them. On a positive note, he said, the aspect of building and boosting a resume is an advantage.
According to Forbes.com, 69 percent of companies have offered full time jobs to interns in 2012.
Frentress says the pro side to having an internship is preparation for the job market, but also thinks that is balanced out by the con of competition between fellow interns. If he can do an internship anywhere he chooses, he said, it would be in Washington, D.C. working for a congressman or a senator, but would not mind any opportunities locally.
According to Frentress, one of his friends had a successful internship with Senator Blumenthal, and something along those lines is something he hopes for as well.
Patrick Kingsley, senior computer science major, said he has not thought a lot about the process he needs to go through to secure an internship, but he does need one to graduate and knows other students who have successfully completed internships. Landing a job, he said, is the main benefit to working an internship, but the financial side of the process is not ideal.
Kingsley said it is fair to have to pay for an internship as a class because of the experience gained, but pay would be a good addition.
According to Frentress, not being paid would be fine, as long as the requirements did not overcommit him.
Jon Zonderman, SCSU adjunct professor of journalism, said he is always mentioning internship opportunities in his class so his students are aware and sometimes students will ask for internship advice from him, which is when he directs them to the main journalism office.
According to Zonderman, his son just completed a production internship—working at a radio station doing production work.
“I know a number of students who have had successful internships,” said Zonderman.
