Career Services

What is an Internship?

In a recent survey conducted by UW-Whitewater Professor Dr. Lila Waldman, Information Technology & Business Education, employers who recruit UW-Whitewater graduates ranked Internships as their most preferred form of experience for students entering the job market. Students participating in internships gain valuable workplace skills, improve their marketability, and better prepare themselves for their full-time job searches.

Internships:

Are typically one-time, structured work experiences related to your career goal.
Involve working in a professional setting under the supervision of a professional in the chosen field.
Can be paid or unpaid, and may or may not allow for you to receive academic credit.
Might be required as part of the curriculum in an academic program or offered as an elective.
Are typically completed later in your college career after you've attained appropriate academic preparation for the professional field.

To help you better understand your internship options, we have divided the road to an internship in two basic directions:

A Career Development Internship is any internship that allows you to gain work experience related to your career goal as part of your career preparation. Most majors do not prepare you for specific jobs. The skills you develop through your major prepare you for a wide variety of jobs. Plus, you develop skills and knowledge through activities such as student organization involvement and community service, to name a few. One of the most important factors in obtaining a job after graduation becomes the experience you gain through opportunities like internships. Therefore, an internship identified as a "career development internship" may or may not seem to relate directly to your major yet does relate to your career goal. To participate in a Career Development Internship, you must find an internship position with an employer and secure it on your own. If your career goal seems "different" than your major and/or you do not want to earn academic credit for an internship, contact Career Services or check out the Hawk Internship Program.
An Academic Internship is an internship experience for which you earn academic credit. The internship position you secure must include work tasks that directly relate to the knowledge and skills developed through your major. The internship position with an employer is secured either on your own or with assistance from a faculty member. The experience is coordinated by the individual academic department (in the form of a course) and comes with requirements such as papers, journals, etc. If your career goal is related to your major and/or you hope to earn academic credit for an internship, see the faculty internship coordinator in your major department.

Why Are Internships Important?

There are many reasons why completing an internship is important, whether it is an academic or a career development internship. You can benefit from an internship experience in the following ways:

You gain valuable career-related experience. This relevant work experience can give you a competitive edge when the time comes to find a full-time job.
You develop career-related skills and abilities.
You get the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in the professional environment. In turn, this helps you better understand classroom concepts.
You learn more about the career field and gain a better understanding of what the professional environment is really like.
You begin to develop your network of professional contacts, and you could develop a mentoring relationship with a professional.
You may earn money and/or earn academic credit.
You may get a permanent job. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 2008 Experiential Education Survey, employer respondents indicated that, on average, 70% of interns receive full-time job offers as a result of their internships.

In addition to the academic and professional benefits, you can also benefit on a personal level. An internship experience can boost your self-confidence and confirm your career goals. You could experience life in a part of the country you've never been to before or even go abroad. Finally, an internship can begin to prepare you for life after college.