Intern Talk

In today's job market, experience is the key to your ultimate career success and is the competitive edge you'll need to succeed once you graduate. School is great for building a solid foundation for your future success, but to really understand what you're actually going to do when you graduate, you'll need an internship. An internship can be your first link to the professional work force.

• Explore career alternatives and choices
• Test your chosen field
• Gain practical work experience related to your major
• Develop both technical and career-related skills
• Build a network of professional contacts
• Boost self-confidence and professional credibility

Student Perspectives

Ryan Farsai did two internships at WebEx and Adobe Systems. At WebEx, he was responsible for uploading high security contracts to an FTP server for internal use through an intranet. "It was mainly back-end work and very specialized," said Farsai. As an Adobe Systems marketing intern, "I specialized in partner marketing—that's anyonewho partners with Adobeor does development work or training for our products. I did some marketing research, conducted surveys, tabulated the data, and presented it. Based on that information, we made content and functionality changes to the Web site. It was a major overhaul."

Farsai is glad he had two internship experiences to contrast. "They were completely different work environments and cultures. I was able to get experience at a company with a start-up setting that had just gone public and an established company with a 20-year history."

He acknowledges that finding internships in a tough economy can be discouraging. "Don't give up. Just keep applying—even if you don't get a call right away, call them back." He also advises prospective interns to take initiative. "Make sure you ask questions and pursue anything that may interest you. That's how I got involved with most of the projects I ended up doing. Just express initiative to do something, for another position, or more responsibility. Always keep your career path in mind."

Helena Hong made her own luck. She's now an editorial assistant at Real Simple magazine in New York City. In the summer of 2000, she saw a sign advertising a nation-wide competition to be an advertising intern at InStyle magazine while at Valley Fair. She was one of three applicants selected from a pool of 4,500 college students.

Hong interned at InStyle from June to August of 2000. "My heart, of course, was in editorial, but I did the internship because it was such a good opportunity." The following summer, Hong came back as an editorial intern.

"I graduated knowing I wanted to go back to New York. I moved without having a job lined up," said Hong. To support her job search, she networked with magazine professionals and also scheduled informational interviews.

During a visit New York, she had coffee with Real Simple's assistant beauty editor, a San José native. Afterwards, "she invited me back up to the 41st floor to see the offices. That's when I ran into the assistant managing editor with my resume and clips in hand. I moved to New York in July 2002, and two weeks later, I got a call from HR."

Hong credits her internship experiences with helping prepare her for work as an editorial assistant. "Internships are the way to go. If you want to get to the next level, it's going to have to be somewhere on your resume."

Sergio Mason completed a co-op with General Electric Nuclear Energy during his senior year. "I was impressed by the amount of responsibility I was given. I was assigned meaningful deliverables that had a real business impact and was expected to work at a comparable level to other engineers in my group. At the same time, I received great guidance from the other engineers when I needed help. My co-op turned out to be a great transition from student to working engineer."

Mason was hired at GE immediately after finishing his co-op. "My co-op allowed me to join GE as an Edison Engineering Development Program Member (EEDP), a program for new engineers offering technical, business, and leadership development. As an EEDP member, I have the opportunity to learn about GE's nuclear energy business by taking on assignments in different groups across the business and at our customer sites. I also received business-focused engineering and general business and leadership training. Once the EEDP finishes, I will use what I have learned in the program to choose the right place to start my career at GE."

Mason advises students to start thinking early about internships. "Don't think just because you're a first-year student that you can't get involved in your future profession. Get your foot in the door. It demonstrates to your future employers that you're not only book smart, you're also real-world smart."

LaTasha Jackson's six-month co-op experience at New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc., (NUMMI) as a safety intern helped her connect what she was learning in the classroom to the working world. "I learned how NUMMI operated. Work experience makes the words on the papers and in the books real," said Jackson.

"You really get an idea of why you're in school. I learned about collaborating with groups, taking on leadership positions, and professionalism. In class, you're learning theories and concepts; in a co-op, you're applying those concepts. You really see if you like what you're learning about."

"We had a close-knit group of co-ops at NUMMI," said Jackson. She networked with students from other California schools. "One co-op student was interviewing for an in-house position—she'd share her tips with me." During her experience, she also went to a Career Fair at CSU Hayward to recruit other co-op students. "I got to be the employer and review resumes. It showed me what employers look for, what students need to have."

Jackson recommends interns "Ask questions—be a sponge. When you get in industry, people are willing to share with you as much information as you're willing to learn. You get out of it what you put in."

Her positive experience motivated her to finish school faster. "It made me aware, not to be afraid of what's out there. I already have a glimpse of what I can do."

Danica Lozano
Nutrition

Danica Lozano is a dietitian at Kaiser Santa Teresa and the Ginger-K Center in San José. After finishing the nutritional science masters program at SJSU, she completed a four-month clinical in-patient and outpatient internship at Kaiser Santa Teresa. Lozano shadowed dietitians, learned what to look for in a patient's medical chart to examine key nutritional information, and gave instruction to patients with special dietary requirements.

Her internship taught her that she prefers the one-on-one time of outpatient care to in-patient care. "In-patient care is sort of like being a doctor—you've got between 10 to 20 patients to see in one day and you want to give them as much time as you can, but you have such time constraints."

"In an internship, you observe a lot of the time, so you're able to see the whole picture and how different departments work together as a team for the best interest of a patient."

Featured Employers

Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories Summer Internship Program is considered one of "America's Top 100 Internships" by The Princeton Review. Abbott Laboratories has internships for primarily science and technical majors but also offers opportunities for business majors who are interested in working at a top healthcare company.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Enterprise Rent-A-Car's Management Intern Program offers practical hands-on experience in all aspects of business management for a variety of majors who show interest in running a business. You'll acquire valuable time management skills that will enable you to make a powerful impact in any type of fast-paced business environment.