Gone are the days of working in a neighborhood clothing store or lifeguarding at the local pool during the summer. Over the past few years, college students have hung up their whistles and replaced them with briefcases as they prepare to spend their summer vacations in the work force.
"Probably over 75 percent of Penn students will have internships this summer," Director of Career Services Patricia Rose estimated, adding that summer internships are important "because they are a great way to try out something for a brief period of time."
According to Rose, students this year have found greater success in their search for internships, which she attributed to the improving economy.
She added that employers will look favorably on students who have previous work experience on their resum‚. In addition, summer internships can often produce more immediate results.
"Many employers use the summer as a pre-recruiting tool for permanent employment, and many students come back to school with offers," Rose said.
Wharton junior Yin Yin is hoping that she will return to school in September with a job offer or at least a few job possibilities.
Yin will be placed in a finance internship through Sponsor for Educational Opportunity, a program that provides career opportunities for minorities.
The highly selective program links students with big-name firms on Wall Street. Twenty-two Penn students are participating this year.
Although Yin does not find out where she will be placed until May, she is sure that she will be completely satisfied with the program.
"They really take care of you," Yin said of SEO. "The group acts as an intermediary between you and all the big firms."
An advantage of finding an internship through an organization like SEO is that it creates future networking opportunities among all participating companies.
"At the end of the summer, your resum‚ gets passed on to all partner firms," Yin said. "You may even have a job offer in your pocket before September."
For those who venture out on their own, the search for an internship can be complicated.
College junior Erin Springer applied to many internships before she was hired for one at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.
"Finding a summer internship in a field that you're interested in is difficult because of all the competition," Springer said.
Springer will be working in the juvenile sector of the District Attorney's Office and focusing on the Youth Aid Panel, a program that works to give juvenile offenders a second chance.
Although the internship is unpaid, Springer decided the skills she will gain are well worth the monetary sacrifice.
"I wanted practical experience in an organization associating with the law. Hopefully, this experience will help me decide whether or not I want to pursue a legal profession," Springer said.
For many, however, the decision between a paying job and an unpaid internship can be stressful.
College freshman Brooke Tancer is attempting to combine both alternatives this summer.
She contacted the Psychology Department at the State University of New York-Stony Brook and received three offers from professors. Tancer, however, also plans to work as a counselor at a tennis camp where she has worked for the past few years.
"I offered to go in nights and weekends," Tancer said regarding her potential internship. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
Tancer, like many other college students, feels the connections made and the experience gained will be worth the sacrifice.
She admits, though, that "it will be hard since camp is an eight-hour day, and the clinic is an hour away."
With more students focusing on internships, Career Services is making every effort to support students and help facilitate their searches.
The Career Services office holds numerous workshops and panels throughout the year and created Internship Week in mid-January, during which numerous on-site recruitment efforts took place. The office's Web site also lists approximately 10,000 potential internships for students, along with employer contact information.
