Internships offer experience, skills and can open doors

Forget summer travel or lifeguarding. College student Sky Crabtree is ready to sharpen his journalism skills this summer with an internship at NBC 4 New York at 30 Rock.

The 19-year-old rising junior at Stony Brook University on Long Island will be working with the consumer reporting team for “Better Get Baquero,” monitoring tip lines, interviewing sources, logging video and more.

“Internships are necessary,” said Crabtree. “Classes give you the skills that you need to get the internship; you need to do well at the internship and then you can take those experiences and apply them to your classes.” Then, “you can take on more advanced projects and make yourself a better reporter. Everything benefits everything.”

Crabtree, a Bronx native and journalism and political science double major, anchors politics at the student-run TV station and edits the school newspaper. He also interned this spring at WSHU, the campus public radio station. “I want to expand my journalism reporting skills and meet all these amazing people at the news outlets NBC owns,” he said. “The more you can do and the bigger the outlet, the more advantages you’ll have over other graduates.”

Shawn VanDerziel — president and CEO of the National Association of Colleges and Employers, a professional association that connects college career services and recruiting professionals — agreed.

“Eighty percent of employers say that internships provide the best return on investment of any recruitment tool that they have for early career talent,” he said. “Internship experience is cited as the deciding factor between two candidates.”

Indeed, it even surpasses grade point average as a determining employment factor. “The vast majority of employers are not necessarily considering GPA as a screening mechanism — what they are looking for number one is generally internship experience,” said VanDerziel. “The bottom line is that employers, particularly for entry-level professionals, are looking for an educated workforce that has skills, ability and knowledge.”

To gain coveted skills, students should aim to pursue multiple internships as well as volunteer activities, leadership roles on campus, research with professors and more.

If so, “employers see the candidate as versatile, capable of learning quickly and able to effectively contribute to various projects and teams,” said Rosa Santana, director of career development and planning at Wagner College on Staten Island. “Multiple internships can significantly enhance a student’s portfolio and increase their competitiveness in the job market.”

VanDerziel pointed out that about 34% of internships will be in person and 60% will be hybrid. Very few will be fully remote. Hybrid opportunities offer students with flexibility “typically working three days in the office, two days virtually from the place of the intern’s choice,” said VanDerziel.

Sara Shepherd, director of employer relations at Mercy University in Dobbs Ferry, NY, said that student learning and development seems to be the strongest when most or all of the internship is on-site.

“In-person internships teach students not only about their field, but professional etiquette in their industry,” she said. “Additionally, the value of networking in an in-person internship can be lifelong.”

Regardless of location, pay is still vital. According to Brooklyn-based Jessica Vidal, assistant general counsel and human resources consultant at HR outsourcing solution provider Engage PEO, “Employers should pay interns at least the applicable minimum wage, pursuant to industry standards. For example, tech-finance employers must often pay interns far above the minimum wage to be competitive.”

Currently, the minimum wage in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island is $16 an hour.

Vidal said that typically there’s an internship agreement or offer letter. “The agreement should outline the terms of the internship including whether the intern will receive academic credit or compensation.”

Sometimes, interns may earn both.

“Unpaid interns may be receiving credit because they’re taking it alongside a course, but just because they are [getting credit] doesn’t mean they can’t be paid,” said VanDerziel.

His latest data on this is that 60% of internships are paid and 40% are unpaid. Within unpaid internships, the majority fall within nonprofits, the government or small and midsize companies.

In this case, VanDerziel recommends talking to the campus career center to “utilize work-study dollars, scholarship funds that may be set aside for internships and a number of other ways to be a little more creative to ensure that the internship is funded. They [interns] can’t pay for coffee with a commemorative mug that they’ve received from an employer. They need more than that to set them up for success in life. There is a new day upon us by which we need to look at the fact that internships are work.”

The good news is that it’s not too late to apply for summer 2024 employment, since students may find last-minute opportunities, especially with small to midsize companies.

For aspiring journalist Crabtree, an internship is an important stepping stone.

“It’s going to help set me up to be more employable when I enter the workforce,” he said. “I don’t view it as optional.”