1

Research on Kean University Students and Internships What is an internship?
Internships have been around for years as students take advantage of the position as an Intern. It is a way for students to have on­the­job training and/or apprenticeships. It has been a tried and true method of engaging students into a new profession without having any previous professional experience. In the last few years, there have been an exorbitant amount of college students participating in internship programs and internship programs will continue to be on the rise from both the employer’s perspective and college students will continue to take the opportunity. More employers around the country have been requiring college graduates to have previous real world experience. Internship opportunities for students may come in any career field (Business, Arts and
Humanities, Health and Medicine, Science, Math, Technology, Trades, etc…) and for any internship, the employer must provide interns with critical learning experience and credits for school and/or monetary compensation. The work being done throughout the internship could be basic and menial at times, but it must help students understand the profession as a whole.
Internships allow students to really figure out the industry that is right for them before submerging themselves in the real world at a professional job. How to find internships

2

The easiest and most direct way for future interns to gain knowledge about internships is to go to their school’s career center office or internship office and ask. The majority of schools have a place in which students could go to find on/off campus jobs related to the school, jobs outside of school, and internships. The Career Office usually helps students all the way up to the job interview/ internship interview. This includes helping students with resumes, skills required for interviews, cover letters, and workplace/internship expectations. Other places in which students could find and/or learn about internship opportunities would be online internship databases, friends, family, local newspaper (declining trend), and professional connections made beforehand. Events
Career fairs are fantastic ways to that allow students to gather information about future potential employers and make connections that could lead to their first internship. A student must bring several copies of their resume to a career fair as the employers are actively investing their company’s time and resources into recruiting new interns. Office of Internships and Cooperative Education
The Office of Internship and Cooperative Education at Kean University is located in Willis Hall
110 and is open to students Monday through Friday. The Director of Internship and Cooperative education, JoAnne Beiter, is responsible for helping students with their resume’s, tracking students’ progress through the internship and cooperative process and making sure students have everything they need in order to maximize their potential in obtaining an internship.

3

Being that I am an assistant in the Office of Internships and Cooperative education for the
Director JoAnne Beiter at Kean University, my role is to upload new and exciting internship opportunities made available to KU students on the business internship website < https://sites.google.com/a/kean.edu/internships/>, manage KU’s School of Global Business
LinkedIn and help students apply for internships and give them recommendations for applying for internships based on major, G.P.A. and current year of education (Freshman, Sophomore,
Junior, Senior). Center for Career Development & Advancement Center
Additional to the services provided by the Office of Internships and Cooperative education which helps students find internships while they are still in school, the Center for Career
Development & Advancement Center prepare students to compete in today’s ever changing job
market