Why Students Do Internships

• Gain Real Work Experience – To build upon classroom theories and make real decisions and solve relevant problems.
• Learn New Skills – important to their professional career field and develop the skills they have to a higher professional level.
• Build Their Resume – To enhance their credibility and qualifications for a job after graduation.
• Begin a Professional Network – Students hear about the power of networking through their college experience and are eager to practice it and develop their professional social skills.
• Work With a Potential Full-Time Employer – Students seek out employers they consider desirable for full-time employment after graduation.
• Get a Post Graduation Job Offer – Students pursue internships with the hope that an offer will be extended at the end of the internship period.
• Complete Interesting and Challenging Tasks – Highly self-motivated students seek opportunities to be stimulated through interesting and challenging tasks.
• Earn Money – To be a productive employee in their career field while still learning about it.  Student feels more confident that he/she will be given real challenges and provided the resources to be effective at a higher professional standard if they are paid.  Usually the compensation is essential to the student’s ability to make ends meet.
• Test Out an Industry or Organization – Students are rarely exposed to the working side of their career field before they graduate.  The internship gives them that opportunity and can be a deciding factor on whether they will choose to continue in that field.
• Fulfill Academic Requirements – Some degree programs require an internship.
• Receive College Credit – To fill a gap in their credit requirements for graduation.

Outline the tasks and responsibilities you expect your intern to take on. Write a somewhat detailed job description including qualifications and characteristics that will yield a successful employee. Statements that will reflect what the student is expected to learn are also helpful.