A sneak peek at the real world

Tuesday, November 3, 1998

A sneak peek at the real world

CAREER: Internships provide valuable career experience ­ as
long as you don’t get stuck filing, faxing or doing other tasks of
dubious importance

By Aimee Phan

Daily Bruin Contributor

Brenda Kleidosty had heard her fair share of Bill Clinton jokes
before leaving for her internship at the White House last
summer.

"People would say things like ‘Stay away from Bill,’" the
third-year communications student said. "I’ve heard millions of
them."

Despite the jokes, Kleidosty said interning in the speechwriting
office at the White House was a memorable experience.

"I was working with some of the most brilliant people I had ever
met," Kleidosty said. "It gave me the incentive to work really
hard, knowing that these 26- and 27-year-olds were already so
successful."

Kleidosty is one of many students who are using internships as a
sneak peek into possible careers for the future. Through summer or
year-round internships, students have the opportunity to learn more
about the professions they are interested in and the kind of work
they might be doing.

According to Eunice Cabacungan, local programs counselor at the
EXPO Center, an internship is a worthwhile educational supplement
that helps college students prepare for the competitive career
market.

"An internship gives students the chance to gain career
experience that will be helpful to seek full-time employment,"
Cabacungan said. "It helps them decide if this is what they want to
do for a living."

The EXPO Internship and Study Abroad Services is a satellite
office of the Career Center that oversees internship opportunities
for students available at both national and local levels. Through
numerous programs, Cabacungan and other counselors help students
find and secure internships in a variety of professional
fields.

In addition to serving as an important educational component,
counselors say internships also look good on a resume.

"It makes (students) look more marketable," Cabacungan said.
"Employees are looking for students who’ve had relevant career
experience."

And with the growing number of college graduates seeking
employment in a limited number of positions, students need all the
advantages they can get.

"There are a lot of people with degrees," said Jennifer Kalish,
assistant to the director of the Center for Experiential Education
and Service Learning. "Internships are becoming more and more
important for students to get hands-on experience and make
contacts."

Formerly known as the Field Studies Office, the Center for
Experiential Education and Service Learning coordinates classes
that combine lectures and internships for academic credit. One of
the biggest concerns that Kalish has for her students is making
sure the internships are worthwhile experiences.

She said that while there are those internships that truly
immerse students into the work field, there are others that focus
too much on faxing and filing, and little on educating the
interns.

"Realistically speaking, almost every internship has clerical
duties," Kalish said. "But we don’t want that to be the bulk of
what the student is doing. If there’s nothing in the internship for
them to be learning, we don’t want them there."

Kalish said students can avoid these type of free-labor
positions by carefully screening internships before agreeing to
sign on.

"A lot of the time, students are so anxious to get the
internship that they’ll agree to anything," Kalish said. "They need
to talk to their supervisors and decide if this is worth their
time."

A common mistake students make in selecting internships is being
too impressed by the company’s name to realize what the internship
exactly entails.

"People are drawn to really big name companies," Kalish said.
"They get dazzled and are willing to take anything because of its
name."

Billy Yang was one of those unfortunate students. In his zest to
work for a "Big 5" accounting firm the summer before his junior
year, Yang took a position that involved computer work instead of
auditing, which is what he really wanted to do.

"Even though I knew what I was getting into, I had the
expectation that I would be able to do other things I was
interested in," the fourth-year business-economics student said.
"When you’re stuck filing, you don’t get into the field."

Having learned from his mistakes, Yang accepted another
internship the following summer with KMPG, another "Big 5"
accounting firm. His work with them was so successful that he was
offered a job with the company following graduation.

"They treated me like a first-year staff member," Yang said. "I
did a lot of auditing work that the first-year employees would be
doing. They had a lot of respect for what I did."

Another advantage to Yang’s KMPG internship was a competitive
salary, a perk that not all internships have.

While there are a fair share of paid internships, most offer
compensation only through academic credit. This can be a major
drawback for students who rely on their summers and afternoons as
time to make money for tuition and living expenses.

Kleidosty was one of those students.

"It was hard because I was travelling across the country for
this unpaid internship," she said. "So I worked during spring
quarter to save up for it."

Despite the lack of salary, Kleidosty still found the internship
worthwhile.

"You don’t count the minutes like when you’re on a job because
it’s your time," Kleidosty said. "You don’t feel obligated to be
there, but you are because of the education."

According to Cabacungan, however, more companies are leaning
toward paying their interns.

"Many sponsors are realizing that a paid internship is more
attractive since some students are putting themselves through
school," Cabacungan said.

By providing students with the opportunity to make contacts and
explore possible jobs, good internships have the potential to
enlighten and influence students.

"An internship can be invaluable," Yang said. "Students should
go for the experience and not pass it up."

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