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Internships offer a win-win-win situation to all involved. First, and probably most apparently, the student wins experience and possible monetary compensation. Of course, the business wins cheap or free labor and the school wins a great relationship with the business. How can each of these participants maximize the potential of the internship?

A student must ask himself why he is drawn to the internship. Generally speaking, the student is attracted to the internship for one or more of three good reasons; present gratification, experimentation, or future marketability.

Many internships are volunteer-based; the compensation is information. However, some internships are paid at least a stipend that helps the student meet the growing financial needs of being a student. This is an honorable and industrial benefit of the internship, but if it is the main reason for completing an internship the student may find himself completing tasks that have no meaning to him. He might as well get a part-time job at the Gap.

A student may be attracted to the internship as a way of “trying on” a career; to get to know an industry she thinks she will like. This is a great use of the internship that also might result in the student completing tasks that have no meaning to her, but at least she will know that she is avoiding spending the rest of her life doing something that is meaningless to her.

Finally, the student may be involved in an internship because he is trying to round out his portfolio by gaining experience in a field he is fairly certain that he will follow. In this case, he won’t mind not being paid currently for his efforts knowing that the knowledge he is gaining will go a long way to making him worth more in the future. These internships may take a little more research to find, but they are worthwhile in the end.

The business entering into the internship often has a clear directive because they have a specific project in mind. Whether they choose to pay for the intern or request an unpaid intern, the business is usually happy when the project is complete without having to divert or dilute regular staff. There are rare occasions when a business partakes of the internship program because the people in charge believe that they can provide a great learning situation for students. While this is admirable, they are also going to benefit from cheaper labor.

Finally, the school can establish great relationships with area businesses by facilitating the internship. These relationships can turn into an increased graduate hire rate (which in turn increases the desirability of the school) or even a partnership that can work towards grant projects and/or fund disbursement that benefits the school.

Each of the three participants in any internship can only maximize the experience by knowing what they want out of it and by not losing sight of that directive.

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