By According to an annual National Association of Colleges and Employers survey, internships are crucial to a student’s academic career. They grant work experience and provide higher employment rates after graduation.
Findings from NACE’s 2024 survey showed that paid interns enjoyed higher starting salaries than those who had unpaid or no internships. They can make over $10,000 more and have more job offers pre-graduation.
At Long Beach State, the Career Development Center provides services, including interview preparation, career exploration and resume assistance to students looking for internships or preparing for a full-time offer.
Jina Flores, associate director of the CDC, said employers prefer interns in the hiring process because of the skills required by the time a worker enters the job.
Flores said most employers seek skills in recent graduates, including the NACE Career Readiness Competencies–a list of eight skills that every graduate should have developed when they enter the workforce.
Another obstacle that upcoming and recent graduates face is the transition from academics to the workforce.
Michelle Chang, director of the academic internships office at the Center for Community Engagement, said the main challenges students face when transitioning from internships to full-time work are adjusting to new experiences, schedules, imposter syndrome, benefits and compensation packages.
“Combating imposter syndrome–especially if this is your first job–there might be feelings of ‘Do I belong here?’ or ‘Can I do this work?’ If you were not qualified, they would not have hired you. Focus on learning and building relationships with colleagues,” Chang said in an email statement.
According to Chang, full-time employees receive health and retirement benefits that students do not typically see in their internships.
“New hires should take the time to review and understand what the company offers and how those benefits are calculated into their compensation packages,” Chang said.
The challenges students face when trying to secure an internship are knowing where to look, how to prepare documents and interviews and understanding how they can receive academic credit, according to Chang.
The Career Development Center offers many different networking event opportunities. The events are open to all students. Photo courtesy of the Career Development Center.
Fourth-year finance major Cole Rabano, who secured an internship at Northrop Grumman this upcoming summer, said preparing for the interview was a significant challenge.
“I found the most beneficial strategy was to look up who my interviewer was before the interview, understand what department they were in [and] how long they’ve been working at the company,” Rabano said.
Based on the information Robano discovered upon researching his interviewer, he said he felt more prepared with specific professional questions to ask at the end of the interview process.
According to Rabano, joining the Corporate Mentoring Program at CSULB helped him learn the proper interview techniques and how to make an impression during the interview.
“My mentor actually introduced me to someone who worked (at Northrop) and he told me what questions they would ask and what they may differ from department to department,” Rabano said.
Rabano, who was invited to apply to the CMP, said people are not always aware that these programs exist on campus.
“A lot of people have outside priorities right now, so they may not have the time, especially if you have another job,” he said. “I think (CSULB), for the most part, does a good job making students aware of them with newsletters and emails.”
Alyssa Alvarez, a fourth-year political science major and finance minor, said her involvement with the Financial Management Association on campus helped her land an internship at Morgan Stanley.
Alvarez, president of the FMA chapter, said the organization introduced her to Beach Investment Group, a course offered at the university that helps students build their portfolios.
“In order to be eligible to join, you have to go to the summer boot camp, and that’s where I met one of our alumni mentors, who I worked closely with during the summertime,” Alvarez said. “She then let me know her team was looking for an intern, and asked me if I was interested.”
Alvarez said deciding to minor in finance has helped her, but the biggest challenge was the mental block the two areas of study brought.
“I realized the best qualities to have in finance are drive, motivation and analytical skills, and in political science, you already have those analytical skills,” Alvarez said. “It was about being able to transfer my original perspective and pushing that into finance.”
Alvarez’s internship at Morgan Stanley sponsors interns to get licensed. She said she feels confident about securing a full-time position after her internship is over.
“I feel a sense of job security knowing that I’ve got the (Morgan Stanley) internship and soaked up everything I’ve done to become a professional in the industry,” Alvarez said.
She credits the FMA for being a place to network with peers and alumni and said that attending resources such as the finance symposium every semester, attending the advisory boards and becoming a student leader is important.
“If you are an underclassmen who is joining these clubs, see what the upperclassmen are doing, learn from the alumni that are coming and take advantage of that because a lot of professionals want to help,” Alvarez said.
