Students strive for productive summers

By David M. Oppenheim

Increasingly, students are expected to make productive use of their summers by taking on an internship in any of a wide variety of fields. There are many roadblocks to finding a truly outstanding internship experience. Individuals search for positions which will look impressive on a resumé, will be rewarding financially, and will provide opportunities to learn and develop skills in a particular profession.

The process can be discouraging. In a letter sent to potential internship applicants by The Economist magazine, the prospective intern is told: "Interns receive no formal training.... They may have to struggle to get anyone to pay them any attention. There is no guarantee of a job or of anything else when the internship comes to an end.... The pay is miserable." The question remains, though, are there internships which are more than just fodder for resumés?

A Broad Spectrum of Experiences

Summer internships at large companies and institutions can be very rewarding, but also often involve mindless busy work. "Yale is very academic during the year, and we obviously don't want students to graduate with no sense of the world," Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, said. "Internships are ideally a way for students to plug in to part of the world outside Yale's walls. While some internships are just glorified Xeroxing jobs, some are certainly valuable."

Sandra Goodson, the associate director of Undergraduate Career Services at Yale, explained the distinction between an internship and a summer job: "An internship is a structured position with a defined project or assigned duties and a clear end result. A summer job has no defined duties."

The New York investment banking firm Merrill Lynch offers its interns a chance to do the work of a regular employee. Andy Katzman, BK '98, interned at Merrill Lynch last summer. "I wasn't really an intern, but rather an analyst. I was integral on projects and really learned the ins and outs of the business," he said.

Don Fischer, DC '99, also reported having a great deal of involvement in the Internet design firm Razorfish, Inc., where he worked. He emphasized the advantage of working in a smaller company. "If you avoid busy work like answering phones at the beginning, you can get yourself into a niche," Fischer said. "I did a lot of hands on, client work. Many people in the office did not know I was an intern."

In general, it is in the best interest of the employers to have the interns perform real work. Ben Jones, technical recruiter for Microsoft, described the rationale behind his company's internship program: "First and foremost, it is to give students a channel to get experience working on real-life products with some of the top experts in the industry," Jones explained. "Second, it's great for us as well. Students working on actual products over the summer gives us a tremendous boost in creativity, energy, and poductivity."

But internships can be valuable even in the absence of intimate involvement in the organization, as illustrated by the experience of Meredith DePaolo, BK '98, who worked at the New York-based publishing house Hearst Book Group. DePaolo's internship involved spending one to two weeks in each of the firm's departments and producing a book idea by the end of the summer. Though the company did not use ideas developed by any of its interns, DePaolo still felt "they did a really good job of giving an in-depth view of all aspects of publishing."

The role filled by Dan Brook, DC '00, in his internship for the United States Senate Finance Committee was not quite as glamorous. He realized that he "was not essential in any way," since his role was essentially that of a gofer. Just being in the corridors of power, however, can be a thrill. "Even taking documents to the Capitol is still pretty amazing," he said.

While working for a Senator might not ensure an eventual post on the Senate floor, many students do look toward summer internships because of their potential to develop into post-college job opportunities.

Stepping stones

The potential reward from summer internships has made students ever more eager to land the prestigious positions. As Fischer said, "I definitely felt an obligation to get serious work over the summer, but I didn't really want to. My job working for a design firm was a sort of compromise--it was more laid back than a job on Wall Street."

Rebecca Friedman, PC '98, worked at the Advisory Board, a market research firm based in Washington, D.C. She also believed she needed career-oriented summer employment. "I wouldn't have felt comfortable waitressing in the mountains," she said.

According to Goodson, the trend of students seeking out internships appears to have intensified in recent years. "Although we have no way of keeping statistics, I see an increase in the number of students interested in internships," she said. The number of internships advertised at UCS has also steadily risen, reaching more than 1,400 this year.

One of the most fundamental reasons that students seek out internships is that the experiences often prove valuable assets to graduating seniors seeking jobs. Phil Hilal, ES '98, had an investment banking internship at Goldman, Sachs & Co. last summer that translated into a permanent job offer for next year.

Hilal placed a great deal of importance on his internship experience. "It positioned me very well for my job search, both by adding to my resumé and allowing me to interview early for a full-time position," he said. Hilal's experience illustrates the most basic reward that an internship can offer students in the long term, and his story is not unique.

Random House Publishing, a popular company for Yale students looking for summer work, eventually hires approximately two-thirds of its interns to full-time positions. The company's philosophy, according to Human Resources Internship Coordinator Sue Grafton, is to "try to find a place for [our] interns first. After all, they've met the initial criteria in order to be hired as interns in the first place."

Abby Kuflik, deputy chief of correspondence for Newsweek and the overseer of Newsweek's internship program, expressed similar sentiments. "[Former interns] have an understanding of what to do in a professional setting," Kuflik said. We certainly like them back [to work full-time]." She added that Newsweek has consistently hired at least one of its interns at the end of recent summers.

Price Hicks, the director of educational programs and services for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, noted that full-time employment can never be a sure thing, regardless of experience. "Our internships usually develop into jobs, but we can't guarantee anything because entertainment is a business that is rapidly changing," she said.

She hastened to add that "none [of the internships offered] are definitely door openers, but when [employers] see `I was an Academy intern,' that tells them a lot about the person--that they've been through the mill, done a lot."

The Academy's internship program, ranked number one by the Princeton Review's America's Top Internships, takes in students interested in all aspects of television production and gives them experience working with established Hollywood people in their desired field of expertise. Many of the hosts of the interns are former interns themselves.

In almost all industries, a summer internship can be a boon for students in their searches for future employment. Prestigious internships communicate to potential employers that the applicant has already survived a vigorous application process and has experience in the field.

Money in the Bank

For many students, the summer is also a time to make money, and both students and corporate recruiters are acutely aware of this need. Organizations that are able to offer paid internships are not limited to choosing exclusively from those students with sufficient financial means. "It is expensive in New York City," Kuflik said. "If we did not pay interns, we'd be limited to people able to support themselves. We want the best people possible."

Many positions in the public sector and nonprofit areas, however, are unpaid. Goodson laments the fact that these positions are impossible for students who need to support themselves. "There are many wonderful opportunities that some students cannot take," she said.

The financial burden on students was eased somewhat by a recently implemented rule regarding the calculation of financial aid. The summer work requirement is a component of a student's assets and an integral part of the overall financial aid package. For the past two summers, students in the class of 1999 receiving aid were expected to contribute $2,190 in summer earnings, essentially barring them from accepting unpaid and lower-paying summer positions. This year, that requirement will be waived for one summer, allowing all students to pursue a broader range of
opportunities.

This change was made so that all students could be eligible for the same opportunities. "The waiver was created in recognition of the way internships have evolved in the past few years, and the realization that there are now all sorts of things you can do with yourself over the summer that don't pay much or at all," Brodhead said. "That situation creates an inequality between students who can afford to spend their summers unprofitably and those who can't, so we wanted to remedy that inequality."

While this step eases somewhat the financial burden on students, it is still difficult for students to accept the less lucrative positions, as expenses incurred during the summer can be prohibitive.

Even at Goldman, Sachs and Co., a high paying internship, Hilal found that money was tight. "All things considered, [the internship] didn't pay much. The costs of living are high. You can't expect to walk out with money in your pocket."

Friedman questioned the wisdom of the financial aid summer work requirement in general: "The [requirement] always seemed sketchy. Most of the money I made, I spent during the summer." It is rare to find an internship that is truly a financial windfall.

The most often cited reason for participation in internships was for students to gain experience in a particular field, both to help determine whether to make their careers and to build their resumés. To this end, corporate internships often prove extremely successful, and, especially in light of the financial aid modifications, will continue to attract scores of Yalies. As Fischer remarked, "There is no such thing as an unpaid internship."

Molly Ball contributed to this article. Jump graphic by Patrick McGarvey,