Internship market changes with the economy

When Daron Adkins was medically discharged at 28 — almost a decade into his military career — he was left with no education and no plan other than a longtime dream to work as a web developer. Now, Adkins is part of a growing trend of students dedicating their summer vacations to working internships and co-ops, gaining the valuable experience needed to help them secure a job after graduation. Internships have been around for decades, but Kim Hoyt, coordinator for Cooperative Education and Service Learning at Gulf Coast State College, said their role has changed in the last five years as the job market rebounds from the Great Recession. As businesses recover and thrive, they’re opening up more positions and have to compete to attract the best interns, because students have their pick of companies. “It’s more the student’s market,” Hoyt said. “Now, on my website, I have more jobs and internships posted than I’ve ever seen. I had five or six employers call me yesterday.” A number of degrees, particularly in digital media and communications, now require a student to complete an internship or co-op to graduate, something Hoyt said she embraced wholeheartedly. The knowledge and hands-on experience gained through an internship are “vital,” she said, and even have the potential to change a student like Adkins’ whole outlook. Adkins quit his full-time job as a contractor with the Navy for a part-time internship. It sounds crazy, he admits, but he had creative dreams and a drive to think outside the box — something the military didn’t provide. He enrolled at Gulf Coast State College and began asking professors about internships. When a three-month position building websites at Kerigan Marketing in Mexico Beach opened up, he jumped at the chance. Despite a long career in the military, Adkins said he was nervous his first day — so nervous he started telling his professors he might not be able to stick it out. “Once I sat down, I saw how much I didn’t know,” he said. But his employers were used to taking on interns and were patient with him, recognizing there’s only so much that can be learned in a classroom. “It’s amazing how much you learn in a short amount of time,” Adkins said. “I learned more in my first month than I did at school.” Most importantly, Adkins said he learned what he should be learning — what skills he would need to hone in his studies and what future employers will be looking for. “It let me not focus so much on minor details,” he said. “You need to understand the broad strokes. This industry changes so fast, and you have to always be learning and willing to learn.” Source-newsherald For further assistance related to Internship related queries in India, Dubai or Singapore, please visit: http://www.pursueasia.com