[ Golden Gater Online - September 11, 1997 ]
Students who think they can relax after a summer of hard work have another thing coming.
It's already time to start searching for the perfect internship, whether it be a fall semester position, a professional stint over the winter break, or a three-month intensive job beginning in June.
But unless your career goal is to be a bellhop, you shouldn't be taking positions where you're carrying luggage for your supervisor, recommended Jim Cheng, director of cooperative education for SF State.
"By making coffee and picking up laundry for executives you're prostituting yourself," Cheng said.
Cooperative education's goal is to place students in paid internship positions within their fields of interest. The program places 70 to 80 students a year in professional positions and boasts an after-internship employment rate of 90 percent.
One of the students placed in the program is Mark Horowitz, a junior engineering major who transferred to UC Berkeley this fall. Before he left SF State, he got his current position as an intern working with engineers at PG&E replacing gas pipelines in San Francisco.
Horowitz got the position in June and makes no bones about it: he's bored. The pay's OK for him at $12 an hour, though he grumbles about the 20 percent cut cooperative education takes out for university and employee insurance. Looking at maps of the city all day has put his career choice in perspective.
"It's made me really focus on getting a job where I really want to do what I like and I don't really care how much I get paid," he said.
"I want to get a job where I don't dread going to work every day like I do now."
This is Horowitz's second internship. One of the things he liked better about the first was that his supervisors had more time for him, so he learned more.
Supervision is one of the most important elements in an internship, said urban studies professor Debbie Levine, who leads an internship class for her department. Urban studies, along with other departments like design and industry, require their students to complete an internship before they graduate.
"I think the thing to look out for is some place that doesn't have the internship outlined and a bad supervisor," Levine said.
The other thing to look out for is unpaid positions, Cheng warns. He said although you might get your foot in the door with the company, internships rarely turn into real jobs and the financial sacrifice isn't worth it.
"I think the non-paid internship leads to student exploitation, and it cheapens the academic component," Cheng said.
"Don't sell yourself short. It never works."
That's the same advice given by Diana Vasquez, an urban studies major with six internships to fill her resume. She recommended confidence and sticking your neck out on the line for employers to notice your skills and talents.
And though you might not always get to do the cool jobs, you should negotiate your way into some productive projects, Vasquez said.
Horowitz and Vasquez agree you should be selective in your internship search because choosing the wrong position might not give you the contacts and industry knowledge typical of a good internship.
"I guess I've learned to not just pick anything that comes along," Horowitz said.
[ Golden Gater - September 11, 1997 ]