Experience counts for everything in the job market, and internships are one way to get your foot in the door.

Ellen Anderson, assistant director of the Career Planning and Placement Center, believes students have nothing to lose and everything to gain when it comes to internships.

Huffstutler added that obtaining an internship is essential in a competitive job market.

“Getting an internship is based on three factors that never change,” Huffstutler said. “Technical skills, transferable skills and relational skills. Technical skills come down to concepts and the tools used in that field. Transferable skills are about your set of capabilities and characteristic traits; they go from one job to the next job. Relational skills are the attitude toward others, and the socialization process.”

While an internship gives you outside experience at a company, it also helps you practice instruction that you learn in class.

“It shows how that particular information fits into the real world. It can also be a huge help when looking for a job. Employers like to see that related experience,” Anderson said.

Anderson said an internship proves that a student can work in a professional work environment.

“There is absolutely no reason why anyone should graduate without an internship, because there are so many ways to find them and it is so important to get it on your resume,” she said.

Students are not the only ones who benefit from the experience of an internship; employers benefit as well.

“Employers get some good help with internship help,” Anderson said. “They get projects completed and students get really good experience. It is a win-win situation for both the student and employer.”