College Undergrads: No Internship? No Problem

Summer internships for college students at top employers are scarce, but there are alternatives that are just as valuable

By Lindsey Gerdes

With internship hiring plummeting this summer, many undergraduates are scrambling to find that prestigious summer opening that will pave the way for lucrative post-graduate opportunities. Many won't succeed. So what do you do if summer is fast approaching and you haven't landed an internship?

Internships are the main pipeline to full-time recruiting, companies say, and the numbers bear them out. Top companies often rely on their internship programs for as much as 90% of their new college hires, so an applicant without an internship is at a big disadvantage—no small thing, particularly for current juniors. Even in a best-case scenario, they may be graduating into a not-quite-recovered job market next year.

As bad as it is, there's reason for hope. For one thing, you're not alone. The National Association of Colleges & Employers says internship hiring is down 21% from last year. Given the circumstances, many employers won't hold it against you if you've never interned at the company—but only if you have something to show for your summer off.

In fact, the first step toward making good use of your time is to stop thinking of it as your "summer off." Be flexible, recruiters say, and take advantage of any opportunity to gain skills. At Ernst & Young, which fills half of its full-time entry-level positions with former E&Y interns, Campus Recruiting Leader Dan Black says that students who don't land an E&Y internship should consider a summer position at a smaller accounting firm or any other service-oriented industry. "A lot of students are quite focused. They'll say I want to work with X company in X industry doing X position," he says. "With the market being the way it is, I would recommend that they keep their options a little more open."

Less Glamorous Jobs

Black is living proof that such a strategy can work. He himself couldn't land an internship at E&Y when he was looking for a summer internship college 15 years ago and instead worked as a mechanic in a garage. But he still snagged a full-time gig at the firm after graduation, and he's been there ever since. "I learned a lot of valuable skills. I used to close the gas station by myself. That was responsibility," he says. "In fact, I did spend a lot of time talking about that experience [in job interviews]."

Career services directors overwhelmingly agree that sometimes these less glamorous jobs can help get your foot in the door—particularly if they're related to your industry of choice. "Want a career in the hospitality industry? Find a job with lots of customer contact, even if it's at McDonald's (MCD). Knock yourself out and get rave reviews from your boss," says Carol Schroeder, undergraduate career services director at North Carolina State's College of Management (NC State Undergraduate Profile). "Engineering or business? Take a lifeguard position in a crowded public pool where you have to be hyper-observant and make quick decisions."

At Enterprise Rent-A-Car, for instance, when underclassmen inquire about internships, recruiters often will encourage them to apply for a seasonal customer service or car prep position to get acquainted with the company and its culture. That way, they will be more competitive when seek out an internship the next year.

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