Best Places to Intern: 2008

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Goldman Sachs (GS), BusinessWeek's No. 1 internship employer, says that internship hiring will be down but that it plans to keep the program in line with prior years in terms of content and activities. "All the same rules apply this year as in any other," says Jonathan Jones, global head of recruiting and vice-president in the Human Capital Management Division, of the steps students should take in pursuing a Goldman internship. "I don't think our strategy of casting a really wide net and really trying to bring people in from all backgrounds and all nationalities is something that changes. It's a very key part of our strategy." He also observes that thus far there has been strong, even increased, interest on campuses.

Getting to Know a Company

There are also those unusual employers like PricewaterhouseCoopers that are seeking to improve the intern programs—although PwC plans to hire 100 fewer interns in the summer of 2009. In an effort to provide a consistent experience for interns in all of its U.S. offices, PwC revamped its program this summer, stipulating that interns would spend more time working with clients and would also take part in a week and a half of orientation and training at the beginning of the 10-week summer program. As has been the case for more than a decade now, all interns who receive full-time offers will converge on Disney World at the end of the summer for a four-day conference intended to help them get to know the firm better before ultimately making their decisions.

One practice that PwC doesn't endorse, says U.S. sourcing leader Robert J. Daugherty, is forcing students to accept an offer immediately. He says that he has seen other employers do so as the job market has become tougher and employers find themselves in the driver's seat. "I urge students to not get caught up in the immediacy of the situation," says Daugherty. "Students—and their parents—have made a large investment in their education and they need to carefully analyze all potential options."

And for some industries, today's economic turmoil has worked to their advantage in terms of recruiting. "Generally we're seeing a huge increase in interest," says Microsoft intern program manager Caroline Bulmer of the greater number of top-tier students now interested in securing an internship at her company. "Certainly there are industries that are not hiring [so we're not competing with them]. Some of the financial firms are less aggressive."

Competition for internships is even fiercer because an increasing number of graduates are falling back on internships or applying to graduate school when there are no offers to be found. Robert Earl, the director of career development at Barnard College in New York, tells his grads: "If you don't have a secure opportunity, do an internship. Hopefully you're going to get paid, but you might not." But he says all hope is not lost, even in this super-competitive environment. "The person who's very flexible and very creative will be able to weather the storm."

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Gerdes is a staff editor for BusinessWeek in New York.