A good internship not only shows a job seeker what they can look forward to in the professional world, but it also opens up the door to networking and contacts. Asa Aarons filed the following Employment Report.
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When it comes to landing a good job, an internship isn't mandatory, but it sure can't hurt.
"I was very timid, I could barely get on the telephone and talk to my boss. I adapted very quickly, got the hang of things right off the bat and I just kept going from there," said Chad Coon, a 25-year-old former intern.
Claudia Grillo, 22, credits her internship for helping her land a position right after graduation.
"I didn't do a lot of the things like get coffee, running errands. I had a lot of hands on responsibilities," Grillo said.
The problem is separating the real opportunities from a three month stint running for coffee. Vault.com examined nearly 800 internship opportunities and published their findings in its "Vault Guide To Top Internships."
The top 10 internships range across a number of professional disciplines and salary levels including finance.
"If you're on a $100,000 pay scale as an MBA student you're likely to get several thousand dollars as your internship," said Vault.com Executive Vice President Yazad Dalal.
Vault.com found other internships that pay well in a different way.
"The exposure you get at the unpaid internships is sometimes better than what you get at the paid internships because they're trying to make up for the fact that they're not paying you," Dalal said. "Whether that means going out to lunch with some of the senior executives, going out on client calls, working hands-on on projects that are actively underway at the company, those are all perks that you wouldn't necessarily get at a paid internship where they're paying you for certain tasks."
Vault.com did several categories from finance to liberal arts to unusual experiences. In no particular order, the combined top 10 include Capital Fellows Programs, Garmin International, GE, Google Inc., Inroads, JP Morgan Investment Bank, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Smithsonian Institution and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
Wherever you wind up going, it's important to remember that an internship can often prove to be the longest job interview of your life.