Summer Internships Reported Booming

April 25, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Look for lots more college students than last year to spend their summer breaks on an internship, according to a new poll.

A Vault Inc. news release said its third annual Internship Survey found that more than six in 10 (62%) students say they have or will have an internship lined up for this summer, a whopping 21% bump from last year’s 41%.

Students appreciate how significant internship experience is, as 82% said completing an internship is “extremely important” for future career success while 17% of students said internships are “somewhat important,” and only 1% said internships do not matter at all.

In fact, many students are completing multiple internships during their college careers to gain a competitive leg up. In fact, 53% of students have or will have completed two or more internships by the summer after graduation, according to the survey.

College career centers and on-campus recruiting are more popular than ever for students seeking internships; 43% of survey respondents find positions this way. Other methods include: networking/through connections (28%), job postings (20%) and cold calling (9%), according to the survey.

Finding the right internship can be crucial, as 64% of students have been offered full-time work from the companies with which they interned.

Vault’s 2006 Internship Survey was conducted in early April and is comprised of 568 responses from college students across the US.

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