In past years, the Career Transfer Center has only been allowed to have 50 students going into its internship program per semester. However, this semester the center has been given the OK to allow even more students to intern through Moorpark College.
Internships act much like normal courses and appear on transcripts as “Internship in [your major here],” according to Judi Gould, the Career Transfer Center Coordinator.
Students can receive a total of up to four units, with every 60 hours of an internship being equal to one unit, while every 75 hours of a paid internship being equal to one unit.
“If I had my wish I’d have every student do an internship in their potential major because it’s either going to help validate a direction or make you realize you want to explore a different field,” Gould said.
The program is fairly simple and has just a few requirements. Applying students must be attending Moorpark College and must also have taken, or must be enrolled in, a class under the same major as the desired internship.
In addition, students must attend an orientation and meet three times with an instructor in the same field or major as the internship. Together, the student and instructor create three learning objectives and plan a final project.
While the immediate goal of an internship is to give students perspective into possible careers and help confirm or deny major interests, internships also have some major after college benefits. Along with building up a resume and creating important contacts in a field of interest, internships give student a competitve edged when it comes to job searching.
According to Gould, many of the interning students end up getting jobs afterwards, and many have gone on to larger universities with a strong resume and confirmed interests.
Furthermore, a study by Hatchuel Tabernik and Associates showed that Students who intern also “find jobs faster, and earn more than their classmates during the first years of employment,”
To sign up for an internship visit the Career Transfer Center, or go to the college website and fill out a contract, which can be found on the career transfer center’s page. The deadline to find and submit an application for this semester is Feb. 12.
College is very important in both creating memories and path for the future, but until college is over what lies ahead is almost always uncertain. However, it is possible to have at least some sort of idea of what the future holds if you have an internship.
Whether it be for Merrill Lynch, for an author, in a museum, or for a TV show, internships while still in college provide students with the chance to engage in a field of interest and really see just what their future can hold.
