In job market, internship value varies

Students feeling up to their necks in the pool of job applicants often look to internships to gain valuable experience, but some trade hands-on opportunities for menial jobs at big-name corporations that experts say catch future employers' attention.

College of Communication junior Allison Moore said an internship she had with Teen Voices magazine gave her substantial freedom.

Moore said the interns would sometimes have meetings with the editor-in-chief to discuss layouts and occasionally pitch ideas. "I doubt that would have happened at a bigger publication."

Moore is currently interning at Simon & Schuster in London, and said while the experience is different than her past internships since it is in publishing and she sometimes has to perform administrative tasks, she still greatly enjoys the work she does.

"I'd say this internship is the most beneficial, because it's in a field I wasn't able to learn about in class."

Larger, more prestigious companies usually give fewer responsibilities to their interns than lesser-known companies, which makes choosing the one that is most beneficial a difficult decision for students, college recruiters said.

"The absolute reality is that if you have a brand name employer it will initially look good, but they will very quickly scratch the surface and ask you what responsibilities you actually performed," said CollegeRecruiter.com founder Steven Rothberg.

Rothberg said a student's ultimate goal is employment, and not having a well-known company on students' resumes can decrease the chances of getting a job interview.

"Getting an internship with the kind of employer you intend to work for, even if a lot of menial work is involved, would be the better internship," he said.

BU 2007 graduates Dan Chaparian and Anand Chopra-McGowan launched youintern.com, an internship-networking site for students and employers, in January. They said even students who admitted to having less responsibility while interning at larger companies still valued their experiences there.

"People's comments usually say they want to see more responsibility, but in most cases people still have a good internship experience," Chopra-McGowen said.

COM journalism professor Nick Mills said bigger companies have advantages smaller companies cannot offer.

"Even though you may wind up not doing much, you can observe the best people in the business and you can put that company on your resume," Mills said.

COM and College of Arts and Sciences senior Ben Friedman said interning for a smaller company allowed him to take on more responsibilities than an internship he had with a larger corporation.

"In the changed landscape of our business world, you need a good internship to be successful," said Friedman, who has interned at three different companies during his college career to break into the advertising industry.

"Internships at well-known companies can definitely be resume-builders, but I'd say they definitely help in getting a job because of what you see and learn there," said Friedman.

Friedman said he plans to return to his hometown of Seattle when he graduates in May and is looking to start an all-organic, all-local sandwich shop with a friend. He said internship experiences, despite the downfalls, are still essential for students.

"It's cost-benefit analysis," he said. "They may seem like a waste of time now, but they're definitely a means to a desired end."