Communication senior Allen Kuschell is on the lookout for a job or internship. With the economy the way it is, he said he’ll take whichever comes first.
“The national progression of things seems to be a lot of internships leading into jobs,” Kuschell said. “At this point, any work experience looks good.”
Kuschell’s notions are echoed by a nationwide trend with employers, who are hiring more interns as a way of seeking talent, said Kelley Bishop, executive director of MSU Career Services and Placement.
The job market decreased by about 40 percent in the past year, according to an MSU Recruiting Trends survey released in November.
In Michigan especially, where the unemployment rate at the end of 2009 was nearly than 15 percent, employers are offering more internships that eventually might turn into a full-time position, Bishop said.
“Well-established, big corporations are moving more toward a purely internship model,” Bishop said. “(They) come here to carefully scout out and ID the talent … and get them all from their intern pool.”
Bishop said even smaller employers and nonprofit organizations are looking to internships as a way of recruiting potential future hires. The benefit is mutual because a company can seek the most compatible employment candidates and students can gain work experience.
“It is a chance for both parties to kind of get a test drive,” he said. “Your company is made or broken by how good of talent you’ve found and retained.”
Britany Affolter-Caine, director of interninmichigan.com, said Michigan employers are looking for ways to keep talent in the state, especially college students who might be lured by out-of-state offers after graduation. The Web site connects people seeking internships with Michigan-based employers.
“It’s hard to get top talent especially for Michigan employers who need to have that connection in a population of young and talented workers who aren’t necessarily looking to Michigan to do their careers,” Affolter-Caine said.
Another increasingly prevalent avenue for internship and job recruiting that is becoming is through social networking, Bishop said. He said Career Services will work on initiatives to get students on all levels thinking about exploring various careers.
“We’ll be getting students used to (the process) well before the recruiting activities,” Bishop said. “They’re already investigating careers and being a lot more ready and savvier about the job search process.”
For now, Kuschell said he understands the scarcity of paid jobs for recent college graduates and plans on keeping an eye on all his options.
“The market’s pretty scarce, so I’ve not been discriminating where I’ve been looking,” he said.
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