By GARY HABER
The News Journal
03/20/2006
Josh Selekman was ready for his interview for a summer internship with W.L. Gore & Associates.
Selekman, 19, a University of Delaware chemical engineering major, looked prepared to tackle the world in a dark suit, starched white shirt and blue-and-gold tie -- UD's signature colors, he pointed out.
Equally important, experts said, Selekman did his homework. He reviewed W.L. Gore's Web site and prepared a list of questions.
"I wanted to learn a little about the company before going in," Selekman, a sophomore from Wilmington, said about his recent on-campus interview at the University of Delaware's MBNA America Career Services Center.
Internships and summer jobs give students practical experience, help them hone useful workplace skills and may lead to full-time employment. Experts say Selekman's careful preparation is what it will take to land a coveted job or paid internship this summer.
College and high-school students face a competitive market, which -- while it is expected to improve slightly from last summer -- is still off considerably from the peak of 2000, when 52 percent of young people age 16 to 19 were employed.
According to the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, just 43 percent of young people in that age group found employment last summer. That figure will inch up to between 43 and 44 percent this summer, according to Andrew Sum, an economist at the center.
And college and high-school students will find themselves competing for jobs with adults, including senior citizens returning to the work force and immigrants new to the United States, he said.
Delaware youths typically have had better luck finding summer
jobs than their peers around the country. Fifty-one percent found work last summer, Sum said.
An informal survey of Delaware employers found that few plan to ramp up hiring significantly from last year. AstraZeneca Plc., Happy Harry's Pharmacies, the Heritage Inn and Golf Club in Rehoboth Beach and the Brew Ha Ha! coffee house chain all expect to hire about the same number of students as they did last summer.
"If anything, it will be a little better, but I don't expect a huge uptick," said Brew Ha Ha! president Alisa Morkides.
Encouraging signs
On the other hand, W.L. Gore expanded the number of summer internships from 20 last year to 30 this summer. The company interviews on eight college campuses, including the University of Delaware, for engineering majors and operations majors to intern at facilities in Newark and Flagstaff, Ariz.
Renee Ward, founder of Web site www.Teens4Hire.org, is optimistic about summer job prospects. Ward's informal annual survey of 500 employers that hire large numbers of teenagers suggests that employers are putting out the hiring sign for older teens, those 17 and up.
"All of them are back this summer, and they're all reaching out," Ward said. "But for younger teens, it's going to be a challenge."
Internships are about more than a paycheck. Companies see them as extended job interviews during which they weigh whether a student is a good fit for full-time employment later.
"The ultimate hope is that we will make offers to a good number of these interns," said Jane Gardner, who runs Gore's summer-intern program. In past years, about 75 percent of interns were offered a job upon graduation, she said.
Real-world experience
Experts say students should look for companies that offer challenging assignments and a chance to learn about the company and the industry.
Many companies are eager to oblige.
At Gore, students are assigned a mentor and given specific projects on which to work.
Interns at Cintas Corp., which supplies work uniforms to major
corporations around the country, prepare presentations at the end of their internships, analyzing a company project or business issue.
"It gives them real-world experience in dealing with deadlines and crunching numbers," said Vickie Lowder, human resources manager.
At Duffield Associates, a Wilmington-based engineering firm, interns meet weekly with engineers from each of the company's different departments, such as structural engineering, environmental engineering and civil engineering, to learn about their work.
"They don't wash cars or run errands," said Lavorette Preston, the company's human resources manager. "We give them real engineering assignments to work on, so they can apply what they've learned in school."
Lindsay Stephenson, 19, a University of Delaware chemical engineering major from Yardley, Pa., had her eyes on the future when interviewed for an internship with W.L. Gore.
After working as a camp counselor the past three summers, Stephenson, a sophomore, is trying to get some experience in her field and to evaluate the company as a place where she might want to work after graduation.
"That's the long-term goal," Stephenson said: "To be able to get a job when I graduate."
|
