Students who have participated in some sort of internship during college may find that the connection leads to employment later on. These provide networking sources for many students. Also, many companies actually hire directly from their pool of qualified interns and cooperative education students. Through these practical experiences, students have already demonstrated their ability to do a job and do it well. This appears to be a trend that is emerging, especially among large organizations that are downsizing their workforces.
Internships seem to be playing a greater role in the job search lately.
College graduates with more A's than B's, a double major in accounting and computer information systems, a semester of study abroad and an internship with a Fortune 500 company. Such ideal graduates probably have been snapped up. For other grads, it's not so easy despite an improving job market. Those who wait until graduation to start grooming themselves for a jog are way behind people like Preston Hopson, an incoming junior at Yale. Liberal arts students had best pick up some business or technical background.