CERI  Research  Brief  6  –  2013   Framing  Internships  from  an  Employers’  Perspective:  Length,  Number,  and   Relevancy   Prepared  by:   Dr.  Phil  Gardner   Director   Collegiate  Employment  Research  Institute       Over  the  past  decade  internships  have  become  an  essential  talent  management  strategy  for   organizations  big  and  small.    CERI  has  tracked  the  role  of  internships,  finding  that  internships  have   eclipsed  on-­‐campus  interviewing  in  bringing  organizations  to  college  campuses   (http://www.ceri.msu.edu/wp-­‐content/uploads/2010/01/Career-­‐Fairs.pdf).    Even  though  it  is  difficult  to   capture  detailed  resource  requirements  for  internship  programs,  respondents  to  CERI’s  Recruiting   Trends  surveys  have  listed  this  practice  as  one  of  the  best  ROI  (return  on  investment)  among  the   recruiting  strategies  that  they  utilize.    Most  career  practitioners  have  gained  an  understanding  into  the   mechanics  of  internship  programs  from  years  of  close  relationships  with  organizations  partnering  with   their  institutions.    Despite  our  familiarity  with  internship  programs  we  actually  do  not  know  a  great  deal   about  them.     Most  of  the  research  that  is  reported  through  CERI,  scholarly  journals,  and  third  party  sources  is  focused   on  students.    From  students  we  have  gained  insights  about  what  happens  in  the  internship  recruitment   process,  during  the  internship  assignment,  and  the  connection  between  having  an  internship  and  the   transition  into  their  first  professional  work  assignment.    What  is  lacking  is  a  broader  understanding  of   internships,  especially  from  the  employers’  perspective.   Surveying  employers  is  challenging  because  internship  programs  are  unique  to  an  organization.    Thus,  an   observer  would  need  to  have  a  large  number  of  employers  participating  in  the  survey  to  obtain   universally  applied  characteristics  on  how  internships  are  managed.    Depending  on  the  aspect  of  the   program  the  survey  targets,  an  added  challenge  is  making  sure  the  correct  individual  has  access  to  the   survey.       To  capture  an  overview  of  factors  that  shape  an  organization’s  internship  program,  a  series  of  questions   were  included  in  MSU’s  annual  Recruiting  Trends  survey,  conducted  by  CERI.      The  topics  included   purpose  of  internships  in  their  organization,  total  length  of  pre-­‐professional  experience  expected,   preferred  length  of  an  internship  experience,  and  number  of  internships  expected,  for  example.    Nearly   2000  employer  representatives  completed  these  questions.    This  convenience  sample  may  not  be   reflective  of  the  total  population  of  organizations  that  offer  students  internships. Purpose  of  Internship  Program   One  criticism  voiced  about  internships  is  that  employers  simply  use  interns  to  cover  work   assignments  of  their  employees  who  are  on  vacation  or  long-­‐term  leave.  Other  voices  contend   employers  use  interns  as  temporary  staff,  rather  than  hiring  full-­‐time  employees,  when  faced   with  heavy  workloads.      Certainly,  examples  such  as  these  can  be  found  but  from  a  question   commonly  asked  in  CERI’s  annual  recruiting  survey,  employers  promote  internships  as  a   strategy  for  developing  full-­‐time  talent.    According  to  Recruiting  Trends  2012-­‐2013,  the  primary   purpose  of  internship  and  co-­‐op  programs  was:   • 57%  -­‐-­‐  identify  and  develop  talent  for  full-­‐time  employment  and  workforce  succession   planning   • 23%  -­‐-­‐  supplement  staffing  for  special  projects  and  targeted  assignments   • 15%  -­‐-­‐  support  the  development  of  future  talent  in  our  profession  (K-­‐12  education  and   health  fields,  for  example)   • 5%  -­‐-­‐  fulfill  the  organization’s  social  responsibility  by  providing  professional  enrichment   experiences   • 1%  -­‐-­‐  cover  assignments  of  staff  on  vacation  or  leave   Length  of  Time  (total)  of  Full-­‐time  Experience   Employers  were  asked  the  total  amount  of  full-­‐time  pre-­‐professional  work  experience  that  was  expected   of  candidates  whom  they  were  considering  for  employment.  Full-­‐time  experience  would  require  the   student  to  work  35  (federal  definition  of  full-­‐time  employment)  to  40  hours  per  week.    As  interpreted   for  this  study,  a  typical  internship  of  three  to  four  months,  with  the  student  working  20  hours  per  week,   would  have  to  be  repeated  at  least  once  to  gain  an  equivalent  of  full-­‐time  employment.    Co-­‐operative   education  students  who  co-­‐op  on  alternative  academic  terms  and  were  working  full-­‐time  would  gain  the   required  expected  hours  sooner  than  those  students  on  half-­‐time  internships.     Employers  selected  the  amount  of  experience  they  expected  from  a  seven  point  scale,  ranging  from  1  to   3  months  (1)  to  24  months  (7)  with  6  to  9  months  represented  by  the  value  3.    Approximately  45%  of   these  respondents  expected  students  to  have  between  6  and  12  months  of  full-­‐time  work  experience  by   the  time  they  completed  their  degrees.    Approximately  25%  to  30%  of  these  employers  expected  13  to   24  months;  the  remaining  30%  would  accept  candidates  with  5  months  or  less  of  full-­‐time  experience. Figure  1  Length  of  Experience  Desired  by  Employers  (%)   Length   30%   6  to  12  months   45%   13  to  24  months   5  or  fewer  months   25%         Total  full-­‐time  requirements  vary  by  academic  program.    Law  (between  16  and  18  months)  and   nursing  (12  to  14  months)  graduates  are  expected  to  have  the  most  pre-­‐professional  experience  before   entering  the  workforce.    Accounting  and  business  specialty  fields,  such  as  finance,  marketing,  and   human  resources,  are  expected  to  have  gained  a  full  year  of  experience  prior  to  graduation.    For  most   other  academic  disciplines,  employers  expected  between  10  to  12  months  of  experience.    General   Business,  engineering  and  humanities  &  languages  were  expected  to  obtain  the  least  amount  of   professional  practice  at  about  8  to  10  months.      The  following  table  provides  an  overview  of  the  full-­‐time   expectations  for  groups  of  academic  disciplines. Table  1  Length  of  Pre-­‐Professional  Experience  Expected  by  Academic  Discipline   Academic   5  months  or  less   6  –  12  Months       13  months  or   Mean   Program   (%)   (%)   more                                       (%)   Law   19   33   48   4.66   Nursing   20   42   38   4.16   Accounting   28   42   30   3.86   Business  (finance,   29   41   30   3.82   marketing,  HR)   Health  Sciences   28   43   29   3.80   Biological  and   28   45   27   3.80   Physical  Sciences   Computer  Science   29   44   27   3.72   Agriculture  &   29   45   26   3.71   Natural  Resources   Communication   29   44   27   3.66   and  Media  Studies   Social  Sciences   34   41   25   3.53   Performing  Arts   34   42   24   3.52   Engineering   33   47   20   3.46   General  Business   34   46   20   3.43   Humanities  &   37   41   22   3.38   Languages     Total  time  requirements  vary  by  size  of  organization.    Statistical  comparisons  by  organizational   size  revealed  that  size  did  not  differ  significantly  on  the  amount  of  internship  experience  they  expected   for  students  graduating  from  the  social  sciences,  general  business,  biological  and  physical  sciences,   humanities  and  performing  arts,  and  agriculture  and  natural  resources.  Significant  differences  were   found  among  comparisons  for  the  other  academic  fields.    In  general,  smaller  companies  held  higher   expectations  than  larger  companies  that  students  would  have  more  pre-­‐professional  experiences  when   they  graduated.    The  exception  was  in  the  field  of  law. The  following  presents  the  mean  ratings  by  size  for  the  academic  disciplines  with  significant  ANOVA   results.      Values  for  the  very  small  organizations  (less  than  9  employees)  have  not  been  included  because   of  the  low  number  of  these  organizations  reporting  having  internship  programs.         Table  2  Length  of  Pre-­‐professional  Experience  Expected  by  Size  of  Company   Academic   Fast  Growth     Small                                 Mid-­‐size                         Large                         ANOVA   Program   (<100   (101-­‐500   (501  -­‐3,999   (>4000   Results   employees)   employees)   employees)   employees)   Law   4.19   4.41   4.81   5.36   F=4.368,   .002   Nursing   3.93   4.47   4.58   3.27   F=3.067,   .018   Accounting   4.10   4.03   3.89   3.36   F=5.965,   .000   Business   3.88   4.17   3.87   3.34   F=6.967,   (finance,   .000   marketing,  HR)   Computer   3.80   4.02   3.68   3.40   F=5.022,   Science   .001   Communication   3.66   3.90   3.74   3.50   F=2.372,   and  Media   .050   Studies   Engineering   3.51   3.70   3.41   3.21   F=2.602,   .035     Total  time  requirements  vary  within  economic  sector.    Even  though  the  overall  average   indicated  that  engineers,  for  example,  were  expected  to  have  8  to  10  months  of  total   experience,  we  wanted  to  know  if  the  minimum  length  of  an  experience  was  consistent  across   all  economic  sectors.    When  we  compared  the  means  we  found  wide  differences  across   economic  sectors  within  each  academic  discipline  group.    For  example:   • For  companies  employing  engineering  interns,  Financial  Services  and  Construction  have   the  lowest  minimum  requirements  at  4  to  6  months  while  Information  Services,   Agriculture,  Government,  and  Health  Services  expect  a  minimum  of  12  months  per   experience. • For  computer  science,  Construction,  Retail,  Arts  &  Entertainment,  and  Professional,   Business  &  Scientific  Services  had  the  lowest  minimum  time  of  6  to  8  months.    The   Professional  Services  sector  stands  out  because  of  the  high  concentration  of  computer   design  and  system  companies  in  this  sector.    Sectors  expecting  computer  science   candidates  to  have  more  than  12  months  of  full-­‐time  experience,  include  Health   Services,  Government,  Agriculture,  and  Educational  Services.   • The  most  consistent  sector  across  all  the  academic  majors  was  manufacturing  which   desired  approximately  9  to  10  months  of  experience  for  all  majors  they  considered  for   employment.   Minimum  number  of  experiences   The  total  amount  of  time  can  be  segmented  into  several  experiences  or  one  long  experience.     We  asked  employers  the  number  of  internship  or  co-­‐op  experience  they  expected  candidates  to   have  when  applying  for  a  position  with  their  organization.    Thirty-­‐four  percent  indicated  that   one  experience  was  sufficient  for  employment  consideration.    Fifty-­‐five  percent  indicated  two   experiences  while  the  remaining  10  percent  desired  three  or  more  experiences.   Figure  2  The  Number  of  Experiences  Employers  Expect   Number  of  Experiences   11%   34%   One   Two   Three  or  more   55%     We  found  no  significant  differences  by  organizational  size.    Comparisons  across  different   economic  sector  did  reveal  significant  differences  (F=3.815,  .000).    Administrative  Services,   Wholesale  and  Financial  Services  were  more  likely  to  require  only  one  experience.     Accommodations  (Food  &  Lodging),  Non-­‐Profit  organizations,  Agriculture,  Information  Services, and  Mining  and  Oil  preferred  two  experiences.    The  means  of  the  other  sectors  clustered   between  1.70  and  1.89  which  suggested  that  they  favored  at  least  two  experiences.   Minimum  length  of  experience   After  asking  employers  the  total  amount  of  experienced  expected  and  the  number  of  individual   experiences  desired,  a  question  on  the  length  of  time  for  an  individual  experience  was  posed.     Respondents  were  asked  the  minimum  length  of  an  internship  or  co-­‐op  experience  to  insure   that  it  was  meaningful  for  the  student  and  the  organization.    A  range  of  options  was  presented   ranging  from  1  to  2  months  (1)  to  more  than  12  months  (7).   Slightly  more  than  30  percent  indicated  that  a  meaningful  experience  could  be  gained  in  an   experience  of  3  to  4  months  while  30%  indicated  that  the  experience  had  to  last  at  least  12   months  or  longer.    Twenty-­‐five  percent  felt  that  5  to  6  months  were  sufficient  while  9%  opted   for  periods  of  7  to  10  months.    Around  5%  believed  an  experience  of  2  to  4months  would  be   meaningful.   Figure  3  Length  of  Individual  Experience  Expected  by  Employers   Length  of  Individual  Experience   3  to  4  months   12  months  or  more   5  to  6  months   7  to  10  months   2  to  4  months       Comparisons  based  on  organizational  size  revealed  significant  differences  (F  =  4.028,  .003).     Employers  with  100  to  4,000  employees  (small  and  mid-­‐size  firms)  believed  that  experiences   had  to  approach  7  to  8  months  to  be  meaningful.  On  the  other  end,  large  employers  (more  than   4,000  employees)  were  comfortable  with  experiences  of  5  months.  Fast  growth  and   entrepreneurial  organizations  felt  6  to  7  months  appropriate  for  a  meaningful  experience. Sector  differences  were  also  found  (F  =  3.560,  .000).    Construction  firms  reported  the  shortest   period  at  5  to  6  months.    Sectors  that  felt  a  longer  period  of  7  to  9  months  was  needed   included:  Transportation,  Non-­‐profits,  Utilities,  Health  Services,  Education,  and   Accommodations.    The  remaining  sectors  expectations  ranged  from  4  to  7  months.   Four  Interesting  Groups   Four  clusters  of  employers  were  found  when  number  of  experiences  and  length  of  experience  were   cross  tabulated.    Group  1  consisted  of  employers  who  prefer  one  or  two  experiences  with  a  minimal   length  of  3  to  6  months.    Group  2  consisted  of  employers  who  prefer  three  to  four  experiences  with  a   minimal  length  of  3  to  6  months.    Group  3  consists  of  employers  who  prefer  one  or  two  experiences   with  minimal  length  of  12  months.    Group  4  consists  of  employers  who  prefer  three  to  four  experiences   with  a  minimal  length  of  12  months.    We  profiled  each  group  based  on  employer  characteristics.   Group  1:  A  few  short  experiences   • Co-­‐op  comprised  23%  of  this  group  (overall  co-­‐op  represented  18%  of  the  sample  population).   • Organizational  Size:   o Less  than  100  employees:    45%   o 101  to  500  employees:     22%   o 501  to  4,000  employees:   17%   o Over  4,000  employees:      18%     • Economic  Sectors:   o Professional,  Business  &  Scientific  Services:   27%   o Manufacturing:           17%   o Financial  Services:            8%   o Non-­‐profit  Organizations:          8%   • Key  Subsectors   o Manufacturing  (Surgical  Equipment  –14%;  Machinery  –  10%;  Chemical  –  9%;  Food   Processing  –  9%;  Automotive  –  8%)   o Professional  Services  (Computer  Systems  –  24%;  Accounting  –  13%;  Engineering  Services   –  10%;  Advertising  &  PR  –  9%) o Non-­‐profit  Organizations  (Not  classified  –  32%;  Civil  &  Social  Org.  –  14%;  Social  Advocacy   –  12%;  Business  &  Professional  –  12%;  Environmental  –  11%)   o Financial  Services:  (Insurance  –  42%;  Securities  &  Investment  –  24%;  Commercial   Banking  –  15%)   Group  2:  Multiple  short  experiences   • Co-­‐op  comprised  26%  of  this  group  (overall  co-­‐op  represented  18%  of  the  sample  population).   • Organizational  Size:   o Less  than  100  employees:    54%   o 101  to  500  employees:     14%   o 501  to  4,000  employees:   14%   o Over  4,000  employees:      17%     • Economic  Sectors:   o Professional,  Business  &  Scientific  Services:   23%   o Manufacturing:           16%   o Non-­‐profit  Organizations:       13%   o Agriculture                4%   • Key  Subsectors   o Manufacturing  (Aircraft  –17%;  Paper  &  Printing  –  10%;  Fabricated  Metals  –  10%;   Electrical  Equipment  –  10%)   o Professional  Services  (Computer  Systems  –  27%;  Accounting  –  11%;  management   Consulting  Services  –  13%)   o Non-­‐profit  Organizations  (Civil  &  Social  Org.  –  17%;  Voluntary  Health  –  13%;   Environmental  –  30%)   o Financial  Services  (Insurance  –  70%)   Group  3:    A  few  long  experiences   • Co-­‐op  comprised  18%  of  this  group  (overall  co-­‐op  represented  18%  of  the  total  sample   population) • Organizational  Size:     o Less  than  100  employees:    42%   o 101  to  500  employees:     23%   o 501  to  4,000  employees:   19%   o Over  4,000  employees:      15%     • Economic  Sectors:   o Professional,  Business  &  Scientific  Services:   20%   o Manufacturing:           14%   o Education           11%   o Non-­‐profit  Organizations:       10%   o Financial  Services            9%   • Key  Subsectors   o Professional  Services  (Computer  Systems  –  23%;  Engineering  Services  –  14%;  Accounting   –  10%)   o Manufacturing  (Machinery  –12%;  Fabricated  Metals  –  9%;  Other  Not  classified  –  28%)   o Non-­‐profit  Organizations  (Social  Advocacy  22%;  Business  and  Professional  Associations  –   16%)   o Financial  Services  (Insurance  –  39%;  Securities  and  Investment  –  20%;  Commercial   Banking  –  22%)   o Education  (K-­‐12  Institutions  –  71%)   Group  4:  Multiple  long  experiences   • Co-­‐op  comprised  14%  of  this  group  (overall  co-­‐op  represented  18%  of  the  total  sample   population)