INTERNSHIPS PROVIDE NEEDED EXPERIENCE

Sherree Reed worked as an intern in finance and accounting at Southeast Missouri State University.

Good grades, classroom knowledge and a college diploma are fine things, but what is it that employers really look for in a prospective employee? Experience, measurable, practical experience.

But if employers are reluctant to hire someone without experience how is one to get experience?

A prime avenue for many college students is through internship programs. Numerous departments at Southeast Missouri State University are heavily involved with placing students where they can develop work experience in their field.

"It is a win, win, win situation," said Dr. Debbie Beard, chairman of the department of accounting and financing at Southeast. "The students have practical experience, employers usually get hard working students for help with special programs and for the university it shows a commitment to the community."

Although not yet a requirement, 50 percent of accounting and finance students take internships. Situations are found both with private companies as well as with departments on campus. Students average 20 hours a week and most also get paid. During the course of the internship they earn three hours of credit.

"They learn a little bit more about the business environment and that expectations are a little different than they are going to be in a classroom," Beard said.

Often if things go well between the student and their employer, they end up being offered a full-time job, Beard said. Even if that doesn't happen, it provides a chance for them to become acquainted with people in their field, which can help them later.

In the department of social work, students take a semester-long practicum after completing all of their course work.

Again the goal gives students a chance to find out what their prospective field is like.

"The students see how to apply what they learned," practicum coordinator Jane Bernstein said. "When out trying to find jobs, it makes them a much better social worker because they understand at least one aspect of social work thoroughly."

For practicum students, they are immersed in their field basically full time for an entire semester. They spend 32 hours a week -- 480 hours during the semester -- on the job. Each Friday they head back to the classroom to reflect on and discuss their progress in the field. They earn 15 credit-hours during the semester.

Students are placed throughout the region in a variety of social work fields, including family counseling, mental health, probation and parole, working with the terminally ill and a number of others.

"Practicum is really the meat of the social work curriculum because it brings everything together," Bernstein said.

Programs that give students real-world experience, while a boon to helping them land work after graduation, can also allow them to realize they don't want to commit to a particular field.

"But that doesn't happen very often," Bernstein said.