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College is a place to experience new things and to live on your own schedule. When going to college, students are exposed to hundreds of new opportunities of which they can take advantage. Some of these traditional opportunities include clubs, societies, and sports, but one of the biggest opportunities students can take advantage of are internships. Internships have become increasingly popular over the past decade because of the hands on experience it provides and the opportunity to use classroom skills in the real world. At Villanova students are encouraged to participate in as many internships as they can. This process, however, is complex to understand. To better understand it I attended the internship series Rise to the Top: Internships/CoOps: Basics presented by Jackie Vega, Assistant Director of Internships and CoOps.

Opportunities Available

At Villanova University there are plenty of ways to take advantage of the internship opportunities. These opportunities will allow students to take risks and explores fields and possible career options, help them focus and crystalize for future job opportunities, the possibility to network will business professionals, and internships will enhance resumes and give you the competitive edge in the job market. It was even mentioned that 74% of employers prefer to hire candidates with relevant job experience and internships are the perfect way to do just that. The following are available opportunities at Villanova:

  • Leadership Programs (Frosh/Soph)
  • Internships (All)
  • Spring Accounting Internship Program (Juniors)

EVERYONE SHOULD GET AT LEAST ONE!

Leadership Programs

The most common opportunity for freshman and sophomores are Externships/Leadership Programs. These programs give students the opportunity to learn more about a certain business and allow them to showcase their skills over a weekend or week long immersion in the discipline. These programs are newer and are highly encouraged because employers are looking to hire students earlier and these programs are a great way to network and get your name and brand out to these employers.

Leadership Program Opportunities

  • Barclays: Generation Next Sophomore Program
  • Vanguard: EXPLORE Events
  • Ernst & Young: Your Career Premiere
  • Deloitte: National Leadership Conference
  • Proctor & Gamble: Accounting & Finance Freshman Forum

Internships

Internship Opportunities are available during the academic semesters and during the summer and they can be paid or academic credit can be earned. Internships in the academic semesters are often part-time and very flexible and often full time in the summer. Students can use GoNovaJobs, which is the internship and recruiting database for all students at Villanova.

Internship Sites

  • Top 4 Accounting Firms
  • Credit Suisse
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • NBC
  • Goldman Sachs
  • And Many Others!

Spring Accounting Program

Accounting is one of the most popular majors at the Villanova School of Business and accounting majors have a special internship opportunity to intern during their spring semester of their junior year. They have the opportunity to work for one of 15 different public accounting firms/companies during the “busy” season. The work that is done during these internships is very similar to the type of work of a first year staff worker.

The Final Word

As you can see there are many opportunities at Villanova and internship are definitely one of the best things you can do to further your education and career. I recommend that you use this information and start the internship process. It will be one of the best decisions you will ever make.