Internships a look into careers

Throughout campus, in nearly every department, students are engaged in internships that provide valuable real-world work experience and opportunities for learning beyond their usual coursework.

Whether organized through one of UCLA’s several institutional extracurricular learning and career building offices or via a student’s own personal connections and resources, these part-time jobs afford students a perspective on the reality of work in their chosen fields. Internships can provide foresight into a chosen academic path that can be instrumental to the formulation of successful scholastic and post-academic career plans.

The UCLA Center for Community Learning, an office in the UCLA College of Letters and Science, facilitates the acquisition of internship positions for UCLA students and organizes the awarding of college course credit to students who complete internships with local, state and national partners, said Octavio Pescador, associate director of the center.

“Between 200 and 250 students per quarter are enrolled (in internships) through our center,” he said.

“You can have several modalities of internship courses where units vary from two to four units per term, which are for either a letter grade or pass/no pass grading.”

Neil Bondre, a third-year political science student who works 15 hours per week at an internship with the private wealth management firm Smith Barney found and obtained his internship position with the assistance of the center’s staff.

“We manage the money of individuals of high net worth. You try to manage their portfolios (including) stocks, bonds and mutual funds and try to get the best return for your clients,” Bondre said, adding that his duties at Smith Barney include maintenance of a client database system and strategizing with financial advisors on what might be successful investments for clients.

Bondre said the internship will provide him with four units of credit in political science this quarter.

Other students find and obtain internship positions without the help of offices within the university.

Kirsten Triemstra, a fourth-year European studies student, works at least 15 hours per week as an intern in Sen. Hillary Clinton’s Los Angeles campaign office. She learned of the internship through an informational e-mail she received as a member of Bruin Democrats, Triemstra said.

“The tasks vary a lot,” Triemstra said. She listed phone banking, reporting to campaign associates in Washington D.C., attending meetings, helping prepare for campaign events and writing letters to campaign organizers among her required tasks as an intern.

The internships, which can be found in virtually every field of study endorsed by UCLA, can provide invaluable experiences to involved students. They can put participants in strong positions to apply for jobs after finishing school and give others strong resume components when applying to graduate school, Pescador said.

They also have the potential to reveal to a student intern the sometimes unpleasant reality of work in a particular field. This is helpful in eliminating career paths and majors that might have otherwise seemed deceptively appealing, said Dario Bravo, assistant director of the UCLA Career Center’s Internship and Study Abroad Services office.

Nonetheless, the completion of an internship is often a superb element of a student’s resume, and can lead directly to a full-time employment position in some cases.

“Employers have rated their internship programs as their number one source from which they hire,” Bravo said.

“If you work for a big-five firm or a bank, your chances of getting hired after college are increased exponentially.”

Students said that the great potential for internships to boost academic and vocational success is a significant contributor in many students’ interest in such relevant part-time employment positions, many of which provide at best minimal immediate financial compensation.

“I want to go into something political, probably some sort of international relations or work for the state department. (Through the internship) you get a lot of connections and it’s interesting work. I feel like they give me things to do that require responsibility,” Triemstra said, who also said she will likely stay involved in the campaign office at least until the completion of the primary elections.

Internships are looked very highly upon by graduate schools and can greatly enhance a student’s chances of career success, Bravo said.

In many cases, students who perform well in internships for corporate university partners can be offered employment opportunities extending beyond the length of the initial term agreed upon.

“Smith Barney will provide good experience as well as be a stepping stone into a career in a similar field,” Bondre said, adding that he hopes to continue working for the investment firm after this quarter’s internship.

However, student internships also have the potential to have detrimental effects on the academic performance of interns.

“I think students have to be careful that they don’t overload on their internships. They should put a limit on the number of hours they put into an internship,” Bravo said, adding that his office provides mediation between student interns and employers when such help is necessary.

Some students said their internship experience provided them unique learning opportunities that have enhanced their academic performance, allowing for a more hands-on educational environment.

“At first it was tricky because I had never done stuff like this before. You learn to allocate a certain amount of time for work and a certain amount of time for class.” said Rohan Kundargi, a third-year geology and English student and an intern in the UCLA Mineral Physics Laboratory.

In addition to forcing the adoption of better time management practices, Kundargi said that his lab work has helped him to better understand concepts that he has studied in classes.

“I feel like I’m learning firsthand and it helps me to understand the information a lot better than if I were to just read it in a book. To see in a microscope certain things you’ve only read about, I remember it a lot better that way. It becomes a lot more personal than a book would be,” Kundargi said.

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