Re: why Internships Indeed

[mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM]

John Lee Bumgarner writes:
>In re John Gear's 26 Oct 93 comment: I agree that internships (and probably,
>co-ops) may hurt the profession in the long run, but those experiential
>learning opportunities offer folks the opportunity to

I don't think that internships hurt the profession in the long run, at least
not as long as they are carefully managed.  I spent a 16-month IIP (Industry
Internships Program) term here at IBM Canada.  IBM was very careful to give
students real work and challenges; if they didn't, their reputation would
suffer, and they would have less chance of attracting the best students.
The university (University of Toronto in my case) monitored the program
closely, and had an extensive support and feedback system.

As long as the students are _capable_ of doing good work, and have several
companies to choose between, their value as professionals increases, rather
than decreases.

Note: the U of T program was very competitive: from the student's point of
view, just to get into the program; and from the company's point of view,
to get the top students out of that pool.  As a result, the internship was
worth a lot in terms of employability, and had a very good reputation as
a program.  Unfortunately, this approach only benefits the students who get
an internship, and isn't much help to the student body as a whole.

Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's