FOR Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
INTERNSHIPS MAY BE ALL THAT'S OFFERED By John A. Challenger
Not since internships became synonymous with Monica has the need for this kind of work become so important.
This spring's 1.2 million college graduates were destined to have a tough time finding any kind of opening even before the recent government report on a surge in productivity that guaranteed that this would be one of the most difficult years for finding a job.
The bad news about productivity for the job seeker, simply put, means that employers are doing just fine with existing staff and until demand for goods and services seems to have some staying power, chances are there will be little hiring.
The problem for the graduates is that when companies do finally hire, they will look for more experienced people -- senior early retirees, bored by days filled with nothing, may become among the top job prospects.
Internships are tricky and the spring graduates would be well advised to consider the following before taking the internship route as a way of getting their feet in the door.
* Do not accept an internship if it's not the kind of work, company or boss that you would like to work for full time. Internships are often extended interviews that result in full-time offers.
* Internships allow grads to test out potential career directions.
* Grads who realize that relationship building and maximum performance on-the-job are the keys to converting an internship into a solid job offer will come out on top.
* Managers and bosses are the people who can make a concrete job offer, not human resources (unless the individual wants to build a career in HR). Thus, internships that expose the grad to various areas of the company are most valuable because he/she can impress many different hiring managers with their productivity and their ability to fit in.
* Grads often misunderstand the importance of "fitting-in" and fail to convert temporary positions into permanent ones.
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John A. Challenger is chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. The international firm pioneered outplacement as an employer-paid benefit in the 1960s. It has tracked corporate job-cut announcements daily since 1993.