Essay Example on Higher Education in US: Impact on Labor Market via Internships

Introduction

Over the years, there has been a rapid growth of higher education in the United States of America. The advancement in the education system has had significant impacts on labor markets. Employers opt for highly skilled and qualified graduates to develop their workforce. Internships offer a reasonable opportunity for the student to establish deliberate learning goals (O'Connor and Bodicoat 437). The activities during an internship make a student focus on what she or he is learning throughout interning. Undertaking internships offer opportunities for acquiring work experience by students. The companies that organize internship opportunities may also help students to get a job entry in the future. Internships present students to the world of work. It allows them to acquire experience in business, skills, and knowledge. Finally, internships allow students to apply theoretical concepts learned in class in their work environment.

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Definition of Internship

An internship epitomizes an official program in which the intentional learning goals of the student reflect on their learning experience during the undertaking. Internship opportunities with banks offer the possibility that enables the students to gain work experience. Knowledge gained during internship puts the student in an advantageous position based on the need for employment (O'Connor and Bodicoat 438). The student learns an added advantage over fellow students looking for job openings because they satisfy the threshold for skills need to get employment. The experience during the internship adds to the resume of the student. Potential employers prefer applicants who possess a course or relevant work experience. The types of placement include paid and unpaid internships. The university career development centers should endeavor to limit advertising unpaid internships because student interns experience hardship when not paid.

Paid and Unpaid Internship

The two main types of internships include paid and unpaid internships. Most courses are unpaid because employers argue that the opportunity is not for earning money from the student. The student should thus focus on receiving valuable knowledge and experience. Strict labor guidelines guide unpaid internships. For example, the U.S. federal law warns that unpaid interns should not economically benefit the company. It adds that they should not perform duties meant for paid employees. Again, states have also developed regulations that help regulate internship issues. For example, internship regulations in the state of California recommend that interns receive college credit for their work in place of pay. Work experience internships in the U.S. offer on-the-job training in any field chosen by the student or young worker. However, research internships in scientific fields allow the student to study a specific topic before preparing a written report or presentation.

Apprenticeship and an Internship

An apprenticeship is a focused experience that requires conscious participation by the student. An internship does not follow a particular model; thus, it is less focussed. An intern has the opportunity to choose whether to stay with an employer at the end of their encounter. An internship offers options in the jobs before an individual settles for a particular choice. However, apprentices understand the job market; thus, they use the information to determine their next move. They learn and develop skills in the areas they choose with the help of a master.

The first stage in finding an internship involves choosing individual areas of interest. For example, internship opportunities allow first-year college students to explore a vast expanse of fields and a variety of internships to enable precision in decision-making. The opportunities facilitate deliberate choosing before settling for the definitive career path. Senior students in college, on the other hand, develop specific goals before venturing into the field of internship. Top students focus on the need to receive valuable work experience. They also endeavor to seek employment opportunities after graduation. Similar to job search, finding an internship could present challenges to the student. The process is also time-consuming. However, the process simplified through a series of websites that students use to find internships. Some relevant sites are; LinkedIn - offers an opportunity to network online and interact with potential employers or internship providers, Com - Indeed, the website provides both job openings and internship opportunities for interested students. Most job listings on Indeed originate from main job panels and corporate pages. The site also provides for save options where interested students keep searches and activate notifications that enable them to receive e-mail alert on internship listings. Com - Internships.com provides a comprehensive search standard distributed in the main categories such as major, location, industry, and company regulators. The website also hosts intern stories and blogs to inspire and encourage interested students. Also, Federal governments have developed employment agencies that engage state residents and assist them with job and internship searches.

Benefits and values of an internship

An internship allows an individual to gain an improved viewpoint of post-graduation employment. It offers the opportunity to apply the theoretical principles learned as a student during seminar programs. It allows students to develop an individual work ethic. The students have the chance to intern in different fields; thus, they investigate their interests in career and professional growth. Again, an internship improves the expansion of expert contacts for future reference.

Explore a profession path

Exploring is an essential component of the college experience. Internship opportunities give the student a chance to familiarize with their field of interest. Some scholars commence college with a subject major or career route in mind. However, some of them change their minds later. Taking an internship opportunity while in college gives the students a choice to work in areas of interest. It provides them relevant experiences that help them decide and choose fields of interest. At the time of graduating, students with internship experience higher levels of satisfaction with the choice of degree taken. The accounting and banking industry is extensive. Therefore, it becomes difficult to recognize the categories of accounting professions to satisfy a graduate's interest. Based on their studies, graduates in baking and accounting courses can work in any trade-in accounting.

Public accounting offers many opportunities for graduates to work for any sized firm. The graduate can opt for a big global CPA firm or choose a small local accounting exercise. Once incorporated in the firm, a graduate can work in audit, tax, and management or consulting the department. Government alumni can work for a precise establishment. And they may work in tax, finance, and I.T. or internal audits. Again, they can develop a route to success by working at either the federal, state or local levels of the institution. Diversity in education and non-profit organizations enables the creation of more chances for graduates.

Internships enhance the development of skills, knowledge, and aptitudes

Students use the opportunities during the internship to nurture skills, knowledge, and abilities during interaction with other employees. The higher education support and guidance play a critical role in ensuring many students get the right internship or placement opportunities (Potts 446). The growth in the economy and increased competition has changed the work environment; thus, students without internship records experience hardship in securing jobs. Internship exposes students to a situation where they can learn skills such as networking, action planning, and negotiating. They also improve self-awareness and self-confidence. The students develop high levels of self-reliance.

Graduate training programs introduce a significant number of graduates in the market. It destabilizes the job-graduate balance. Companies have also resorted to reducing rates of recruiting graduates (Potts 448-450). Internship search becomes difficult, and the graduates practice flexibility and align their needs with the new circumstances. The banking industry eliminates candidates for job positions based on their qualifications in soft skills such as teamwork, self-reliance, and excellent communication skills. Soft skills are essential because they guarantee the survival of the intern in the labor market. The skills help manage a generation's growth in learning and work. Soft skills are process skills instead of functional.

Other skills needed by a graduate to survive in the banking industry include the ability to manage personal development and growth, management skills, Information Technology, and presentation skills (Potts 453). The graduates ought to maintain professionalism to enhance growth towards being an expert in fields such as accounting, tax, marketing, and I.T. The skills guarantees to the firm that the graduate can perform duties with minimum supervision. The firm also develops trust in the graduate because they use company resources to promote growth.

Offer graduates an edge in the job market

During the recruitment process, employers look for graduates who have work experience. Therefore, college graduates who possess some work experience gained during internship stand out to probable employers (Potts 446). Internship practice improves the marketability of a college grad because employers assume the internship experience eliminates the need for a lot of training. Graduates with internship experience can also manage more responsibilities. The student benefits from an internship because they receive a higher rating; thus, they receive a higher starting salary.

Internship Facilitate the Development and refining of skills

Students get the opportunity to evaluate themselves and learn new insights about their strengths and weaknesses during an internship. Supervisors in an internship arrangement enable the student to learn more about themselves by offering feedback (Potts 450-452). The supervisor provides expert lessons in the field to push the student to learn and grow. The student is encouraged to acknowledge the mistakes during an internship, observe, ask questions, and take risks to enhance their chances of learning more.

Students Receive financial compensation

Paid offers the opportunity to gain valuable work experience. The student also gets a chance to make money from an internship. The student may opt to use the money to fund college tuition and other expenses.

Transition into a job

Corporations use internships to augment the employment process. Companies also opt to hire interns at the end of the experience; thus, they reduce the cost of listing and searching for new employees (Potts 448). Excellent performance by the student during an internship may guarantee an invitation to join the firm even without an opening at the time. The management may choose to forward the request to when a position occurs. An internship gives banks the chance to test the employee before they get permanent recruitment into the job.

An internship allows for Networking with professionals in the field

The activity allows the student to increase their contacts in the areas of interest. It will enable closer contact with industry professionals (O'Connor and Bodicoat 446). Internships offer a chance to interact with and learn from the people around you, impress, and ask questions. The experts during the internship could become student's colleagues in the future.

Career prospects

A career in accounting involves performing many tasks, such as recording transactio...