Undergraduate Students

Gaining Work Experience                   

It is very important for students to gain some practical, “real world” work experience before seeking a full-time professional career. Books, industry research and informational interviews are great tools for understanding particular jobs or industries. However, it will be very difficult for you to really know how well you’ll take to a specific career field without experiencing it first hand.

Work experience (e.g., part-time jobs, volunteer work, etc.) allows you to experience the working world and develop skills that cannot be fully realized in the classroom, such as customer service, teamwork, management and organization, among others. Employers look for these skills in potential hires.

Internships or co-ops that are related to your major are even more valuable. Such experiences allow you to apply what you are learning in the classroom to a potential career path within your major (a career path you may then decide to follow or leave behind).

Internships

Internships can be paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time, clerical or professional. Typically, full-time internships take place during the summer, and part-time internships are during the semester. A successful internship can often lead to a full-time job offer upon graduation.

Internships are defined by working for an employer for a pre-determined period of time and completing qualitative work (i.e., you shouldn’t be filing or getting someone coffee). While you work you will be provided with industry and job training, as well as opportunities to shadow one or several established professionals.

One note of caution, some companies may title a job an “internship” when the position may truly be a standard job (i.e., little or no structured training or shadowing). The Office of Career Management does its best to educate employers about internships and to filter out inappropriate opportunities. However, the ultimate decision rests in your hands. Don’t be afraid to ask your potential employer direct questions about training and responsibilities.

Internships can be found in HireSmith or by using resources such as the following:

http://www.careercenter.umd.edu/Crws/interns.asp

Obtaining Credit for an Internship

In some cases, students can receive academic credit for summer internships. For most unpaid internships, an employer will request that this be the case. Here is the procedure you must follow to obtain credit for an internship.

There are 2 options for obtaining credit:

1) Take one of FOUR Smith/UM for-credit internship courses offered over the summer semester.

OR

2) Take the UMCP non-credit bearing internship course offered in the summer, fall and spring semesters, titled UNIV099.

OPTION 1: SMITH INTERNSHIP COURSES:

BMGT386 (3 credits-for any BMGT major)

Prerequisite: permission of department. For BMGT majors only. Supervised work experience in business. Students will be expected to relate course material to work experience in an analysis of a firm's operations.

BMGT373 (3 credits-for any BMGT major, the internship MUST be Logistics, Transportation or Supply Chain Management-focused)

Prerequisite: permission of department. For BMGT majors only. Involves supervised work experience in supply chain management, logistics and/or transportation. Students will be expected to relate course material to work experience in an analysis of a firm's operations.

BMGT357 (3-6 credits-for any BMGT major, the internship MUST be Marketing-focused)

Prerequisites: BMGT 350 and permission of department. For BMGT majors only. Supervised work experience with a firm engaged in marketing goods or services. Students apply concepts learned in marketing classes and analyze the firm's organizational structure, environment and marketing strategy.

BMGT447 (3 credits-only for Finance majors)

Prerequisites: BMGT 340 and BMGT 343 (or 400 level finance elective); and core requirements in business and management; and permission of department. Recommended: finance major courses. For finance majors only. Supervised, sponsored internship in a corporation or financial institution. Analysis of approved research topic in corporate finance, investments or financial institutions/markets.

All Smith Internship Courses:

• Students MUST meet all the course and major prerequisites for the internship course.

• Students MUST have an official internship offer and job description before pursuing permission for the course.

• Students submit a proposal to the BMGT faculty/member department (you can get the appropriate contact info from the UG Studies Office) offering the course. The proposal should include your official internship offer, job description and responsibilities, your supervisors name and contact information, your name and contact information, your major and what you expect to gain from this experience. (There is a course packet for each internship class that explains the specific proposal and course requirements - you can get this from your advisor.)

• If you are an International student, once you have approval from the faculty/department and you register for the course, you will then need to get permission/approval from the IES office for the internship.

• There are only approx. 25-30 seats in each of the Smith summer internship courses. All 2800 Smith undergrads that meet the course requirements at CP and SG can apply!

• The internship courses for which you earn credit cost the same amount as all other 3 or more credit courses.

• For registration dates and information for the summer term, please check Testudo. Remember that the date you officially register for a summer school course determines the date by which you must pay in full. (See the summer session dates and deadlines on Testudo.)

OPTION 2: UMCP INTERNSHIP COURSE:

UNIV099 (0 credits)-offered by the UMCP Career Center.

• To learn more about UNIV099 or how to obtain advanced permission you must meet with a Career Center Internship Coordinator click here.

• If you are an International student, once you have approval from the UM Career Center UNIV099 Coordinator and you register for the course, you will then need to get permission/approval from the IES office for the internship.

• UNIV099 is a GREAT option for students that want the University to recognize/sponsor their internship but do not want to pay for 3 credits over the summer term.

• UNIV099 is a GREAT option for students that need University recognition/sponsorship for their internship during the fall or spring semester.

• UNIV099 is a GREAT option for International Students that want to intern. The hours worked in the internship count toward your CPT hours but do count against your OPT hours upon graduation.

Co-op (Cooperative Education)

A co-op is essentially a full-time internship during a standard school semester. Co-ops usually last about 6-8 months (e.g., start in January and end in August; or start in June and end in December). As a temporary, but full-time employee of the sponsoring company, you will receive a great deal of training and mentorship in addition to being immersed in that company’s day-to-day culture. You will be held responsible for entry-level professional work just as any other employee. Co-ops are always paid and may often offer a stipend if you plan to relocate for the program.

Remember when applying for a co-op that you will be taking off a full semester from school. You will need to prepare for factors such as housing, registration and financial aid before leaving for your co-op.

Co-ops can be found in HireSmith. NOTE: Most co-ops listed in the system are for logistics or IT majors, with some for accounting. It is very rare to find a co-op in majors such as marketing or finance.

Externships

Externships are not as common as internships and are usually only offered by large corporations. During an externship a student or a group of students will work beside an industry professional for a pre-determined period of time, usually no more than a few days. As an externship participant, you will not be an employee of the sponsoring company and will not be paid; however, you will be required to respect company information as private.

Externships are great opportunities to get a first hand account of professional life in a given industry. It might be everything you expect or quite the opposite, but either way you will gain a valuable experience to direct you along your career path.

Part-time Jobs

Please visit the following link for information on part-time jobs: http://www.careercenter.umd.edu/student/intern/part_time.asp

Research Experience

Students in the Smith school have the unique opportunity to engage in research with our leading faculty researchers. For more information on this program, visit: http://www.smith.umd.edu/undergrad/researchfellows.html.

Volunteering

Volunteer work counts as experience that can be put on your resume. If you’re looking to get relevant business experience and are unable to land a paying job, you may want to offer free labor to an employer in the interest of gaining experience. Many times, volunteer work can lead to a paid job (or at least boost your credentials), making you more attractive to a potential employer.