Internships are a very effective way to gain real-life experience and make connections to programs, materials, and classes at the College. Additionally, internships have the potential to create long term employment opportunities. For example, at several prestigious financial firms, 80% of the summer interns returned to the firm as permanent employees. If you have already identified companies you want to work for, applying for a summer internship would make perfect sense. You will need to draw up a successful plan to get the internship, which can be challenging. Act early! Become familiar with the resources available at Career Services and attend one of the internship information session run in the department each semester. Additionally, consider speaking with other students who have already had an internship.
Even if you do not have a clear idea what to do upon graduation, you should start your search early. In fact, you will need more time to find out what you want to do, before applying for an internship/job. Again, Career Services is the place to start. You may also consider more than one internship experience so that you can compare them. Generally speaking, the internship application and interview process starts about October, so don’t delay in getting started!
In our department, internships and mentored research are considered capstone courses. As a result, there are requirements shared by these two distinct types of experience, e.g., paper writing and presentation.
For more information about the department internship program, please contact Dr. Dimitris Papamichail (papamicd@tcnj.edu) or visit his internship information webpage.