Career Center Celebrates National Internship Month

Preparing students for anything

Concordia’s Career Center is celebrating National Internship Awareness month in April. 

The Career Edge Organization founded National Internship Awareness Month, observed annually since 2017, to celebrate the benefits of an internship to create highly qualified professionals.

Throughout April, the Career Center will be posting advice, statistics, and success stories on its social media pages: FacebookInstagram, and LinkedIn.

Internships allow students to apply their classroom knowledge in the workforce and may be paid or unpaid. While there are pros and cons to both, and unpaid internships can be of benefit to employers, students, and academic institutions, research shows that students who participate in paid internships: 

  • are hired at a higher rate than those with an unpaid or no internship
  • receive more job offers than those with an unpaid internship or no internship experience
  • earn higher starting salaries than those with an unpaid internship or no internship experience

The Career Center gives students the tools and resources to succeed during college and in their careers with the help of career consultants and student peer mentors. The center collaborates with students and supports them as they make decisions about obtaining their professional and personal goals. Thirty-three percent of students intern for academic credit, and 95% of employer evaluators would hire a Concordia student intern again.

The center also offers employer opportunities such as recruiting events, workshops, assisting with mock interviews, and networking opportunities.

“We are not a placement center, but rather a career readiness center,” Director Kris Olson said. “What that means is, the Career Center team is here to help students identify their strengths, values, and passions. We help students select a major, find part-time jobs both on and off campus, create a job search plan, network, secure internships, perfect resume and cover letter writing skills, practice effective interviewing, and basically become future ready.”

“Our goal is not to prepare students for something, but rather prepare them for anything,” she added.

Each year, more than 500 Concordia students explore their professional interests through internships or required practicums. Olson said the Career Center is on pace to have a record number of student interns this academic year. Students can check out internship opportunities on Handshake.

Examples of places students are interning this semester:

  • Multiple healthcare sites (Sanford, Essentia, Sevita Health, BioLife Plasma, Valley Veterinary Hospital, Axis Clinicals)
  • Software (Stoneridge, Bytespeed)
  • Finance/Accounting (Eide Bailly, Bergan KDV, Widmer Roel)
  • Nonprofits (CCRI, FM Opera, Anne Carlson Center)
  • Business (Fargo Patent & Business Law, Bell Bank, RDO, Ag Country Farm Services, CoSchedule, Border States, Sherwin Williams)
  • Social Services (Prairie St. John’s, Moorhead Police Department)
  • Education (Dilworth/Glyndon/Felton Schools)

Read student accounts of their own internships and more on the internships webpage.