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10 Great Internship Opportunities for Students

Doing an internship serves many purposes, including giving you real world experience that will serve you well when you finish college and enter the work force. With so many internship opportunities out there, it can be hard to make the right decision. Your first step should be deciding what you want to get out of an internship and find one that matches your future career choice. Then talk to your college advisor and start researching your options. You might be surprised at just how many internships are out there. Any of these chances are great for students, and will help you round-out your college diploma with life and work experience. This experience can give you a leg-up in the competition once you're ready to find your first job after college.

10 Great Internship Opportunities for Students: Internship Companies


1. KONE - Internship Abroad

KONE is the leader in the elevator and escalator business, and they offer a wide range of internships all over the world. If you are an Engineer major, this is the perfect opportunity for you. KONE also offers internships for business majors, IT and law, as well as the occasional other opportunity. The company's International Trainee Program offers you round-trip travel expenses if you are willing to take an internship in another country. Unlike many other internships, KONE also offers a salary and accommodations wherever you end up. They also provide you with a mentor type person who can answer questions and help you navigate your new life as an intern abroad. As an intern with KONE, you'll perform a variety of duties involving the design and installation of both escalators and elevators in various locations across the globe. The benefit to an internship like this is that you gain real-world experience, build confidence working with clients from all over, and you get to learn and experience more in the field with operations abroad.

2. Elliott Davis Decosimo ENVISION Summer Internship Experience

This is a paid internship, and lasts for seven weeks between January and April. Elliott Davis Decosimo is an accounting firm, so this is a great opportunity for someone who is majoring in Accounting. During your internship, you'll help with taxes and auditing clients, will complete an internship-specific project, participate in development activities, and contribute in a positive way to your own community. There are opportunities in many parts of the United States, including Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and Ohio. This type of internship can teach you a lot about your chosen field, and using some helpful tips from experts from Scholaradvisor Essays will be a great way to add some experience and knowledge to your resume when you graduate college and look for your first job. Benefits include helping you forge valuable relationships while also boosting communication and problem solving skills.

3. Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual is a financial firm that offers several six to 12 week internship programs within the company. The opportunities are spread across the United States, and you can likely find a program in a variety of places, depending on where the firm has branches. Because there are so many, you could very well have your choice of where you do your internship, allowing you to fit it into your life without making a bunch of changes. Your duties will include working closely with financial representatives and other office staff. You will spend your time meeting with clients and using their goals and needs to assist them in choosing the most appropriate insurance and investment products. You'll also continue working with your clients after they've made a purchase to offer support and services with their choices. This internship helps you network and create relationships that will serve you well as you enter the financial workforce after graduation.

4. KPCB Fellows Program

Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers is a venture capital firm that offers three to six month internships in northern California. As an intern with the program, you will work in one of the portfolio companies, where you will be mentored by an executive with the company as you develop and enhance your technical and design skills. As part of the Product Fellowship program, you will have the opportunity to work for a full year at a Silicon Valley startup company. Fellows will mostly be based in the San Francisco area, and could work with companies that include Shazam, Flipboard, Twitter, Nest, Jawbone, Spotify or Zynga. The ongoing support and guidance you receive will be valuable for your future career. Not only do you get to build your skills with this internship, but you also stay on top of current developments in your field of study, and increase the pool of future job opportunities as you enter the workforce.

5. L'Oreal Intern Across the Globe

There are so many places that being an intern with L'Oreal can take you. Perhaps you will work with human relations in the Malaysia office or maybe you'll be an intern of operations in France. Other opportunities include marketing internships in places as far as Dubai or Brazil. There are also plenty of retail internships in countries that include Sweden and Italy. Perhaps you will end up as a research intern in Hungary or Switzerland. L'Oreal's Global Opportunity Program is designed to get students to work in other countries as an intern developing their skills. No matter what your area of study or where you want to live, L'Oreal likely has a paid internship to help you advance your future career. The huge variety of internship opportunities give you the chance to find the perfect fit for the industry you plan to work in, while also allowing you to develop confidence, communication skills and the chance to work in foreign markets.

6. Moss Adams Summer Internship Program

This eight-week paid internship is with a reputable global public accounting firm and has opportunities in many states, including New Mexico, Texas, Washington, Oregon and California. You will have a variety of duties during your internship, including things like planning audits, setting up files, carrying out audit procedures and much more. Tax specific interns will also prepare tax returns for corporations, individuals and partnerships. You'll also be responsible for tax services such as compliance, research, and planning. This internship provides you with many chances to build relationships in the field, which is a benefit that will be helpful in the future as you look for a job. In addition to that, you'll also be building necessary skills for working with clients, including good communication, problem solving, and meeting deadlines. These are all valuable skills for any career, but especially if you plan to have a job that requires a lot of interaction with people, both clients and co-workers.

7. Kohl's Department Store Internship

There are Kohl's stores all over the nation, but engaging in an internship with this big name department store allows you to spend eight to ten weeks learning the retail field in an up close and personal dimension. The opportunity is a dynamic way to learn about every aspect of a full-time job in the retail industry. Your duties will vary and could include tasks like buying, accounting, sales, signage and more. Opportunities to intern with Kohl's can be found across America, including Texas, Ohio, Maryland and California. This type of internship holds value in many ways. Not only does it give you a real world feel for the types of duties you'll perform in the job, but it also allows you to network, build communication skills, make relationships that provide job offers down the road and keep you on top of the current trends in the sector you desire to work in. Some research also shows that students who engage in internships also go on to get higher grades and better job offers when they graduate.

8. Plante Moran Internship

Plante Moran is an accounting firm that offers several six to 12 week internship programs for individuals who want to pursue a career in the industry. Duties will include a variety of things in the realm of tax, finance, marketing and consulting. Your day to day tasks will involve a mix of office work, telephone calls, meetings, client interaction and much more. This internship will give you a realistic look at what a job in accounting might look like for you and is a great way to build and foster skills specific to the sector in which you want to work. You will also get a chance to create a network of professionals you can rely on as your career develops as well as plenty of opportunities to learn more, develop communication and problem solving while also ensuring a potential for a job in the future. Plante Moran offers internship opportunities in many parts of the United States, including Ohio, Michigan and Illinois, so you should have no trouble finding somewhere to launch your career, whether you already live in these areas or will have to move.

9. Boston Consulting Group Summer Internship Program

Not only does this internship opportunity have space in the United States, but they also have a global program that could send you abroad. This is a global consulting firm that provides six to 12 week paid internship programs that can really further your career. You will be a permanent member of the consulting team during your time with the company, and will perform many of the duties that traditional staff do, including working with clients in many parts of the world. This is a great way to build your communication skills while also boosting the experience necessary to work as an effective global consultant. This type of internship gives you a real-world look at the commitment and time required to be successful in a consulting career, and teaches you how to move quickly and stay on top of trends and changes to the industry. If a career as a consultant is something you've always dreamed about, this could be the internship that will get you going in the right direction.

10. Evercore Advisory Summer Associate Program

This internship is a 10 week paid opportunity designed specifically for undergraduate students and MBAs with some experience in investment banking. This is a huge industry and the opportunities for success are virtually limitless, but getting your foot in the door as an intern allows you to network and form important and beneficial relationships with professionals in the field, which can help you find a job in the future, and help you stay on top of all the latest trends in the industry. This specific internship has positions in Houston and New York City, but if you'd like to try your hand at an internship abroad, there are also opportunities in London, Hong Kong, Toronto and Singapore. Your primary duties will include such things as preparing for and participating in client meetings, due diligence, process management, financial modeling, and the actual execution of transactions. All of these tasks help you develop skills necessary to get ahead in banking, and give you the edge when you find yourself competing with other candidates for jobs.
Increasingly, employers are looking for candidates to fill positions who have education and experience, which is why completing an internship is such a valuable way to boost your success getting a job in your field. In fact, more and more college students are finding that having an internship on their resume makes it much easier to get interviews compared to students who don't have that advantage. In many cases, it won't matter how many years you've spent studying, because that doesn't translate to employability the same way that spending time working in the industry does. The skills, knowledge and experience you gain through an internship is fast becoming one of the most important things that employers consider when they hire. You'd be doing yourself a real disservice by not seeking out an internship opportunity before you graduate.

10 Great Internship Opportunities for Students: Internship Companies