If you want to get a high-paying job upon graduation from college, then your best bet is to get good grades and procure an interesting paid internship(s) during your undergraduate years. We have advised our clients for years that internships are crucial components of a college experience.  Internships that offer real skill development and exposure to the work world will vastly increase your employability at graduation. Subtly, this is the one of the hidden values of small colleges. Their network of close contacts and alumni, as well as their high quality career advising, guarantees that students who want to intern can do so easily.

New research quantifies the dollar value of college internships. According to research published by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 63% of college graduates who completed a paid internship received job offers versus just 35% of those who did not intern.  Further, graduates who interned earned a starting salary of $52,000,versus $36,000 for those peers who did not complete an internship.

For those who will graduate in the near future, the route to rewarding employment is via internship(s).  There continues to be strong employer demand for college educated workers, in fact job vacancies are at historic highs. However, good, high-paying jobs are difficult to come by for those who can not clearly demonstrate value to employers on day one.

Analysts at the Economic Policy Institute, report that despite the rosy overall employment picture, recent college graduates actually face a tougher labor market than before the 2008 recession. The percentage of college graduates under age 27 working in a job that does not require a college degree is at 44.6 % (Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2016). Furthermore, the “non-college” jobs employing workers with a college degree are of lower quality versus prior decades.

Entry level jobs require skills above and beyond the acquisition of a college degree and decent performance in class.  You must develop your portfolio of skills and experiences to acquire meaningful and well-paying employment upon graduation.  Internships are the best method for doing so.