Collegians find internships help their future
Job prospects for
2005 graduates seeking full-time employment are far better this year
than in recent years
Staten Island Advance - May 22, 2005
Stephen Depasse's internship last summer with JPMorganChase,
Manhattan, clinched his future.
JPMorganChase offered him a full-time job last October, said Depasse,
who is graduating from Wagner College this month with a bachelor's
degree in business administration.
"I was thrown right in the middle of a team, getting a lot of
on-the-job training -- a good 50 to 60 hours a week," he said of his
paid internship, which paid off.
Now assigned to the bank's fixed income and trading desk operations,
"the placement I've gotten definitely put me in a better position
than if I hadn't done the internship," he said.
Even when internships don't lead to a job directly with the
internship company, as in Depasse's case, the experience makes
applicants more marketable, experts say.
Real-world business experience listed on a resume makes it stand out
from the competition, increasing graduates' chances of being hired,
said Dan Gagliardi, adjunct professor in the College of Staten
Island's (CSI's) Business Department, and among those overseeing
CSI's Business Internship Program.
To qualify for the unpaid internships (120 hours, earning four
credits per semester) CSI students must be juniors or seniors with a
grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Among the seniors taking part in CSI's program last term were Adam
and Andrew Caddell, twin brothers who are graduating seniors with
majors in finance and accounting. The brothers shared the same job
at the Manhattan investment firm Raymond James, in its Private
Wealth Management division. The Caddells were involved in market
analysis, including using complex mathematical equations learned at
CSI.
Adam has an interview scheduled with a Manhattan accounting firm,
and Andrew plans to go job hunting as well.
STUDENTS OPTIMISTIC
"We're optimistic," the Port Richmond residents said in unison.
Multilingual Carla Atallah, a CSI marketing major, with a minor in
finance, completed her internship in the ad sales department of Fox
Sports Cable Network's Spanish division, Manhattan.
"It was great being exposed to the real world of marketing," said
the Dongan Hills resident, who also speaks French and Arabic.
Scheduled to graduate in December, "I am looking for a full-time job
in marketing or finance because I am taking only weekend classes,"
Ms. Atallah said.
The good news is that job prospects for graduates seeking full-time
employment in New York City are far better this year than in recent
years, said James Brown, labor market analyst with the state
Department of Labor, Manhattan. Private sector employment in the
city rose 41,400 or 1.4 percent to just over 3 million for the
12-month period ending in April, the latest period for which figures
are available.
Jobs were added in education, health services, transportation,
utilities, financial activities, information, professional and
business services, Brown said. Manufacturing, however, lost 7,000
jobs over the last year, Brown said.
Andrea Papa, associate director of the career center at St. John's
University, Grymes Hill campus, said, "We continue to see an
increase in jobs in accounting and education, and we've seen an
increase in financial markets, not dramatically, but there's been an
increase in opportunities."
OUTLOOK IS BRIGHT
Caryl Watkins, director, CSI's Career and Scholarship Center,
confirms that the future "looks quite good" for graduates.
"It's better for graduates seeking full-time employment than in the
past two years," Ms. Watkins said.
"We're finding that students are getting two and three job offers,
and are able to pick and choose -- with those who've done
internships having a better shot at the job." Internships are
generally unpaid when the course is taken for credit at CSI. Paid
internships start at around $8 per hour, going as high as $20 and
even $25 per hour in the computer science field, Ms. Watkins said.
Jobs are most abundant in education, nursing, and any health
care-related field, she said, which is good news for Michael
Raghunath, entering his sophomore year at CSI.
The Bulls Head resident has gotten an unpaid internship this summer
in physical therapy at St. Vincent's Hospital, West Brighton,
working a minimum of 12 hours per week, while attending summer
classes at CSI.
"I've volunteered there (St. Vincent's) since 2003," he said,
adding, "I want to study medicine, to be a physician."
Sonali Silva of Willowbrook, going into her senior year in finance
at CSI, has begun an internship as a mortgage counselor at the
Northfield Community Local Development Corp., Port Richmond.
"It's an unpaid internship, three days a week, but I want to get
experience. After I graduate in January 2007, I would like to get a
job on Wall Street," she said. "This will help my future."
By Carolyn Rushefsky
Reprinted here with permission from the
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