Internships?

Internships at the univ I work for:

When- depends on the degree program. It can be as early as the sophomore year but certainly by the senior year. Availability of internships is going to be somewhat regional. An example would be in fashion. Oklahoma is not exactly a hot bed for the fashion industry so there aren't a lot of internships available like NY will have. Most of the positions available in fashion here are looking for senior students. But there are some places that take freshman/sophomores in hopes of them sticking out the internship long term. 

Each college/program office has a listing of internships that are normally available and pre-approved but it is up to the student to ask about it.  Selecting/being selected is part of the normal class scheduling cycle.  

How important to later employment varies by industry.  I'd say they are over all very import; more so if your student has absolutely no job experience at all.  When people complain about job wanting experience and how to you get experience if you can't get a job... well, college internship was that chance at job experience. The relationship between college and industry is the bridge for entering the field easier.  It is the contacts professors have to help students get in the door of industry that makes the expense of education worth it. 

It’s not what you know but who you know!

I would say internships are extremely important.

My DD who graduated as a biomedical engineer, found a summer internship at a tiny biomedical company after her junior year, through someone I met at a dinner party at a friends house. That internship led to the full-time job she currently has. The original job she was hired for out of school fell through when the company had to downsize before she even started and when she was desperately looking for another job her old boss, who had moved to a big biomedical international company, knew of an opening in a very prestigious program the company ran and invited her to apply and she got it.

She got it in part because of his endorsement and she would never have even been considered for the job because the company doesn’t recruit at the school she was at.

My DS went to the flagship state university here in the south.  They were connected or knew of the companies that had summer internships.

They are very important!

He double majored with computer/electrical engineering. (studied and worked his butt off, no social life while in college).

One summer he interned at a tech company in Austin and the next a tech company in California.

Went on to get his masters, got very good recommendations from these companies.

When he graduated, he had six interviews and six job offers in Silicon Valley (sorry for the brag but he did work his butt off). 

DS is going through the process now. He's attending an internship fair in February and had to take an hour long class just to sign up. His Capstone class next year covers this as well--they set up internships for the students, as work experience is a huge need for digital engineers.

He attends a medium sized private university in St Paul. They work with the students to find the internships, but ultimately it's up to the students to find them. They don't assign them a company to work with. The school does bring in guest lecturers from the work force and really has a network to help students be current in their field as well as to know some people out there. The school has an excellent reputation with job placement and their stats are there to prove it.

I'd encourage your student to set up a meeting with their faculty advisor if they are uncertain of the next step. I know DS discussed it with his advisor last spring (his 4th semester), as well as this fall (5th semester.)

Definitely depends on the degree. My daughter that graduated with Chemistry, Forensic Science, and Criminal Justice degrees had to have an internship for her Forensic Science degree the summer between her Junior/Senior year. She found the internships to apply to and was accepted to a well-sought after internship. She LOVED every minute of it and learned a ton. My daughter that will graduate in May with degrees in Computer Science, Biology, and Chemistry does not need any internships. She begins medical school in July. My other daughter getting a teaching degree does not need an internship but she does classroom hours every semester with her last semester being fully in the classroom. Very different dependant upon degree(s).