Why Internships?

University students with relevant work experience own a “tremendous edge” in today’s competitive job market, says a UI Internships and Cooperative Education (ICE) office report.

Most employers (87.2 percent) interviewed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) said their new hires do have internship or co-op experiences. Nearly 40 percent of interns are offered full-time jobs upon graduation.

Differing from summer jobs, internships tend to be in a student’s area of major study, include college credit, and require special evaluation from both employer and UI faculty. Pay varies from none to minimum wage and can be as much as $15 per hour.

Employers find students without internships may be more likely to “have unrealistic views of work, lack maturing and work ethic, lack commitment to the organization, and possess less awareness of business etiquette,” claims a recent NACE survey.

Some CALS departments require internships and help students locate them. Others rely on the UI’s ICE office, which maintains a comprehensive database of opportunities. The following CALS student stories elaborate on advantages of internships for both employers and students.

–by Amanda DeRuwe, former intern, 2004 CALS graduate

Depth by internship:Augmenting the inch-deep, mile-wide education

Internships offer true immersion education, often accompanied by a pay check. In this seemingly best-ofboth- worlds scenario, students try on career choices to find a comfortable fit. Internships also allow businesses to audition potential employees.

Ty Iverson (B.S. agribusiness ‘04) interned for Food Producers of Idaho, then Sen. Larry Craig in Washington, D.C., and most recently for the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council while attending the University of Idaho. In January 2004, Iverson was hired by the Association Management Group (AMG) at Meridian. AMG specializes in managing and lobbying for Idaho agriculture groups. Iverson’s internship with Food Producers, an AMG client, made a perfect career fit.

Photo by Katherine Jones. Ty Iverson lands a job working with Idaho ag leaders and legislators, thanks in part to his internships.

Rick Waitley (B.S. ag. education ‘73), president of Waitley Associates and AMG head, chairs the CALS Dean’s Advisory Board, and is a strong proponent of internship programs.

During legislative sessions, association management requires 60-plus hour work weeks that include lobbying and attending legislative committee meetings. When the legislature is not in session, the AMG provides board training, coordinates annual meetings and trade shows, compiles membership directories, communicates with clients on state and federal agriculture issues, and provides a wide array of services to growers and related agriculture groups.

Iverson already testified on bills
“I really feel that in our type of work, you learn what you need to know on the job,” said Waitley.“For instance, you don’t learn at school how to lobby.”

Waitley proposed the 12-week, 12- credit food producer internship that pays participants a $1,000 stipend. Significant comfort zone expansion, the occasional tank of gas, and frequent meals at the boss’s house are perks.

Iverson was the seventh UI intern at AMG.Waitley offers the kind of assessment that cannot be gleaned from a vitae: “He’s a quick study; he’s already testified on a couple of bills. He can speak on his feet. He’s a good writer, and his intuition is tremendous. He’s a person of detail, and a strong work ethic.”

Iverson’s UI education is also an asset. “There are people who graduate with a degree that’s an inch-wide and a miledeep,” said Waitley. “Ty’s is a milewide/ inch-deep degree.”

“Agribusiness is a great major,” Iverson agrees. “You take a little bit of a lot of types of things: business, accounting, English, economics . . . even public policy classes. You can go a lot of directions with that degree.”

Iverson and Waitley agree that depth of knowledge increases with the kind of experience internships provide. It can help them decide what they want to do with their lives.

“I grew up on a farm, and I feel very passionate about farming,” said Iverson.“I think farmers are the best people in the world. What makes the job fun is if you can feel like you’re helping farmers, helping the industry, and making a difference. I feel lucky to be where I am.”

--by Donna Emert

Katy Morrison’s Capitol Hill adventures

Fans of Katy Morrison among faculty and staff of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) eagerly await each weekly edition of the “Katy Connection,” her electronic newsletter. In Washington, D.C., as an intern for Sen. Larry Craig, Katy’s chronicles are atypical of other CALS interns as she describes obstacles faced by a Shelley, Idaho, girl in the big city for the first time. Filled with adventure, sight-seeing, and a little danger, her stories reinforce her views on this semesterlong internship. “It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done. I just love it!”

Photo: Katy Morrison, above right.

Between missing three days of work because of a ricin scare and watching a live shooting of CNN’s Crossfire, Katy has experienced the life of a public official living in our nation’s capital. She has even sampled the fame of celebrity, chosen to represent Idaho in the Cherry Blossom Festival. As Idaho’s Cherry Blossom Princess, she met the mayor and the first lady.

Other firsts include driving on her first cobblestones and toll road, touring the White House’s West Wing, riding subways and trains, and visiting historic icons like the Liberty Bell.

Interning for Sen. Craig, on an agricultural sub-committee, has reinforced her desire to work in law. Last fall, Katy was looking for an internship that combined her present major, agribusiness, and her future goal, law school at the UI. The opportunity to work for Idaho’s senior senator was a perfect fit.

While interning, Katy learns about the legislature and political campaigns. She has scanned cattle retinas as part of proposed country-of-origin labeling. “I have a better understanding of the issues and how the federal government responds to them,” she says. She sees history being made through bills and political rallies. “I got to stand on a street corner waving signs one morning. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!”

For credit, experience, but no pay
Katy gets 12 units of UI directed study credit, but no pay, for her internship, which she found networking at CALS. She sends her adviser, John Foltz, weekly reports and on completion will write an intern’s perspective of the political process, exploring whether taxpayer dollars are well spent.

Foltz considers this kind of internship “invaluable for students. It allows them to see policymaking at work, and to evaluate pros and cons of issues affecting our country.” It is also “very beneficial” for our college to have such personal links with Congress. Travis Jones, a recent UI graduate in agribusiness, served a similar internship and now is on Craig’s staff.

Previous interns for the senator have become leaders in government and private industry. Perhaps this experience will get her hired full-time for Senator Craig like other UI alums. Perhaps she will become a legislator. Regardless, the UI faculty should keep her newsletters because Katy will never be the same again.

--by Amanda Vander Meer

© 2004 University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.