How valuable is your internship, really?

When Michael Tammaro had a 93-year-old woman fling a phone at his head, he knew he’d found the right internship.

While interning as a patient care technician at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown, Conn., last summer, Tammaro encountered a phone coming toward his head as he woke an elderly woman up around midnight to collect her vitals. He said her surprise and confusion after he woke her up led to the outburst. 

Aside from the incident, Tammaro said internship experience has been integral in learning how to work in a hospital. He was responsible for checking on patients, collecting their vitals and other samples, transporting items to and from the lab and other miscellaneous tasks.   

“Overall, it taught me the inner workings of a hospital and how my potential career as a physician’s assistant is related to all the other parts of a hospital,” Tammaro, a sophomore rehabilitation sciences major, said.

Unfortunately for Tammaro, according to a study released by LinkedIn, Tammaro’s likelihood of receiving a job offer as a direct result of his internship is very slim. 

LinkedIn, a business-oriented social networking service, analyzed the profiles of 300 million of its users to determine which industries were most likely to offer internships and which had the potential to lead to a full-time job. According to the results, only 27 percent of internships in the hospital and healthcare fields lead to full-time jobs. 

Yet Tammaro is still confident his position could lead to a full-time job in the future. 

“[My supervisor’s] intention with hiring me was so that I could work there for a while,” Tammaro said. “She had hired other high school students that worked throughout their undergraduate summers and had the potential to come back after [physicians assistant] school.”

Tammaro said he plans to continue working at the hospital for at least the next three years before attending graduate school.

Tolu Fasoranti, a sophomore emergency medicine student, found herself in a similar position this September.

Earlier this month, Fasoranti began her internship at North Way Christian Community in the children’s ministry, where she helps preschool- and elementary-aged students discover their faith. 

For Fasoranti, a full-time job offer would only come if she clicked with the people and the position.

“A job could come out if it but not because of the internship. It would come if I showed an interest and if I did well in it and had my heart in it  — and if they thought I did, too,” Fasoranti said. 

The LinkedIn study confirmed Fasoranti’s statement — the results showed that nonprofit organizations and other institutions offer many internships but very few full-time jobs. 

In industries such as nonprofit management, international affairs and public relations, about 19 percent of interns are offered a full-time job, post-internship.

But in other areas, including investment banking, design and information and technology services, many internships result in jobs. According to the study, 61 percent of interns in the accounting field are offered a job after graduation.

Despite the low percentages, Fasoranti and Tammaro are confident that their experiences as interns will help them with their future endeavors. 

“The door is always open there. I had a good relationship with all the nurse supervisors, so there’s no longer a question of good personality, or good work ethic,” Tammaro said. “If I wanted to stay in Connecticut, I could probably get a job there.” 

Fasoranti had a similar experience.

“Having a background in ministry will show me the ins and outs of it, show me if I have an interest in it,” she said. “And even if it’s not something I want to pursue in the future, I want to be involved in it.” 

The LinkedIn study acknowledged that an internship in any industry will allow students to “get their foot in the door, learn relevant skills … and grow their professional network.” 

Caterina Pagano, a sophomore civil engineering major, interned at the Vascular Medicine Institute at Pitt last summer. 

Pagano agreed that internships are a good way to get involved but did not think they were the most important aspect of finding a job post-graduation. The study’s data confirms this, as 35 percent of civil engineers will receive the opportunity to turn an internship into a full-time career. 

Thus, Pagano is currently looking for a co-op position, which are temporary full-time jobs that students hold instead of spending a term taking classes at their university — and usually organized in conjunction with the university. 

“It’s not typical for internships to be continued [among engineers],” Pagano said. “Co-ops require you to do three rotations, so you really get to know the people, and they are more likely to hire you.”