Students blame time, lack of university assistance when worrying about internships

Two weeks before final exams, two University of Maryland, College Park students say they worry about landing jobs and internships, while one student believes the school should do more to assist in their pursuits.

The university’s career center offers numerous services for students from career fairs to mock job interviews and walk-in resume critiques.

Evelyn Xu, sophomore family science major and peer career educator at the university’s career center, fears she will not find a variety of internships that will allow her to stand out amongst her peers.

“I have an internship for the summer related to my field as well as a volunteer position that is perfect for my field, but I’m still worried that I don’t have enough time to get in more experience,” she said. “I’m just worried I won’t look good enough for grad school. Internships are so hard to find.”

Time is also an obstacle for junior journalism major Alana Yzola, who needs to fit just one internship into her schedule. Yzola is the editor-in-chief of Eclipse, an on-campus newspaper for the UMD African American community. She also works as the executive producer and content provider for UMSuccess, a new online community intended to increase graduation rates for students. Her academic program requires that she obtain a mandatory internship, but she is conflicted with when she will do so.

“I’m worried about finding time in my schedule to get a mandatory internship. I hate backing out of commitments, but I may have to seriously consider how to reallocate my time,” she said.

Emily Schweich is only a freshman but she is already thinking about future career plans. “As a freshman who’s had limited work experience, it’s hard to market my skills to potential employers,” she said. The broadcast journalism major hopes her university’s career center can help her gain experience, but has not yet seen it as helpful.

“I feel that the career center could do more to help students who are seeking part-time jobs on campus. It seems like they mostly focus on helping students with long-term career plans, but it would be helpful to have some assistance in the short term as well,” she said.