COLLEGE LIFE

INROADS Internships Contribute To Success

(NAPSM)-While good grades can be important when a graduate is trying to land that first job, many are finding that academic success may not be enough. Increasingly, employers are looking for relevant experience, even from job candidates just out of school.

That's one reason a growing number of students are using an internship as a practical way to gain some real-world experience and make themselves more appealing candidates.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reports that employers responding to its 2007 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey stated that they offered full-time jobs to nearly two out of three of their interns.

One intern process that focuses on helping Black, Hispanic/Latino and Native American students to land internships with leading corporations is called Inroads. This nonprofit organization places talented minority youths in business and industry, and prepares them for corporate and community leadership.

In 2006, 86 percent of its interns accepted employment offers. "We recruit the best and brightest minority students and provide them with unparalleled training, including professional skills and industry-specific training," says Charles Cornelius, Inroads President and CEO.

"Before Inroads, I tried other internship Web sites, but the search was long and tedious. My experience as an Inroads intern has helped me not only with corporate leadership, but leadership at my school, in my education and extracurricular activities," says Joyia Johnson, a junior at the University of North Texas.

Inroads has more than 400 corporate partners, including United Technologies Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, and Target Corporation.

Nearly 20,000 students have participated in the process. Many of them are now executives with some of the country's leading corporations.

Alum Steven Davis is CEO and Board Chair for Bob Evans Farms, a restaurant and food products company with sales of approximately $1.7 billion. Additionally, two of the UPS Corporation's highest-ranking executives are alumni. Teri P. McClure is Sr. Vice President-Legal, Public Affairs and Compliance General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and Lisa M. Hamilton is President of the UPS Foundation.

To learn more or to apply for an internship, visit the Web site at www.inroads.org.

Many students say that participating in an internship helped prepare them for the position they wanted after graduation.