College undergraduates would be wise to participate in as many mock interviews, corporate-sponsored events and career-related seminars as they can, according to a study just completed by the Lear Corporation Career Services Center at Michigan State University's Eli Broad College of Business. These types of professional development experiences are related to whether a student ultimately lands an internship related to their major, the study found.
Past research has demonstrated the important link between internship experience and receiving offers of employment prior to graduation.
The report on the link between professional experience and education was based on a survey of nearly 1,300 juniors and seniors at MSU's Broad School over the past year. Broad School MBA student Tasha McCarter conducted the survey under the guidance of Frederick P. Morgeson, assistant professor of management, who assisted in survey development and data analysis.
The study examined the impact of three types of experiences thought to influence future employment success:
* college-related experiences, which include involvement in student organizations, team projects, academic tutorial sessions and business-related electives;* professional development experiences, which include participation in career advising, career-related seminars, mock interviews, corporate sponsored events, career fairs, job shadowing and informational interviews;* work experiences, which include internships, co-op positions and positions both related and unrelated to the major.
"Although high levels of participation in both college-related and professional development activities positively impact a student's ability to obtain valuable work experiences, participation in professional development activities seems to have a greater effect on whether a student has an internship," McCarter said.
An assumption could be made that on average most students participating in these development activities and receiving an internship possessed the core competencies that employers consistently look for in candidates, she added.
Nearly 40 percent of the Broad School students surveyed have had internship/co-op experiences and 31 percent have had positions directly related to their majors.
This is the first time the Broad School has done a study such as this, said Lear Center Director Geoffrey Humphrys.
"This is significant information for both students and for college administrators in allocating our energies toward the activities that will help our students be successful," he said.
McCarter, who will be joining General Motors as a long-term forecasting analyst after she receives her MBA this month, distinguished herself earlier this year as one of four Broad School students on the team that took first place in the National Black MBA Case Competition.
In addition to teaching at the Broad School, Morgeson researches the nature of work, examining how jobs and work are measured as well as how work is designed, including newer forms of work design, such as teams. For more on Morgeson, see http://www.bus.msu.edu/staff/staff.cfm?name=morgeson.
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