December 11, 2007 9:53 AM

The best places to start: internships
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 9:53 AM

Take it from me: over the past 10-15 years, internships for college students have really taken off as a key piece of career preparation.

Why take it from me? Not just because I'm editor of the Job Blog, but because I have a 21-yr. old daughter who is a senior in college and is facing the (gulp) real world - soon. Over the past several summers, she and her classmates have learned, first-hand, the value of internships, some receiving the coveted offer of a full-time, post-graduation job at the end of the summer.

Now Business Week magazine has come out with an article and study focused on the increasingly important role of internships, both for students and employers:

Getting an internship used to mean a 10-week exercise in photocopying, sorting mail, filing, and fetching sandwiches. If you were lucky, there might be a company-wide picnic thrown in. Forget that image. The college internship has become nothing less than a high-stakes tryout to land the perfect first job. Think of it as the job interview that lasts all summer long.

You can also check out Business Week's list of the 50 Best Internships, their first ever such list. Handy sorting tools make it easy to find what you seek. (For the visually inclined, you can view the list as a slide show, too.) Noticeably absent, however: any Boston or Massachusetts firms. OK, Boston employers - who's going to step up?

For those new to the subject, check out our Student Center piece, "All about internships."