Internships a great way to land a job

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Internships may be tougher to land right now, but the recession has made them more important than ever.

24-Hour News 8 spoke with a financial advisor who runs the internship program at one of the Indianapolis offices of Northwestern Mutual.
The "Princeton Review" considers Northwestern Mutual's program one of the best in the country.

Andy Hammond took part in more than one internship program during his college years. One of them landed him his job as a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual.

"It can provide opportunities that you can't get anywhere else," said Hammond.

Now, Andy heads up the internship program for the Northwestern Mutual office on the northeast side of Indianapolis.

His interns said they know they'll need an advantage when they head out into the job market.

"A lot of the people I know who have graduated, some have jobs, but they've gotten lucky because they've set up an internship before and kind of fell into it," said intern Mikael Kenworthy.

Internships provide contacts and real-world experience.

"I'll be honest in saying that in college textbooks, life insurance and financing is a very broad topic," said intern Joe Britner. "And coming in to get the nuts and bolts of what's involved has been very rewarding and something I'll definitely take with me."

"This experience, whether I go on with it or not, I'm still learning a lot more than I would anywhere else," said intern Sean Doyle.

The interns at Northwestern Mutual are fortunate. Some companies are reducing the number of internships they offer, especially paid internships in this economic downturn.

The news agency Reuters reports major investment banks have "dramatically" cut their internships this summer. Hammond said those kinds of cut-backs have left even more good candidates for his company's internship program.

"Because with so many companies scaling back and trying to get away from new hires and new opportunities, it's provided our firm an opportunity to really dig in and find some great talent."

Hammond said you should look for internship opportunities that will allow you to really do the work instead of just observing it.