Although a lifeguarding or waitressing job at the beach once sounded like the perfect way to spend that last summer before senior year, today, more and more students are realizing the benefits of obtaining career-related experience as graduation nears.

Just ask Emily Young, AS '98, who participated in the Career Services Experiential Education program the summer between her junior and senior years. As part of this class, she interned in the Corporate Communications Department at Zeneca, a Wilmington-based pharmaceuticals company. There, she gained both experience and a valuable "foot in the door" that led to a permanent position after graduation.

The communication major started with "typical intern-type jobs," such as keeping track of newspaper coverage by clipping articles that mentioned the company. She was then assigned more difficult tasks. "Once I proved I was capable of completing those jobs well, they gave me more," she says.

On the job at a time when the department was not fully staffed, Young was able to work on larger projects, including the release of a major study at an American College of Cardiology conference in Atlanta. "I was responsible for creating a press kit around this study and I traveled to Atlanta for the event," Young explains. "We got coverage on CNN, NBC, The New York Times. It was fabulous."

Young's performance on this and other projects earned her a chance to return to the company for Winter Session and also work parttime during the spring semester of her senior year. So, when a job opened at Zeneca (now AstraZeneca) for a communication and association relations coordinator, Young was in an ideal position. "I was already up the learning curve so much further than other candidates," says Young, who was hired in May 1998 and has since been promoted to project manager in Corporate Communications. "I knew Zeneca inside and out, so I didn't need initiation when I started."

Internships are vitally important, particularly for liberal arts students, says Marianne Green of the Career Services Center (CSC). "Any experience where you are trying out new skills or learning about a career is successful," she notes. "Many times, students don't like what they did on an internship, so they know they don't want to pursue that field."

For senior visual communications student Jennifer Dehghan, AS 2000, of Wilmington, Del., an internship made all the difference in the way she viewed the field she will be entering.

Dehghan obtained an internship with Ogilvey & Mather after meeting Peter Wood, a creative director from the New York City-based advertising agency, when he spoke on campus, and she credits the vigorous pace of the University's visual communications program as the key to her placement.

In her interview for the internship, Wood looked over her portfolio and told Dehghan exactly what he liked and didn't like about her work.

"It was kind of harsh, but I took it as constructive criticism," she says. "It was later during my internship that Peter told me how surprised he was that I kept calling him after that. He thought he had railed me, but because of the nature of UD's program, I was used to that level of scrutiny."

The intensity of the visual communications program is marked by two years of cuts--one of the only undergraduate programs of its kind. This concentration, coupled with the personal effort of the professors, naturally leads to success after graduation, Dehghan says. The visual communications professors, like Ray Nichols, take a personal interest in the program, she says, noting that Nichols helped her revise her application, resumé and portfolio numerous times and worked with the agency to set up the internship.

During her time at Ogilvey & Mather, Dehghan worked as Wood's assistant on a job for Ford Motor Co., which took her from Detroit to Dallas and from Mexico City to Brazil in one month.

"Ford Motor Co. wanted to promote its environmental strides through a nine-page editorial spread in Time Magazine," she says. "There were two photo shoots scheduled, one to North and South America, to which I was assigned, and one to Asia and Europe."

As the creative director's assistant, Dehghan scouted out sites for the shoot. At night, she scanned photos into the computer and began designing layouts for the ads.

"I got to design really great layouts," she says, "because the photographer was a fine art photographer by trade. He was just taking beautiful photos, not thinking of where the copy or logo would go, which taught me not to always think of the ad first. The layouts I did for Ford Motor Co. were so much cooler, so much more original. We were working with art, not ads. "

Overall, Dehghan says her internship made her less naïve about the workings of an advertising agency.

"In school, you create the client. You never have to shake hands with the president of a company and speak to her about your ideas," she explains. "During my internship, the client was on the trip the entire time working with us, and it was a real eye-opener."

Tim Gillin, BE 2000, of Wallingford, Pa., interned at Comcast Spectacor--the company that owns the Philadelphia Flyers, '76ers and First Union Center--during the summer of 1999. Working in the Premium Services Department, which caters to VIP members of the Star Club, Gillin distributed promotional materials at concerts and sporting events, attended weekly marketing meetings and did some computer work--"whatever came up," he says.

The experience "reinforced my belief in what I want to do," says Gillin, a marketing and management major. Although the internship was a great experience, he says he realized that he would prefer to work in a different department within the company, one that focuses more on advertising.

Gillin also benefited from the CSC Experiential Education classes designed to help students make the most of their internships. "In the beginning, they told us about different stages of working in an internship...how you feel, what to expect. And, it did turn out that way," Gillin explains. "They also told us about different ways to carry ourselves and how to react to things. It really did help out."

With graduation nearing, Gillin has already been on five or six interviews and looks forward to more this spring--perhaps even one with Comcast Spectacor. For now, though, he's keeping an eye out for advertising and marketing jobs posted on the University's Crimson Solutions online recruiting system. "It's all out there--job descriptions, employers. You don't have to look through books," he notes. "It's a simple process. We're lucky to have it."