Many of our students include Gap Year internships as a part of their Gap time, for good reason. Internships provide students with exposure to different careers and experiences in varied working environments. With internships, they add new skills and depth to their resume.
Several of our students have done international internships, including one during COVID who (remotely) supported social media for a Moroccan NGO focusing on LGBTQ rights.
Most of our students though do internships in the U.S., and most until COVID did them locally and in-person. Recent internships undertaken by Gap Year Solutions students took place at a long term rehabilitation facility, a dance studio, a child care center, and a local university doing research with a professor. One of our students completed not one, but THREE internships. He worked in the business office of a beverage distributor, drove a truck for a local dry cleaner, and conducted research for a financial services firm.
There’s no question that internships can help shape a productive year, and provide important learnings during a Gap Year. Writing in the Wall Street Journal a few years ago, Andy Kessler reflected on his own internship experience and had this to say to companies about interns: “It’s that time of year. Students hoping to land…internships are flooding inboxes with their résumés. Managers should hire as many as possible. It’s good for the company but even better for the student—and for society. Pay them? Don’t pay them? It doesn’t matter. Just let them in the door.”
Internships are not a required part of a Gap Year by any means. As students and families increasingly wonder about the value of college, however, real world learning and exposure to different work environments and career possibilities is a net positive for all involved – and a Gap Year is an excellent time in which to do this.
Historically, our students have found their own internships by networking in their local communities, guided by Gap Year Solutions during the planning process. As more and more students have asked to include internships in their Gap Year plan, as an increasing number of internships are offered virtually, and as internships play an increasingly important role in college and career preparation, Gap Year Solutions is excited to begin offering a new service in which we match students with available internship opportunities (see our Gap Year Internships page here). If you would like to speak with us about Gap Year internships, contact us here.
