Popular Internship Programs for College Students

Unpaid and paid internships are available from many companies. Large or small, look for an internship that is right for you. You might immediately feel the urge to pad your resume with an internship at a large, popular company, but at the same time, you’ll often get more out of the experience if you work at a smaller company as their only intern.

That said, there are a number of popular internship programs available to students across the country – sometimes, around the world. With these large programs, you’ll be able to more easily get a slot as an intern, and you can more easily find a full-time job with the company following your internship. Here are some of the more popular programs in the United States:

• Disney Internships

The professional internship program at Disney is large, with the company accepting interns in all areas – the resorts, the studies, the theme parks, and more. You can be attending college at any school in the United States to be accepted, and if you join the program, you’ll live right at Disney; they hold a housing lottery for their interns. There are always positions open at Disney, so after you graduate, it is easy to get a full-time job with this company. Our Theme Parks section dedicates several pages to Disney jobs and you may want to review those.

• PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, Deloitte & Touche

Getting an accounting internship at one of the big five accounting firms is your best option if your going to school to be an accountant. PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernest & Young, and Deloitte & Touche are your three best bets, as they offer a wide variety of options across the country

• IBM

IBM is a company always looking for young talent. There are tons of technology internships with this company, and although they are based out of Armonk, NY, you can often find positions open near your home.

According to Business Week, all of the above companies are in the top 10 when it comes to best internship programs. Some others that made the top 20 list (and, thus, that you should consider) include the following:

• Goldman Sachs
• JPMorgan
• Merrill Lynch
• Lockheed Martin
• Lehman Brothers
• BP America
• Norfolk Southern
• St. Jude Medical
• Raytheon
• General Mills