Internship Opportunities for Millennial Students

This paper describes how industry can best aid engineering technology programs through the offering of internships targeting millennial students.In general, the millennial generation is considered to be those who reached adulthood around the turn of the 21 st century.This group has grown up with electronic devices and is very comfortable with technology.Although they are "tech savvy", many traditional millennial students entering college directly after high school lack experience with problem solving and hands-on activities.These students often seem disengaged and uninterested in the classroom setting.Some have suggested that teaching methods should be modified to be more entertaining in an effort to reach this generation.While modification of teaching methods may be part of the solution, another answer to this problem could be exposure to industry operations.First hand work experience can spark an interest in the field of engineering technology that cannot be duplicated in the classroom alone.Knowledge gained in the classroom has less meaning without exposure to "real world" application.Through the use of internships, students gain work experience that compliments classroom instruction.This experience gives the student motivation to complete their degree and enter industry after graduation.Internships benefit all of the stakeholders: the student gains valuable, marketable skills that give them a head start to a career; the employer has the opportunity to screen potential future employees; the engineering technology programs' recruitment and retention rates increase.