For most students, the hunt for an internship has been in full swing for the last few months. Whether you are majoring in computer science or linguistics, the stress of getting multiple internships on your resume by the time you finish your degree can be daunting to say the least. 

Internships offer a great short-term opportunity for students to essentially try out different career paths and gain experience in their desired field while doing so. As someone who wants to work either in media production or journalism in the future, my search for internships has been quite a broad one. However, as stressful as it is to find the perfect internship that also hopefully pays well, the additional stress of finding one during a pandemic is an entirely new dilemma to navigate.

A substantial amount of internships were canceled last spring and summer due to the coronavirus. According to Glassdoor, in April 2020, internship hiring fell 39% compared to April 2019. Others were made remote, with students working from home across the country. 

Upon searching for internships for myself, I found that many of my top choices were remote this year. Another reason for this is because I primarily want to work in New York City, where most people are working remotely right now. And while I do believe it would still be a beneficiary experience to do a remote internship for the time being, I cannot help but think about how unfair the internship expectations for college students are amidst the pandemic.

While a remote internship has advantages, with portability and social distancing for safety, it is undeniably a different experience compared to in person, especially for students who were looking at internships out of state or even abroad. I think it would only be fair to allow students to choose to not do an internship during the pandemic without indirect penalty on their resumes for future jobs. 

Similar to how some students chose to do remote classes or in-person classes this semester, others may have chosen to take the semester or year off. This decision to not enroll in classes during the pandemic makes sense, as the college experience is simply not the same and arguably not worth it to some right now. 

I feel as though employers of graduates should give this same understanding to students who may not want to do an internship because the experience is not the same when it’s not in person. 

As someone looking for internships in New York, my primary reason for wanting to work there is for the abundance of international journalism and media work but also for the vibrant atmosphere of the city. The same goes for students who want to pursue internships in Raleigh, Los Angeles, Boston or elsewhere for similar reasons. It is unfair to ask students to choose between sacrificing a true internship experience and enhancing their resume that will likely determine their success at getting a job after graduation. 

Before the pandemic, it was expected and even required for some degree programs to do internships, but this expectation should be adjusted accordingly. Most students progress toward finishing their degrees and try to gain experience by interning in their fields simultaneously. It’s just nonsensical to think that students should be required to pursue internships in the middle of a pandemic.