The Wall Street Journal reported recently that two major banks (J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs) have decided to no longer offer internships to sophomores. Inside Higher Ed wrote about it here.
Is this bad news? Not necessarily. I recently worked with a student who interned in South America helping low-income entrepreneurs launch their products. Through this program, he and a small team worked with a local woman who, in order to support her family, sold jams and jellies out of her modest house. Their goal was to increase her revenue by bringing her products to a larger stage, which they ultimately achieved by helping her negotiate a deal with a major hotel chain.
Through this internship the student gained valuable experience in marketing, pricing, sales, quality control, product placement, as well as learning to navigate cultural differences. Ultimately he secured an internship after his junior year at J.P. Morgan in their commercial banking division.
Internships should be about discovery. While this particular student ended up in finance, the internship he chose could have been leveraged in any number of directions including non-profit, humanitarian, international affairs, government, law, education, etc. Creating a rich and challenging experience, one that stretches your knowledge and horizons, is far more important than landing your first internship at a name brand company.