08832323.2010.480992

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Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Professional

Internships on Students’ Perception of the

Importance of Employment Traits

Brian Patrick Green , Patricia Graybeal & Roland L. Madison

To cite this article: Brian Patrick Green , Patricia Graybeal & Roland L. Madison (2011) An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Professional Internships on Students’ Perception of the Importance of Employment Traits, Journal of Education for Business, 86:2, 100-110, DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2010.480992

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Published online: 23 Dec 2010.

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CopyrightC Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 0883-2323

DOI: 10.1080/08832323.2010.480992

An Exploratory Study of the Effect of Professional

Internships on Students’ Perception of the

Importance of Employment Traits

Brian Patrick Green and Patricia Graybeal

University of Michigan–Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan, USA

Roland L. Madison

John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio, USA

The authors measured the effects of a formal internship on students’ perceptions of the impor-tance of traits employees consider during the hiring process. Prior studies have reported that accounting firms perceive students with internship experience as better entry-level accoun-tants. This perception may be related to changes in student beliefs after participating in an internship program. The authors report student and employer values of specific hiring traits. The found that students distinguish between the value of various traits described as important to employers during the interview process. They also found that the values students apply to these traits change after their internship period.

Keywords: employers, hiring traits, internship, interviews, student perceptions

INTRODUCTION

Faculty in business programs may comment on the differ-ences between students with and without an internship expe-rience. Students with internship experience appear to bring more to the classroom, link the importance of classroom discussions to practice, and demonstrate a significant matu-ration process lacking in non-internship students (English & Koeppen, 1993). Faculty perceptions of the benefits of intern-ships are not without research support. Swindle and Bailey (1984) reported that accounting firms perceive students with internship experience as better entry-level accountants. How-ever, there are few data-driven studies supporting internship benefits. One of the benefits of an internship may be a change in the significance students place on traits that are important to obtain professional employment. This study is primarily motivated by understanding those value differences between employers and students, thus allowing faculty to mentor with knowledge and not rely on anecdotal evidence or opinion. Al-though the prior literature has discussed potentially

impor-Correspondence should be addressed to Brian Patrick Green, University of Michigan–Dearborn, Department of Accounting & Finance, 19000 Hub-bard Drive, Dearborn, MI 48126, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

tant traits, it lacks data-driven evidence directly measuring their perceived importance. The study is further motivated by adding to the literature a significant benefit of professional internships. Researchers have not examined whether student perceptions of traits important to employment decisions are affected by an internship experience.

The purpose of this study is to measure the effects of a formal internship program on students’ perceived values of traits, such as an individual’s personality or technical traits, important to employers during the interview process. We examined four aggregate categories of traits as well as individual traits that fall under each classification. We also measured changes in student values of employment traits immediately before and after their internship experi-ence. Changes in student values were measured using four student cohort semesters (fall 2007, winter 2008, summer 2008, and fall 2008) in which interns completed a compa-rable pre- and postinternship survey measuring values of specific traits, such as a strong work ethic, ability to work with others, or their present GPA. We further compared and identified significant differences between student and em-ployer perceptions. Understanding these differences allow faculty to properly mentor students’ transitions from aca-demic to professional careers as they participate in the hiring process.

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BACKGROUND

Prior Research

The value of internships has long been recognized by the aca-demic and business communities. In 1952, the American Ac-counting Association (AAA) indicated that a period of practi-cal experience incorporated into the academic preparation of a student would enhance the overall value of the educational experience. Not long after the AAA study was published, the AAA and American Institute of Accountants (AIA; 1955), predecessor to the American Institute of Certified Public Ac-countants (AICPA), made a joint statement concerning the standards and responsibilities of internship programs.

Research by Lang (1979), Paperman (1979), DeFilippis (1982), and Chandra and Paperman (1983) identified advan-tages of internship programs that were consistent with those outlined in the 1952 AAA study. These included benefits to sponsoring institutions, employers, and student interns. Pre-vious studies by Schmutte (1986) and Beard (1998) found that student internships were increasingly incorporated into the business curriculum. Schmutte reported that over 69% of respondents offered internships, whereas Beard reported that number had risen to more than 75% of respondents provided internship or cooperative experiences for undergraduate stu-dents. One explanation for the increased participation in in-ternships may be that inin-ternships can be part of the solution to the added cost of education (Accounting Education Change Commission, 1990). Additionally, the Institute of Manage-ment Accountants (IMA) and Financial Executives Institute (FEI) jointly reported that entry-level employees fall short of employer expectations because they lack practical experi-ence. Furthermore, 20% of employers stated they would pre-fer to hire a job applicant who had a bachelor’s degree that included an internship program (Siegel & Sorensen, 1994).

Pasewark, Strawser, and Wilkerson (1989) studied the ef-fects of internships on students’ relative interviewing suc-cess. The results showed that previous internship experience had a significant positive impact on the probability of stu-dents receiving an off-campus (e.g., office visit) interview. However, results also showed that their success in receiving a job offer was not enhanced in the office interview. Our study extends prior research by examining student traits im-portant in the hiring process. In this study traits are defined as personality characteristics, technical competencies, interper-sonal skills, and other background information commonly discussed during an interview. Specifically, does the intern-ship provide an experience sufficient for the student to more clearly understand factors that are important to securing an off-campus office visit and obtain an entry-level position?

Research Questions

Our study examines four categories of traits identified by employers and prior research as important during the inter-view process. These categories include personality,

techni-cal/business, interpersonal, and background or other traits. Our study was designed to answer the following research questions:

Research Question 1: What values do employers place on interview traits?

Research Question 2:What values do students place on in-terview traits?

Research Question 3: Are there differences between per-ceived employer and student values of interview traits?

Research Question 4: Do student’s perception of values placed on interview traits change after an internship ex-perience?

METHOD

Sample

We surveyed business school students taking part in a formal internship program immediately before and after their initial internship experience. The study took place at a regional, nonresidential university in the Midwest with approximately 9,200 students (1,400 in the business college). The sample was drawn from four semesters between fall 2007 and fall 2008. The preinternship survey had 105 student responses, while the postinternship survey collected 58 responses. English and Koeppen (1993) had a sample size of 57 re-spondents. We also received 21 employer responses to the survey. Students were highly encouraged but not required to complete the survey. It was not practical to require a response to the postinternship survey due to the short time frame be-tween completion of the internship, assigning credit for the course, and in some cases graduation. However, we found no significant differences in the preinternship survey responses among 58 of the 105 students who responded to the post survey and 47 of the 105 students who did not complete the postinternship survey. Responses were returned without identification to assure response confidentiality. The 15-week internship is offered as a three-credit elective for juniors and seniors having earned at least 12 credit hours in their major areas of management, finance, accounting, marketing, man-agement information systems, human resources, or supply chain management. Recently, the business college had al-lowed graduate students to also participate in the program. All intern candidates, regardless of major, go through the identical formal internship process and requirements. Fur-thermore, students from all majors have similar internship experiences, closely monitored by a professionally staffed internship office. Students are required to attend three intern-ship preparation seminars and sign internintern-ship contracts prior to accepting assignments. The preinternship survey was ad-ministered at the beginning of the first 3-hr seminar. Though there can be concerns with the use of student responses, prior research supports the reliability of student self-reported data (Marsh 1987; Seldin, 1993).

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All internships were full-time (at least 40 work hours per week), paid positions lasting for 4 months and were recog-nized for their educational component. Interns also partici-pated in discussion groups via Blackboard and submitted a final paper regarding the employer’s business and their work performed. The postinternship survey was e-mailed to stu-dents immediately after the completion of their requirements. Each semester approximately 25–30 companies employ interns. In fall 2007 employers were also surveyed using the identical student instrument to develop a benchmark for the study. The employer set standards for the student at the beginning of the period and completed the process with a per-formance evaluation at the end of the work period. Although these metrics are critical to improving the program, they do not give a complete measure of changes in the student dur-ing the internship. Attest with relatedpvalues was used to measure significant differences. In prior learning assessment studies, with consistent research design, it was hypothesized that student values or abilities change due to a maturation effect. These same studies have also reported movement in student perceptions and values toward benchmark employer responses (Green & Calderon 2005). We originally hypothe-sized similar outcomes under both the first and second inter-view scenarios.

Survey

The survey used a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (extremely important) to 7 (extremely unimportant). We measured student perception under a first and second inter-view scenario. We also measure changes in the traits per-ceived importance after students gain experience through an internship. The categories and the specific traits under each category were developed through an exploratory sur-vey with the 26 internship employers. Employers’ perceived value of each trait was then measured using the identical student survey found in Appendix A. Although the prior literature does discuss potentially important traits, it lacks data-driven evidence directly measuring their perceived im-portance. Trait categories include (a) personality traits, such as attitude and being personable; (b) technical and business traits, such as core competencies and technical skills; (c) interpersonal skills, such as professionalism and communi-cations; and (d) background and other traits, such as work experience and GPA.

RESULTS

Demographics

Our sample was drawn from four semesters during 2007 and 2008. A total of 105 “first internship” students completed the preinternship survey (see Table 1). About one half of the respondents were women (52) and one half were men (53). A total of 46 students were seniors, 52 were juniors,

and 7 students marked were other. The majority of students were undergraduates (94), with a few MBA (5) and MS (5) interns. It is not uncommon for MS students to actually be-gin their master’s program during the same semester as they complete their undergraduate degree. The mean GPA was 3.393 (on a 4-point scale) with a mean age of 22.72 years old. There were 58 postinternship survey responses. This sample had slightly more women (34) than men (24). The postinternship group was not statistically different from the preinternship group, with a mean GPA of 3.385 and age of 22.71 years. Both groups had nearly identical distributions for majors (accounting, finance, marketing, and other), as well as mean professional (about 1 year) and nonprofessional (about 4 years) work experience. After removing graduate students the mean professional experience declined to 0.56 years. The only significant difference between groups was the distribution between seniors (52) and juniors (6) for the postinternship survey group compared to the preinternship survey group. However, this difference was expected since most juniors completing their internship would now have earned credit hours to become seniors. Although this study’s major focus was on the overall effects of internships on busi-ness students, we were unable to test for significant differ-ences between majors due to the smaller response size of the postinternship group. A total of 21 employers responded to the survey in the fall of 2007. We considered this a high response rate because we averaged 26 internship employers per semester. Seventeen of the respondents were directly in-volved in the interview process, whereas 13 participated as intern supervisors. Ten of the 21 employer respondents had both interview and supervisor duties.

Student and Employer Interview Traits

Students were initially asked to rate the overall importance of each of the four aggregate trait categories for personal-ity, technical, interpersonal, and background skills. For all first and second interview scenarios, students perceived less value for each category than employers. However, student and employer rank ordering of categories were identical. The category of personality traits showed the least significant dif-ferences. Preinternship students did not report a difference in the importance of aggregate personality traits between the first and second interviews. However, postinternship students placed significantly less value on personality traits during the second interview (2.069) than the first interview (1.724) at

p>_{.05. Employers still valued personality traits (1.476) as}

extremely important during the second interview.

Pre- (p>_{.10) and postinternship students (}_p>_{.05) also}

placed significantly less value on technical skills for the first interview scenario than did employers. Postinternship stu-dents also reported a significantly lower value than employ-ers (p>_{.10) for the second interview. Although employers}

reported only a slight increase in the value of technical skills, moving from the first (2.333) to second interview (2.095),

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TABLE 1 Demographics

Panel A (n=105) Panel B (n=58) Panel C (n=21)

Variable n M SD n M SD n M SD

Age (years) 22.₇₂ ₂₂.₇₁

GPA 3.₃₉₃ ₃.₃₈₅

Gender

Male 53 24 13

Female 52 34 8

Year in school

Senior 46 52

Junior 52 6

Other 7

Major

Accounting 37 20 14

Finance 23 17

Marketing 24 14

Other 22 8 7

Degree

BBA 94 58 11

MBA 5 10

MS 5 1

Other 1

Work experience (years)

Professional 1.₀₂ ₀.₈₇ ₁₅.₁₄

Nonprofessional 3.₉₈ ₃.₄₇

Involvement Interviewer Supervisor Other Industry

Public accounting 10

Financial accounting 3

Manufacturing 5

Other 3

Note.For Panel B, most graduating seniors did not complete a post internship survey, and many students advanced from second-semester juniors to first-semester seniors. For Panel C, 10 employers listed 2 positions of involvement.

students reported significant value increases. Preinternship student mean values increased from 2.800 (somewhat im-portant) to 2.105 (to important, wherep>_{.001 level), and}

postinternship students’ value of importance moved from 3.241 to 2.655 (p>_.05).

Interpersonal traits were valued consistently across all comparisons (see Tables 2 and 3). Preinternship students did show a significant increase (p>_{.05) in the value they place}

on interpersonal skills from the first to second interview. Employers valued background skills, such as experience and GPA, significantly (p>_{.05) more than did students under}

most scenarios. However, postinternship students valued background skills significantly less than dud preinternship students during a second interview. Interestingly, students perceived the most value for personality and interpersonal skills, such as listening well and being personable, and the least value on technical and background traits, such as problem solving and GPA. In other words, students may view being a likable person as more important to

future success than core knowledge and skills learned in the business school. Students did distinguish between the four aggregate trait categories, consistently ranking personality traits as the most important for both first and second interviews, valued as high as 1.476 (1=extremely important). Interpersonal traits were also rated as high as 1.581. Students saw technical traits as least (somewhat) important during the first interview (3.241), and background as least valuable during a second interview (2.931).

Personality Traits

Table 4 presents means for individual traits in the personal-ity category. Students and employers valued all personalpersonal-ity traits from extremely important to important. Preinternship students (1.401), postinternship students (1.828), and em-ployers (1.238) consistently rate a positive attitude as the most important trait during the first interview. A strong work ethic followed closely with respective ratings of 1.429, 2.036,

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TABLE 2

Importance of Trait Categories

M p

Trait Prestudent Poststudent Employer Pre to employer Post to employer Student pre to post

Panel A

Personality 1.₄₇₆ ₁.₇₂₄ ₁.₃₃₃ .₄₀₉₉ .₂₉₂₇ .₄₈₈₄

Technical 2.₈₀₀ ₃.₂₄₁ ₂.₃₃₃ .₀₇₆₃ .₀₁₅₀ .₁₅₁₄

Interpersonal 1.₇₀₄ ₂.₂₄₁ ₁.₅₂₄ .₃₄₃₇ .₀₅₇₁ .₁₄₁₃

Background 2.₆₁₉ ₂.₈₆₂ ₂.₁₉₀ .₀₄₇₉ .₀₃₈₆ .₄₀₀₅

Panel B

Personality 1.552 2.069 1.476 .6862 .1666 .1223

Technical 2.105 2.655 2.095 .9670 .0726 .1018

Interpersonal 1.581 1.929 1.429 .3488 .3060 .1346

Background 2.752 2.931 2.095 .0025 .5569 .0084

Note.Survey results ranged from 1 (extremely important) to 4 (neutral) to 7 (extremely unimportant). †_p₌_.1.∗_p₌_.05.∗∗_p₌_.01.∗∗∗_p₌_.001.

TABLE 3

Panel C: Comparison of First to Second Interviews (p

Values)

Trait

Preinternship first to second interviews

Postinternship first to second interviews

Employer first to second interviews

Personality .196 .0303 .0829

Technical 4E-09 .0477 .1349

Interpersonal .042 .3551 .1623

Background .₁₇₁ .₇₄₅₂ .₇₀₄₉

Note.Survey results ranged from 1 (extremely important) to 4 (neutral) to 7 (extremely unimportant).

†_p₌_.1.∗_p₌_.05.∗∗_p₌_.01.∗∗∗_p₌_.001.

and 1.333. Charismatic personality was valued the least for first and second interviews. Employers rated a positive atti-tude and strong work ethic for the first (1.238 and 1.333) and second interviews (1.190 and 1.143). This was significantly more important than for postinternship students during the first (1.828 and 2.036) and second (1.821 and 1.929, respec-tively) interviews. The employer value was also marginally more important compared to preinternship students for the second interview. Unfortunately, the greatest significant dif-ference between students and employers was a strong work ethic. Postinternship students only saw a 0.142 difference in the importance between having a vibrant personality and the strength of their work effect.

TABLE 4

Importance of Personality Traits

M p

Panel A

Vibrant personality 2.₀₃₈ ₂.₂₄₁ ₂.₂₃₈ .₃₅₅₂ .₉₉₃ .₅₄₃

Charismatic personality 2.₀₅₇ ₂.₃₇₉ ₂.₂₈₆ .₃₄₂₆ .₈₁₀ .₃₅₈

You are personable 1.₇₀₅ ₁.₉₆₆ ₁.₇₆₂ .₇₉₈₉ .₅₄₀ .₄₄₂

You like people 1.₇₉₀ ₂.₃₄₅ ₂.₀₀₀ .₃₅₀₉ .₃₃₆ .₁₁₄

Positive attitude 1.₄₁₀ ₁.₈₂₈ ₁.₂₃₈ .₁₉₆₁ .₀₉₄ .₂₆₄

Strong work ethic 1.₄₂₉ ₂.₀₃₆ ₁.₃₃₃ .₄₅₁₆ .₀₇₂ .₁₃₅

Panel B

Vibrant personality 1.₈₉₄ ₂.₀₇₁ ₂.₀₀₀ .₆₁₉ .₈₅₀ .₅₉₀

Charismatic personality 1.₉₂₄ ₂.₁₀₇ ₂.₂₃₈ .₂₃₁ .₇₄₂ .₅₉₉

You are personable 1.₆₄₈ ₁.₈₉₃ ₁.₆₆₇ .₉₇₃ .₅₁₇ .₄₉₁

You like people 1.714 2.107 1.571 .352 .124 .276

Positive attitude 1.400 1.821 1.190 .092 .065 .258

Strong work ethic 1.410 1.929 1.143 .034 .029 .188

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TABLE 5

Importance of Technical Business Traits

M p

Panel A

Technical Business Traits

The mean values for individual technical traits are presented in Table 5. Employers value other technical skills (1.190) and work experience (1.143) as extremely important during the first interview. Compared to employers, postinternship students valued four of the six traits significantly lower. Al-though employers rated traits from extremely important to important, postinternship students viewed these same traits as only somewhat important. The traits included decision making (p>_{.01), core competencies (}p>_{.01), other skills}

(p >_{.001), and experience (}p>_{.001). During the second}

interview the employers focused equally on problem solving (1.619), dealing with ambiguity (1.762), and decision mak-ing (1.714). In contrast, both pre- and postinternship students viewed these same traits as only somewhat important.

Further analysis shows employer means’ changed signifi-cantly for all six business traits, increasing in importance for solving problems (p>_{.05) and dealing with ambiguity (}_p>

.01), and decreasing for decision making (p>_{.05), core}

com-petencies (p>_{.01), other technical (}_p>_{.001), and}

experi-ence (p>_{.01). In contrast, students indicated that, except for}

core competencies and work experience, technical business traits had significantly more importance during the second interview. Preinternship students reported that the four trait values significantly increased in importance at least atp>

.001. Postinternship students also saw a significant increase in the same trait values, but only at thep>_{.05. Students might}

have felt that competencies and experience were examined before the second interview through resume and transcripts.

Interpersonal Skills

We examined 11 interpersonal traits (shown in Table 6), find-ing them consistent across most sample comparisons.

How-ever, employers rated a candidate’s potential to learn as the second most important interpersonal skill, in both the first (1.429) and second (1.190) interviews. Preinternship students valued this trait significantly lower at 1.810 and 1.705, re-spectively. Postinternship student values for importance were 2.241 and 2.000, respectively. It is possible that postintern-ship students believed they had less to learn because of their limited experience. Pre- and postinternship students also per-ceived listening skills as significantly less important during the second interview. In contrast, employers rated listening well (1.143) as the most important skill under all categories. Under further analysis employers reported that 9 of the 11 interpersonal traits significantly increased in importance from the first to the second interviews. Preinternship stu-dents also showed a significant increase in importance for 9 of the 11 traits. For preinternship students, the most signif-icant changes occurred for written communications, being decisive, and an effective leader (p>_{.001). For employers,}

significant changes were found for potential to learn, effec-tive leader, oral communication, and written communication (p>_{.05). However, students did not include listening well as}

their most important or increasing in importance character-istic. Students perceived less importance on critical speaking and listening skills during a second (office) interview.

Background and Other Traits

Background traits (see Table 7), individually and as a category, were rated as the least important traits during both the first and second interview scenarios by all groups. This is understandable, given that many of the background traits where used as screens before the interview. Items such as GPA and extracurricular activities are given to employers through resumes, transcripts, and letters of recommendation. For example, GPA was consistently viewed as somewhat

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TABLE 6

Importance of Interpersonal Skills Traits

M p

Panel A

Professionalism 1.₅₅₂ ₁.₉₃₁ ₁.₃₃₃ .₂₁₀ .₁₀₅ .₂₈₇

You listen well 1.₅₄₃ ₁.₈₆₂ ₁.₂₈₆ .₁₂₄ .₁₂₂ .₃₉₀

Oral communication 1.₆₇₆ ₁.₈₆₂ ₁.₇₆₂ .₇₂₃ .₇₈₅ .₆₁₉

Written communication 2.352 2.690 2.333 .891 .367 .354

Self-motivated 1.895 2.310 1.810 .553 .170 .275

Work with older 2.057 2.931 3.095 .010 .747 .044

Be decisiveness 2.314 2.690 2.667 .249 .951 .305

Effective leader 2.076 2.414 2.524 .166 .772 .375

Potential to learn 1.810 2.241 1.429 .019 .032 .324

Adapt to corporate life 2.257 2.310 2.333 .992 .957 .956

Manage time 1.933 2.069 1.857 .491 .545 .878

Panel B

Professionalism 1.₄₀₀ ₁.₈₅₇ ₁.₂₃₈ .₂₉₃ .₀₉₉ .₂₂₂

You listen well 1.₅₉₀ ₁.₈₂₁ ₁.₁₄₃ .₀₀₃ .₀₅₇ .₅₂₇

Oral communication 1.₅₆₂ ₁.₈₅₇ ₁.₅₀₀ .₆₇₈ .₃₀₀ .₄₀₅

Written communication 1.₉₆₂ ₂.₂₈₆ ₁.₇₆₂ .₂₃₈ .₁₃₇ .₃₇₆

Self motivated 1.₇₀₅ ₂.₂₁₄ ₁.₅₇₁ .₃₉₈ .₀₇₈ .₁₇₅

Work with older 2.₃₂₀ ₂.₈₉₃ ₂.₇₁₄ .₂₇₈ .₇₁₀ .₁₈₈

Be decisiveness 1.₉₉₀ ₂.₃₉₃ ₂.₃₃₃ .₂₇₄ .₈₆₈ .₂₄₁

Effective leader 1.₈₀₀ ₂.₀₇₁ ₂.₁₄₃ .₂₂₀ .₈₅₀ .₅₄₈

Potential to learn 1.₇₀₅ ₂.₀₀₀ ₁.₁₉₀ .₀₀₂ .₀₂₆ .₅₃₂

Adapt to corporate life 2.019 2.107 1.857 .367 .534 .973

Manage time 1.667 2.214 1.381 .054 .031 .227

important to neutral. However, employers did value GPA slightly more important (p > _{.10) than did preinternship}

students. Employers also saw a GPA as significantly more important during the first interview (2.571 compared with 2.905). It is interesting to note that extracurricular activities were anecdotally described as extremely important, although employers valued this trait between “somewhat important” and “neutral” (3.190).

Employers valued as “extremely important” during the first and second interview (1.667 and 1.381<_{, respectively)}

the students’ reason for “Why do you want the internship?” Students placed less value on this question, with a signifi-cantly lower value during the second interview (p > _.01).

Several years ago, a student was asked for a reason to work for a Big Four firm. The student’s only response was, “well this is a CPA firm, isn’t it?” As faculty, business professors may want to work on this one.

Further analysis indicated that postinternship students (2.714) placed significantly less value on their understand-ing of the company, than did employers (1.857) durunderstand-ing the second interview. This may be critical since employers view this value as significantly more important during the second interview (p > _{.01). From pre- to postinternship students,}

there were significant decreases (p > _{.05) in the value of}

understanding the company. For the first interview, the value

decreased from important (2.105) to somewhat important (2.931), and for the second interview it decreased from im-portant (1.819) to somewhat imim-portant (2.714). The matura-tion effect, from pre- to postinternship students tended to de-crease their values for many traits, while increasing the num-ber of and severity of significant differences between postin-ternship students and employers. This becomes a critical is-sue for traits valued as extremely important by employers.

DISCUSSION

Student perceptions of the importance of interview traits often differ from those of employers. Understanding these differences allow faculty to properly mentor students’ tran-sitions from academic to professional careers as they partic-ipate in the hiring process. Comparing a group of pre and postinternship students showed the decreased student per-ception of the importance of many traits. Preinternship stu-dents tended to map the perceived importance of traits with employers. With experience, postinternship students signif-icantly evolved their view of importance for many traits, lessening some traits’ importance while holding others equal to preinternship values. Student experience also increased the number and severity of significant differences between

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TABLE 7

Importance of Background & Other Traits

Panel A: First Interview

M p

Panel A

Why you want internship 1.705 2.276 1.667 .873 .119 .123

General work experience 2.200 2.517 2.143 .763 .267 .327

Job related life experiences 2.210 2.897 2.238 .925 .074 .042

Why chose university 2.886 3.310 3.238 .290 .853 .149

Why chose major 2.276 2.724 2.714 .158 .979 .143

Made up for past failures 2.295 2.897 2.429 .719 .257 .111

Understanding of the company 2.₁₀₅ ₂.₉₃₁ ₂.₃₈₁ .₂₇₇ .₁₁₂ .₀₂₁

Your goals and how obtained 2.₂₁₀ ₂.₅₈₆ ₂.₁₉₀ .₇₅₀ .₁₇₉ .₂₁₁

GPA 3.₀₅₇ ₃.₁₃₈ ₂.₅₇₁ .₀₆₃ .₁₄₁ .₉₃₉

Extra curriculars 2.₇₉₆ ₂.₉₆₆ ₃.₀₅₀ .₅₃₁ .₈₂₆ .₇₅₂

When graduate 2.₈₄₈ ₂.₈₉₃ ₂.₈₁₀ .₇₂₉ .₈₃₀ .₉₁₆

Panel B

Why you want internship 1.₈₉₅ ₂.₃₅₇ ₁.₃₈₁ .₀₀₆ .₀₁₀ .₁₉₆

General work experience 2.₃₄₃ ₂.₅₇₁ ₂.₂₃₈ .₆₈₆ .₃₇₅ .₄₈₁

Job related life experiences 2.₂₁₁ ₂.₇₅₀ ₂.₂₄₀ .₉₂₂ .₁₉₅ .₁₅₁

Why chose university 3.₀₀₀ ₃.₄₆₄ ₃.₁₄₃ .₆₃₄ .₄₁₀ .₁₇₈

Why chose major 2.552 2.857 2.714 .613 .727 .429

Made up for past failures 2.190 2.500 1.905 .120 .096 .408

Understanding of the company 1.819 2.714 1.857 .962 .029 .022

Your goals and how obtained 2.038 2.679 1.905 .365 .035 .092

GPA 3.276 3.786 2.905 .154 .038 .220

Extra curriculars 2.867 3.429 3.190 .374 .554 .178

When graduate 2.705 2.786 2.619 .585 .680 .994

students and employers. This may be due to exposure to pro-fessionals in their major areas. Although employers valued nearly all traits as either extremely important or important, students tended to distinguish between traits, ranging from extremely important to neutral, consistently placing less im-portance on each category of traits than did employers. Prein-ternship students did not distinguish the importance between aggregate trait categories. However, postinternship students placed less value on personality traits than did employers during the second interview. Postinternship students also put less importance on background skills such as problem solving and GPA during the second interview. In contrast, employ-ers still viewed these traits as extremely important. Students need to understand and be mentored by faculty that during the second interview employers are looking for a fit in their firm or company.

Within individual personality traits, all groups rated pos-itive attitude as extremely important. However, employers placed significantly greater value on the importance of a strong work ethic than did postinternship students. This result appears to support faculty anecdotal perception concerning students and hard work. Students need to understand that vi-brant personalities do not compensate for a weak work ethic. Postinternship students also perceived technical traits as

sig-nificantly less important than did employers. They viewed decision making, core competencies, experience, and deal-ing with ambiguity as only somewhat important. Students may believe that experience and core competencies are ex-amined through their resumes, but need to be mentored that these traits are essential during the hiring process. Not all professionals spend significant time reading resumes, and the extent and details of experience and competencies do not come through a single line. The interview offers students an opportunity to expand and bring life to their technical busi-ness skills. With students’ high rating of personality traits, they may view that being a likable person is more important to future success than core knowledge and skills learned in the business school.

Both interpersonal and background traits offer basic men-toring opportunities for faculty. Students need to remember that the interview is also an opportunity to learn about the employer. For students, listening skills need to become very important. They also need to understand the company and why they want the position before the interview.

Limitations and Future Research

Although the prior literature does discuss potentially important traits, it lacks data driven evidence directly

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measuring their perceived importance. The present study was exploratory in nature, bringing data to discussions previously supported by anecdotal evidence. However, the employer group was a small sample. Respondents were also lost be-tween the pre- and postinternship surveys. The limited sam-ple size reduced the ability to measure significant differences. Our sample consisted of business internship students attend-ing a regional, nonresidential university in the Midwest. The results reported in our study may not be able to be gener-alized beyond the present sample. Although the experience of a professional internship may have a significant effect on students, the effect may not be completely caused by their experience. Students’ perceptions may also be affected by approaching graduation and preparing to leave the academic world. Other events during the internship period may have some effect on student values, though we cannot predict the magnitude or direction of these effects.

There are two natural extensions of this study. First, stu-dents’ value of importance may be compared to the values of academics. Second, students’ values may also be compared to the values of internship directors. Both internship directors and academics have significant influence on student beliefs, as well as ample opportunity and responsibility to mentor students.

REFERENCES

Accounting Education Change Commission. (1990). Objectives of educa-tion for accountants: Posieduca-tion statement number one.Issues in Accounting Education,5, 307–312.

American Accounting Association. (1952). Report of the Committee on Internship Programs.The Accounting Review,July, 316–323.

American Accounting Association and American Institute of Accoun-tants. (1955). Statement of standards and responsibilities under pub-lic accounting internship programs. The Accounting Review, April, 206–210.

Beard, D. F. (1998). The status of internships/cooperative education expe-riences in accounting education.Journal of Accounting Education,16, 507–516.

Chandra, G., and Paperman, J. B. (1983). Accounting internships and CPA firms.The CPA Journal, September, 75–76.

DeFilippis, R. A. (1982). Internship in small practice.The CPA Journal,The CPA Journal, 81–82.

English, D. M., & Koeppen, D. R. (1993). The relationship of accounting internships and subsequent academic performance.Issues in Accounting Education, February, 292–299.

Lang, A. F. (1979). The value of interns to a regional or local firm.The Ohio CPA, Autumn, 162–163.

Green, B. P., & Calderon, T. G. (2005). Assessing student learning and growth through audit risk simulations.Advances in Accounting Educa-tion,7, 1–25.

Marsh, H. W. (1987). Students’ evaluations of university teaching: Research findings, methodological issues, and direction for future research. Inter-national Journal of Educational Research,11, 253–388.

Paperman, J. B. (1979). Internship programs I accounting.The Ohio CPA, Autumn, 159–161.

Pasewark, W. R., Strawser, J., & Wilkerson, J. Jr. (1989). An empirical examination of the effect of previous internship on interviewing success.

Journal of Accounting Education,7, 25–39.

Schmutte, J. (1986). Accounting internships: The state of the art.Journal of Accounting Education,4, 227–236.

Seldin, P. (1993). The use and abuse of student ratings of professors. Chron-icle of Higher Education,July, A40.

Siegel, G., & Sorensen, J. (1994).What corporate America wants in entry-level accountants. Montvale, NJ: Institute of Management Accountants and the Financial Executives Institute.

Swindle, C. B., & Bailey, E. R. (1984). Determining the feasibility of an in-ternship program in public accounting.Journal of Accounting Education,

2, 155–160.

APPENDIX A—SURVEY

The Objective of an Interview

Student Instrument

The purpose of this survey is to gain an understanding of students’ perceptions of trait values in the interview process. Please complete the following multi-part survey.

Part 1: Demographics

Please tell us about yourself.

1) Student Number:

2) Gender: Male Female 3) Age:

4) Year in School: Junior Senior Other

5) Major: Accounting Finance

Marketing HRM MIS

Other

6) When do you expect to graduate? Year Semester

7) What is your expected degree? BBA

BS MBA MS

Other

8) Prior Work Experience:

a. Non-Professional—Years Months b. Professional—Years Months

9) If you have professional work experience, how much was on a full-time basis? Years

Months

10) What is your GPA? Major Overall

Part 2: The Importance of Trait Categories

The following table lists four categories of traits that may be possessed by a potential employee. Please tell us how important you believe each trait category is to be successful

during the initial interviewprocess. Rate the value of each trait on a seven point scale: where 1 is extremely important, 2 is important, 3 is somewhat important, 4 is neutral, 5 is somewhat unimportant, 6 is unimportant, and 7 is extremely unimportant.

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Panel A: Importance of Trait Categories During the Initial Interview

Trait/Value of Trait 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1)Personality traitssuch as being personable or having a positive attitude. 2)Technical/Business traitssuch as analytical or accounting skills. 3)Interpersonal Skill traits, such as communication skills and leadership. 4)Background/Other traitssuch as GPA or work experience.

The following table lists four categories of traits that may be possessed by a potential employee. Please tell us how important you believe each trait category is to be successfulduring the second interviewprocess. Rate the value of each trait on a seven point scale: where 1 is extremely important, 2 is important, 3 is somewhat important, 4 is neutral, 5 is somewhat unimportant, 6 is unimportant, and 7 is extremely unimportant.

Panel B: Importance of Trait Categories During the Second Interview

Trait/Value of Trait 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1)Personality traitssuch as being personable or having a positive attitude. 2)Technical/Business traitssuch as analytical or accounting skills. 3)Interpersonal Skill traits, such as communication skills and leadership. 4)Background/Other traitssuch as GPA or work experience.

Part 3: The Importance of Individual Traits in an Initial Interview

The following table lists individual traitsthat may be possessed by a potential employee. Please tell us how important you believe each trait is to be successfulduring the initial interviewprocess. Rate the value of each trait on a seven point scale: where 1 is extremely important, 2 is important, 3 is somewhat important, 4 is neutral, 5 is somewhat unimportant, 6 is unimportant, and 7 is extremely unimportant.

Trait/Importance of Individual Traits 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1) Demonstrate a vibrant personality 2) Demonstrate a charismatic personality 3) Demonstrate that you are personable 4) Demonstrate that you like people 5) Demonstrate a positive attitude 6) Demonstrate a strong work ethic 1) Demonstrate the ability to solve problems

2) Your ability to deal with ambiguity and to solve problems with incomplete information 3) Demonstrate your decision making process

4) Describe your core competencies (major area) 5) Describe your other technical skills

6) Describe your work experience in your business area 1) Demonstrate professionalism

2) Demonstrate that you listen well

3) Demonstrate that you have strong oral communication skills 4) Demonstrate that you have strong written communication skills 5) Describe how you are self motivated

6) Describe your ability to work with those who are two or three times your age 7) Demonstrate your ability to be decisiveness

8) Describe how you are an effective leader 9) Demonstrate your potential to learn

10) Describe your ability to adapt to corporate life 11) Demonstrate your ability to manage time

1) Describe why you want an internship with the company/firm 2) Describe your general work experience

3) Discuss life experiences that relate to job/career 4) Discuss why you chose your university 5) Discuss why you chose your major

6) Describe how you have made up for past failures/when you have fallen short of standards 7 Demonstrate your depth and understanding of the company through your questions 8) Discuss specific your goals and how you obtained those goals

9) What is your GPA

10) Discuss the extra curricular activities that you have participated in 11) How long until you graduate

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Part 4: The Importance of Individual Traits in a Second Interview

The following table listindividual traitsthat may be possessed by a potential employee. Please tell us how important you believe each trait is to be successfulduring a second interview. Rate the value of each trait on a seven point scale: where 1 is extremely important, 2 is important, 3 is somewhat important, 4 is neutral, 5 is somewhat unimportant, 6 is unimportant, and 7 is extremely unimportant.

Trait/Importance of Individual Traits 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1) Demonstrate a vibrant personality 2) Demonstrate a charismatic personality 3) Demonstrate that you are personable 4) Demonstrate that you like people 5) Demonstrate a positive attitude 6) Demonstrate a strong work ethic

1) Demonstrate the ability to solve problems

2) Your ability to deal with ambiguity and to solve problems with incomplete information 3) Demonstrate your decision making process

4) Describe your core competencies (major area) 5) Describe your other technical skills

6) Describe your work experience in your business area

1) Demonstrate professionalism 2) Demonstrate that you listen well

3) Demonstrate that you have strong oral communication skills 4) Demonstrate that you have strong written communication skills 5) Describe how you are self motivated

6) Describe your ability to work with those who are two or three times your age 7) Demonstrate your ability to be decisiveness

8) Describe how you are an effective leader 9) Demonstrate your potential to learn

10) Describe your ability to adapt to corporate life 11) Demonstrate your ability to manage time

1) Describe why you want an internship with the company/firm 2) Describe your general work experience

3) Discuss life experiences that relate to job/career 4) Discuss why you chose your university 5) Discuss why you chose your major

6) Describe how you have made up for past failures/when you have fallen short of standards 7 Demonstrate your depth and understanding of the company through your questions 8) Discuss specific your goals and how you obtained those goals

9) What is your GPA

10) Discuss the extra curricular activities that you have participated in 11) How long until you graduate