Vault.Com Announces Its 2011 List of Top Internships

Discussions about summer internships increase on college campuses every year when the annual list of Top 10 Internships from Vault.com hits the media. By now, many college students have already landed their summer internships. However, many college students still have no summer plans for internships and are just starting an internship search.

This list of the Top 10 Internships from Vault, might be a place to start a summer internship search for those college students just getting ready to look. Although many of the companies on the list are no longer accepting applicants for summer internships, others offer year round internships. College students can use the list as a guide in the following ways:

-Begin researching and planning now for an internship this fall or next summer
-Look for competitor companies if the companies on the list have already hired all their interns this year
-Some companies offer amazing perks and benefits to snag the best interns; consider what is important to you in an internship.
-Research if these companies accept interns who have already graduated. It may be one way to launch a career after graduation.

Vault's List of 2011 Best Internships.

- The Boston Consulting Group(BCG) takes on about 100 interns every year for 10-week summer internships. The Boston Consulting Group internship gives students, from a wide variety of college majors, an opportunity to discover what it is like to work in strategic consulting. Interns are assigned to specific client account consulting teams and get to have specific responsibility for a part of the consulting project.
-The Capital Fellows program is run out of the Sacramento State Capital in California. Interns get paid just under $2000 per month, receive health, vision and dental benefits as well as earn academic credit. Capital Fellows interns spend 10 to 11 months in Sacramento in one of four specific programs including the Jesse M. Unruh Assembly Fellowship , the Executive Fellowship , the Judicial Administration Fellowship and the California Senate Fellows .

-Deloitte LLPhires just under 2000 interns for 3 month internships or six-moth co-ops every year. Having worked in college career centers for years, this is one of the most competitive internships students can land. Students with high GPA's and significant campus leadership experiences compete for these internships with good hourly wages, opportunity to build networks and an almost guaranteed offer of employment, if students impress the company during the internship. Deloitte's internships are not all about Accounting.

-Garmin International, the 23-year old company which innovates communication and navigation devices, hires about 50 interns every year in their US locations in Kansas, Oregon, Minnesota and Arizona. Interns are paid and receive health, vision and dental benefits. Additionally, non-local interns receive housing assistance. Garmin International has an easy to navigate online internship application.

-Google, the internet giant doesn't just offer internships - they offer a lifestyle that students want to experience as interns. Google offers their college interns, as they do their employees, competitive salaries and amenities like free gourmet food, massage therapy, gym, bike repair, dry cleaning, hair stylist, oil change and car wash - on premises. Google have internships year-round through their BOLD (Building Opportunities for Leadership & Development) for undergraduates and internships for students in MBA and other graduate programs. Google internships are not all technical.

-J.P. Morgan Investment Bank summer internship program supports about 350 interns every year. Aside from landing a coveted spot in New York City, (they have other intern locations as well) summer interns can expect competitive salary and incentive bonus, corporate discounts such as on gym memberships and cultural institutions, overtime meals, car service, BlackBerry use for the summer, housing stipend and round-trip travel to internship location.

-Imagine the big bang that a NASA summer internship could add to the resume of a budding scientist or engineer? College students who want to apply for internships with NASA can do so using the Student On-Line Application for Recruiting system, otherwise known as the SOLAR system. Internships can be in the Summer, Fall or Spring semesters and can be completed at US locations including Washington DC and Houston, TX. NASA internships are not just for college students either. High school students with a minimum 3.0 GPA and at least 16 years-old can also apply. About 3000 students do NASA internships every year.

-Nickelodeon Animation Studios in Burbank, California, home of SpongeBob and related creatures, hire about 100 interns every year; 40 in the summer, 30 each in the spring and fall. These internships, like many others in creative disciplines, are unpaid but students earn academic credit. The typical Nickelodeon intern works two or three days per week for three to four months in departments including Animation Production, Post Production, Casting for Animation and The Writing/Artist Fellowship.

- Northwestern Mutual Financial Network offer internships throughout the US to 1,000 to 1,500 interns annually. Interns earn about $2K-$5K per semester through commissions, additional stipends and incentives. Another favorite of the business student, the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network internship has made the Vault list for 14 years straight. Interns hav the opportunity to "try out" their internships through full time or part time hours. Interested students apply at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network before visiting local offices.

- Most people think Smithsonian internship, think History or Art majors in Washington DC only. No so. The Smithsonian offers internships in New York; Washington, D.C., Massachusetts and even in Panama. The number of Smithsonian internships varies during the year and can be paid or unpaid. Summer and winter internships last two months and fall and spring internships last four months. The Smithsonian has internships in a variety of areas from garden maintenance to facilities management to positions in the Air and Space Museum.