Listen up college students! Gone are the days when a summer internship meant flooding your resume with senseless bullets in exchange for some happy hours.  A special report in Bloomberg BusinessWeek explains how employers are now hiring more interns to fill entry-level positions than ever before.  It’s time to take that summer job seriously.  For most companies, an internship now is one of the key factors in deciding on new hires.  Bloomberg BusinessWeek just released their guide for Best Places to Intern 2009, and it calls for some attention.

We all know how important internships are, but some of these recent figures listed are astonishing given the present economic situation.  Lets take Wall Street for example that 90% of Goldman Sachs new hires this year were former interns, unlike last year where only 58% of interns received full time offers.  Companies want to take advantage of their internship investments and nothing like a 10 week job interview to prove you are worth it.

The B&B guide provides excellent information on the number of interns each company recruits, hires, and the expected summer salary.  Additionally, the guide informs us on the amount of full-time jobs offered and internship spots available for the following summer.

This is the motivation we need to get us back on track — successful results that give us hope things could turn around.

We found some silver lining because there is a need on both sides: companies need interns and college students need experience. It’s a fair trade.

So when you’re ready to throw back a margarita with the summer office chums, take a step back and ask the boss what else you can do to help meet that deadline. Companies are more money aware, so if they are going to invest the time and money into you as an intern, show you are worth it.  The odds are now they will hire you, and THAT my friend will call for a celebration cocktail!