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Employers beefing up summer jobs, internships
For college students competing in today's soft employment market, the summer 
internship remains a crucial gateway to getting a job after school. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers converted about 60 percent of their Class of 2011 interns into full-time hires, a record high.
Part of the reason for the uptick was that while employers extended fewer offers than in the past, more interns accepted positions when tendered, according to the association.
But, clearly, opportunities exist for interns or summer hires who excel on the job.
"In today's economy, employers are not as ready to take on full-time hires yet, but they are willing to try interns for a time," said Nicole Williams, connection director at LinkedIn, a professional networking site.
Some employers have gone so far as to pledge to hire students for summer internships and jobs in 2012.
In partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, some three dozen companies, government agencies and nonprofits have committed to creating 180,000 summer jobs this year, and more organizations could sign on as the summer nears. The pledge, a program known as Summer Jobs+, is aimed at low-income youth, but any student can use the online jobs bank to get a sense of which companies are hiring. (The jobs bank is expected to be available in early May at dol.gov/summerjobs.)
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