More IT Internships, Part-Time Jobs This Summer For Students, Survey SaysMore IT Internships, Part-Time Jobs This Summer For Students, Survey Says

More students are landing IT internships and part-time jobs this summer, according to a new survey released on Tuesday by the Computing Technology Industry Association.

Just shy of half of organizations with IT internship programs plan to hire students this summer, up from 43.3% last year, according to CompTIA's online survey of 429 organizations, which included businesses, tech vendors, government agencies, and non-profits.

With more than half of organizations not hiring student interns, is the glass half empty or half full? Gretchen Koch, CompTIA's director of skills development programs, says it's half full, at least for students looking for internships.

That's because more companies would've hired students this year had they been able to find them. CompTIA's survey didn't ask respondents why they weren't hiring interns, but anecdotally, that's what the association has been hearing from many of it members, Koch says.

And the quality of the internships and part-time jobs is improving. Organizations are looking to fill entry-level jobs that require a broader base of skills than in the past, she says.

CompTIA officials had been fearful that the trend by many organizations to offshore lower-level programming, help-desk, and other lower-skills jobs would restrict the kinds of entry-level opportunities available for IT students. But the internships that are available seem to be moving up the IT food chain, requiring candidates to have a mix of technology, business, and communication skills. This includes the ability to present well, write well, and speak well, Koch says.

Most of the organizations surveyed will add one or two interns this summer, though 19% of organizations said they planned to hire 10 or more student interns and part-timers to their IT departments.