Learning abroad is an enabler of skills development and all graduates should be able to access co-curricular learning experiences that will help to shape their future. In this @StudyMove produced video, Chair of the IEAA Research Committee, Dr Davina Potts, discusses the results of research conducted for the Career Outcomes of Learning Abroad National Report.

CNBC’s “College Voices 2020” is a series written by CNBC fall interns from universities across the country about coming of age, getting their college education and launching their careers during these extraordinary times. Kendall Camp is a junior at Morehouse College studying communications. The series is edited by Cindy Perman.

Weeks into higher education's forced shift into a virtual mode around March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, popular and practitioner media started being flooded with predictions that the situation will permanently alter the learning landscape in colleges toward a more virtual mode. (Kim, 2020; Chronicle of Higher Education, 2020). While much attention has been given to the shift of formal classes to delivery over Zoom and similar platforms, the field of Adult Education & Human Resource Development (AEHRD) should not ignore the concurrent shift of internships to a virtual mode. Many practitioners in the field work with internships, whether in a university career services role, the talent development team of an employer, or third-party roles such as placement services and reskilling programs.

I was speaking to an acquaintance, a Baby Boomer Mother, whose son is a college junior, and her daughter is a senior about to graduate. I mentioned how important I thought it was that she helps them land an internship this summer. She shook her head in disagreement and stated she had no worries her kids would land a job right after college because they were attending well-known universities. I walked away shaking my head in disbelief, as her attitude on her kids' job search hopes is quite misplaced. In today’s current job market, unemployment in this age bracket 11.1% , plus add in those tens of thousands unrecorded 2020 grads still job hunting and you’ve got one very difficult job market.