An empirical examination of the effect of previous internship experience on interviewing success

A commonly cited advantage of previous internship experience is that it provides the student intern with a comparative advantage over his or her peers in the interviewing process for an accounting-related position after graduation. This research examines the effect of previous internship experience on the students' interviewing success by comparing the interviewing success of student interns and non-interns. After controlling for differences between the characteristics of the two groups of students, previous internship experience has a significant effect only on the probability of receiving an off-campus office visit with a “Big Eight” accounting firm. Therefore, the assertion that previous internship experience enhances the student's chances of achieving success in the interviewing process is not confirmed in all areas of accounting.