In today's world, a piece of paper that says "degree" on it isn't enough to land a dream job. Real world experience counts.

That's the case for Brandon Pedersen, a Brigham Young University student interning at Novell testing software. He's only been there two weeks, but has already been thrust onto a team of Novell employees. He said the hardest part of adjusting to his internship is learning to fit into the team.

Today's interns are applying their classroom knowledge in real-world situations and building a network they will use to land a job. It's good for companies, too.

Pedersen has two years left before he graduates with his degree in information technology. He doesn't know exactly what he is going to be when he gets done, but he wants to work with computers.

Utah Valley State College has more than 2,000 interns in places from Washington D.C. to France.

Laurie Wilson, BYU's internship director, said the school has at least 10,000 student interns.

Wilson said BYU's program is so large because the school believes in the value of internships.

Marsha Haynes, director of internship services and student employment at UVSC, said the most valuable thing about internships is the work experience.

"A degree isn't enough. They need work experience," Haynes said. "For our students to be competitive, we're finding that it's absolutely vital.

Jason Chaney is an intern with Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. He said that the best part of an internship is applying classroom knowledge to actual situations.

"They can only teach you so much theory and what it looks like in a text book," Chaney said.

Steve Densley, president and CEO of the Provo Orem Area Chamber of Commerce, said he encourages companies to use interns because it allows students to test out a given field and see if they like it.

Densley said that he wanted to be a dentist, but after he spent some time working in a dentist's office looking at the spit and the blood he didn't want to do it anymore.

An internship could save students time and money working for a degree they won't even enjoy using.

Even though Pedersen has only been with Novell for two weeks, he has already learned how important it is to see what happens in the workplace.

Companies that employ interns benefit from their student employees as much as the students benefit from them.

Tiffany Myles-Mills, student coordinator for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, said the interns are vital.

"The hospitals have so many students here that we actually have students 24/7," she said. "I don't think a day goes by that we don't have a student intern in the facility - that is how important they are."

Interns are also potential full-time employees, said Janet Frank, spokeswoman for Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

"They're very important because we view them as our future employees," Frank said. "That really benefits us in the long run."

Brigham Young University Internship Program Coordinator Adrienne Chamberlain said 76 percent of employers nationally use their internship programs to recruit new employees.

They're also a good labor source.

Wilson said interns used to be cheap employees to run the copy machine and run for coffee, but now interns are providing companies with high-quality work for a low price. Wilson said companies don't have to provide benefits or a salaried wage to interns.

John Flinders, director of human resources for Novell, said the interns also energize the working environment.

"They bring a lot of fresh excitement and energy," Flinders said.

It's not too late to secure an internship if people are looking for one.

"It's only May, so if we had a student who wanted to do an internship they could still get one," Haynes said.

Wilson said every student could use one.

"It is a wonderful supplement to an education," she said. "I cannot think of a major that a student would not benefit from an internship. And if students want to get jobs, they better intern."

Brittani Lusk can be reached at 344-2549 or at blusk@heraldextra.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.