Technology students may want to add an internship to their schedules, according to a survey from Robert Half Technology. Seventy-nine percent of chief information officers said that internships are an important consideration when hiring new graduates for IT positions. Only 13 percent of respondents felt internships were unimportant.

“There is high demand for IT professionals in areas such as web development and business analytics, but experience is key,” said John Reed, senior executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Employers expect new hires to contribute right away, and experience gained through internships can help recent graduates hit the ground running.”

The survey is based on more than 1,400 telephone interviews with CIOs from a random sample of U.S. companies with 100 or more employees.