Internships are one way to enter the workforce. And more often than not, people take the temporary and frequently unpaid position with the hopes of being hired full time by the company they intern for.
While the vast majority of interns are college students, it's not unheard of for the older generation to take them up in order to navigate a career change—especially in today's tight job market.
But which companies and industries are really good at turning their interns into full-time workers? The business networking website Linkedin.com did a first-time survey of its 3.5 million members that held internships at some point, according to their LinkedIn profile.
The findings were less than encouraging, said Nicole Williams, LinkedIn's career expert.
"The conversion number isn't particularly surprising, but on a whole it is low," Williams said in an email to CNBC.
"Ten years ago an internship was the golden key to employment whereas in this competitive landscape only the strongest survive with a job offer," she explained.
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Of the findings, (scroll down the graphic above to see the full results) the industry with the largest percentage of hiring interns was accounting, with a 31 percent conversion rate from intern to full-time worker. The companies that hired the most interns include KPMG, Plante Moran and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Next came management consulting at a 25 percent conversion rate with companies like Bain and Deloitte as the best. That was followed by computer software at a 24 percent conversion rate followed by retail at 23 percent, with Kohl's and Macy's at the top.
(Read more: Economy's sticky problem: Older and jobless)
The Internet came in at 22 percent with Google and Yahoo among the best. That tied with information, technology and services and companies like Dell and Infosys.
Jumping to the bottom, sports, nonprofit management, publishing and broadcast media are the lowest intern to full-time job industries, all at a 12 percent rate.
Key advice
Williams has some advice for interns seeking a full-time job with their company.
"An internship is a tremendous opportunity and regardless of whether you get the job at hand, you need to be operating as if there is employment at the end of this experience, whether it's within this company or not," she said.
Other advice includes asking for recommendations during the course of the internship, instead of waiting until it ends. And ask for them from clients and colleagues, not just the boss.
(Read more: Stupid things employers ask job candidates)
And If an intern doesn't get a job at the end of their time, Williams said to stay connected with the people you met, who might be willing to make some introductions elsewhere.
—By CNBC's Mark Koba. Follow him on Twitter @MarkKobaCNBC.