How much does internships help with jobs?

Choose an internship over an extracurricular activity every chance you get. An internship is a proxy for hands-on experience. It is possible to get valuable experience through an extracurricular activity, but you'd have to demonstrate uncommon leadership, initiative, and creativity for it to differentiate you from the crowd. Keep in mind that volunteering is a form of an internship ... it doesn't have to be a formal role. Any way that you can show you understand the field / industry is valuable. For instance, if you are interested in Finance and you organize a conference on campus ... or if you intern with a financial services firm over the summer ... or if you do an externship with an alum. Be creative in how you demonstrate interest and experience.

I believe if you can do both, that would be ideal. Part time work gives to you, volunteer gives to others. There will always be others who cannot give or provide for themselves for whatever reason. And who knows, you could be in that position sometime in your life. Volunteer work gives the gift of time, our most valued commodity. When you volunteer since it is freely given has no direct remuneration. Unlike your work that does provide a monetary reward, volunteer gives you a sense of giving with nothing expected in return.

I once served on a committee with a local chamber of commerce. Every year a golf tournament was held to raise money for high school seniors to help fund college. Our roll as committee members was to read through the multitude of applications and select and award applicants. I was always impressed to read about what students had done in high school in the way of work and volunteer along with accreditation or certification. Having a well balanced application always caught my eye and moved that applicant toward the top of the stack. All the best!