Benefits of a Nursing Externship?

I was wondering what the benefits of participating in a nurse extern program are besides the obvious extra experience.

I'm in my second semester in a two year ADN program and my first semester in an RN to BSN program, so I'll be able to sit for the NCLEX-RN in a little over a year and I'll have my BSN one semester after that. I've been working at a local hospital for about a year as a PCA and endoscopy technician in order to get my foot in the door and for the experience.

I would really like to get a job in critical care right out of school, but I'd honestly be happy just finding someone to hire me. I've heard a lot of stories from fellow classmates and teachers about how the job market in my area is very lean. I'm trying to do everything I can to make myself stand out from the rest and I've been told that an externship will help and I might even get hired by the hospital I extern at when I graduate.

Is there any validity to this or is externing a waste of time in my case?