Internships can lead you towards a successful career! An internship is a supervised work experience that supplements and enhances a student’s academic coursework. Internships are generally short-term (one or two semesters), have pre-established learning goals, and reflect actively on what students are learning or majoring in while in school.
Ideally, an internship offers practical experience in a potential career field. They are designed to help students understand the “real world” applications of their academic studies. They are distinct from jobs obtained primarily for economic reasons. The purpose of an internship is to bridge the gap between what is learned in the classroom and the actual world of work.
Internships can be paid or unpaid. Involvement may be part-time, as little as 10 hours a week up to full-time. Opportunities are available during summer, fall, or spring semesters. Academic credit may be awarded at the discretion of students’ academic departments. See your college’s academic intern coordinator for more information about academic credit. Even if you cannot get academic credit, remember that the most important benefit is not the credit, but the learning, networking, improved skills and “real world” experience you get.
There is no set way to locate an internship. As with any job search, you will have to do some of the work yourself, with the assistance of some resources provided by the University which include contacting the academic coordinator for your major, utilizing Career Services Handshake as well as other internship and co-op resources.
Career Counselors are available to meet with you by appointment to review your resume and cover letter, help you prepare for interviews, assist you in exploring career options and career information, assist you in developing a job search plan of action and specific strategies for conducting your search. Visit the career counseling section of our website to learn more about the counseling services offered.
Internship opportunities are listed with Career Services Student Employment Office via Handshake. In order to have access to these positions, you will need to register in Handshake which involves completing a personal profile. Once your registration is complete, you will be able to search for internships. If you have previously created an account in Handshake, you do not need to create a new account. If you have forgotten your log-in information, please contact the Office of Career Services.
Academic Internship Coordinators are faculty members within your degree program and are there to work with you as you progress through your internship program. Whether or not your internship or co-op will count for course credit will depend on the approval of your college/department and employer. Please contact your major’s department office or academic intern coordinator for more information. Even if you cannot get academic credit, remember that the most important benefit is not the credit, it is the learning, improved skills, and real-world experience you get. The experience could be the advantage you need when it comes to getting that post-graduation job.
Internships.com is a resource focused solely on internships. The site offers regionally focused guides on internships, part and full time career-related internships and jobs in both the non-profit and private sectors. Registering on internships.com is fast, easy and FREE. Students can simply click on the “Join” button in the upper right-hand corner of any page on their website and complete the form. Once you have signed on to the website, you can search internships by major and compensation as well as by location (US Regions, North America or International).
The Office of Career Services has compiled a list of additional resources that you may find helpful as you search for that perfect internship opportunity.
Submit an Internship Request to Career Services
This service is meant to provide the Student Employment staff with input as to what types of internship opportunities students are interested in pursuing. Submitting the form below, in no way guarantees that Student Employment will be able to provide you with information on exactly the internship you are looking for, but it does provide us with information on what students are interested in and gives us a way to target those opportunities for you.
