Internship Basics – When should I intern?

The bulk of students choose to intern during the summer between junior and senior year, however, more and more students are seeking opportunities after sophomore and even freshman year. One reason for this increased interest in interning is that competition for internship opportunities can be fierce, requiring successful candidates to already have internship experience in order to qualify for their junior year internship. Moreover, many students are looking for multiple internship experiences to diversify their knowledge and skill base. So, it really is up to you what year you decide to intern. If you think you may intern as a junior, it won’t hurt to look into the qualifications of internships of interest while you are still in freshman or sophomore year.

As for what time of year you should intern, it really is up to you and your campus. Many students intern during the summer, but if you can coordinate you class schedule, and have internship opportunities close to campus, you can also intern in the fall or spring. Some internships even run the full academic year. A few things to take into consideration when deciding the time of year to intern are the location of your campus and your permanent residence and whether you hope to/need to intern away from campus/home. If, for example, you attend school in an urban center that’s rich with internship opportunities in your field, an academic year internship is quite viable. On the other hand, if your campus is in a small college town, there may be fewer opportunities to choose from, so you may decide to wait for the summer when you can head home to intern. If home has few internship opportunities close by, many students choose to pursue internships in larger urban areas where they might sublet an apartment for the summer, or stay in residence at a local university.

Internship Basics is a series of articles that answers some of the fundamental questions college students ask about interning.



Internship Basics – Can I get paid?

There are many internship opportunities that pay, but many do not. Business, computer science, biomedical and accounting opportunities are generally more likely to be paid. Typically, internships in the arts, human service and within non-profit organizations are more likely to be unpaid. A few organizations will provide room and board in lieu of payment.

Some organizations may require interns to receive credit in order to be paid. Others will offer a grant or a small honorarium. Organizations set their budgets months, even a year or more in advance.

If you need to earn money during your internship but are unable to find one for pay, you might consider interning part time and working part-time. You may also want to speak with your career center to see if there are other funding opportunities that may be available for interns who are not getting paid. These funding opportunities will rarely allow you to make money, but may help you to break even during the course of your internship. Also be sure to take advantage of non-monetary benefits that you might garner from the experience, such as speaker events, opportunities to conduct informational interviews with professionals in the field, free training and development, and both formal and informal opportunities to network.

Internship Basics is a series of articles that answers some of the fundamental questions college students ask about interning.

In the next Internship Basics post, we’ll answer the question, I’m an international student, can I intern in the US?




Internship Basics – I’m an international student, can I intern in the United States?

Yes international students can intern in the United States; you must check with your international student coordinator to ensure that you follow the correct process. If you want to get paid while interning in the US, you have two options: Optional Practical Training (OPT) or Curricular Practical Training (CPT). Most international students prefer to use CPT when interning because it allows them to save up all of their OPT in order to use it to work for one full year after graduation. CPT requires that your internship is related to your major and that you receive academic credit for your internship. Again, it is vital that you connect with your campus’ international student coordinator. If you accept an unpaid internship, you will not need to worry about either OPT or CPT. However, it is still important to connect with your campus’ internship coordinator to set up a learning agreement.

Internship Basics is a series of articles that answers some of the fundamental questions college students ask about interning.

In the next Internship Basics post, we’ll answer the question, When should I intern?




Internship basics – Can I get course credit for my internship?

That depends. Check to see if your campus has an internship program. A credit internship will typically need the approval of at least one faculty member and may need to be registered with the career center or internship coordinator. Institutions can differ in their policies, so if you think you may want to get credit for an internship, speak with the appropriate people on your campus before the internship, (even while you are searching for opportunities); requesting credit after the internship is completed is usually too late!

It helps to have already begun to think through some of the ways in which an internship might meet academic requirements before you meet with faculty about the possibility of getting credit. You don’t have to have it all figured out, but it can help guide your conversation, especially you are applying to internship sites that are relatively unfamiliar to your faculty.

Internship Basics is a series of articles that answers some of the fundamental questions college students ask about interning.

In the next Internship Basics post, we’ll answer the question, Can I Paid?

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