Information for Employers

What Is an Internship?

An internship is any carefully monitored work or service experience in which a student has intentional learning goals and reflects actively on what he or she is learning throughout the experience. Internship circumstances vary widely. Common characteristics include the following:

• Typical durations of six weeks to nine months
• Part-time or full-time commitments (after graduation)
• Paid or unpaid opportunities
• Connection to an education program with academic credit, or not connected to earning credit

Types of Internship Programs

Internship — a one-time, curriculum-related work assignment that may be paid or unpaid, depending on the employer and what is required of the student for the position. Most internships offer a stipend.

Summer employment — paid work experience; however, this type of position may or may not be directly related to the student's curriculum and may or may not be integrated into the academic program.

Importance of Internship Programs

Benefits of an internship program for employers include the following:

• The program offers an inexpensive recruiting tool and an opportunity to train future employees.
• The opportunity to evaluate prospective employees while they are working for the organization can reduce significant costs in finding new talent.
• Interns bring current technology and ideas from the classroom to the workplace and therefore increase an organization's intellectual capital.
• Interns can be another source for the recruitment of diverse employees into your workforce.
• An internship program can supply an easily accessible source of highly motivated pre-professionals.
• Interns provide an opportunity for mid-level staff to manage.