- What is an appropriate internship?
- Who provides internships?
- When should you do an internship?
- Locating an Internship
- Getting Credit for Your Internship / Registration and Contract Requirements
- Internship Etiquette
What is an appropriate internship?
The major purpose of an internship is to provide students with the opportunity to gain new insights about an organization and a job and to develop skills they haven't had the opportunity to develop in a previous job. An internship also provides students with the opportunity to see the application of course material in theory in practice in a job setting, and students are encouraged to bring their internship experiences back into the classroom.
Internships are an academic experience - not just work experience. In your internship paper you are expected to draw relationships between what you learned in the classroom and what you observed and experienced in the internship.
Internships are important resume material in competitive job markets where actual work experience is valued and often expected. Graduate internships can be valuable research experiences that can be tied into final projects.
It is important to select an appropriate internship. One way to determine if an internship is appropriate is to consider how it ties in with your major and concentration. For example, if your concentration is public relations, working as a server in a restaurant is not appropriate. An internship should be a new challenge and one that "fits" with educational goals.
Another important purpose of an internship is to give students the opportunity to try out a potential job or career. Perhaps you think you'd like television news production. An internship experience will tell you if this is the type of work you really want to do. Perhaps you are planning a public relations career. An internship will give you valuable insight into what it is like to work in the field.
In some professions, internships are expected by potential employers. This is particularly true in public relations. You will be competing with others for entry-level jobs who have completed an internship so if you have not done an internship, you are at a disadvantage. This is also true of many communication jobs.
Who provides internships?
Internships can be done in many businesses, government agencies, volunteer organizations, corporate and independent television and film production companies, television and radio stations and networks, and through on-campus organizations.
The internship books in the department office show lists of various organizations in which internships are available, but there are many more.
With planning, students can do internships in other cities and locations around the country and world. Internships can also be found on Internet sites such as monster.com. Members of PRSSA can access the national job/internship site maintained by the Public Relations Society of America.
Some students ask about doing an internship where they already work. It is NOT appropriate to simply get internship credit for the job you are already doing. Internships are not credit for life experience or work experience. However, it there is another job you can do as an intern for the organization in which you work so that you learn new skills and knowledge, this is acceptable. Just keep in mind that doing an internship at a different organization than the one in which you currently work adds another work experience to your resume.
When should you do an internship?
It depends. If you are doing an internship that requires you to have certain skills such as be able to write a press release, you should make sure you have taken the public relations class or classes in which you've learned how to write a press release BEFORE your internship. If you do an internship in which you are assisting with training programs, you should make sure you have had the training class so you know the basics of putting training programs together before you do the internship.
If you are doing an internship to explore a particular type of job, it might be best to take it earlier rather than later in your college course work. This way, if you find out it is not what you expected or want to do, you can do another type of internship.
Some students are offered jobs at the end of their internships, if the organization has a job and is impressed with the student. In this case, if you still have a year of school left, you may not be able to take the job.
You need to strategically plan your internship. Why are you doing an internship? Do you want to try to get a job as a result of the internship? Do you just want to try different things to get an idea of what you want to do? Answering these questions will help you decide when and where to do an internship during your college career.
You may also choose to do more than one internship. Internships are 2-5 units and undergraduate students can complete up to 10 units of internship credits toward the major as long as they have electives available. It's important to check with your advisor about when and how many internships you might want to do and can do.
Locating an Internship
There are two ways in which you can find an internship.
- Use the internship binders.
When an organization contacts the department requesting interns, we ask that they send a flyer giving details about the internship, or an internship announcement form is completed over the phone. The announcements/flyers are then filed according to the type of Internship.
There are four binders with internship announcements/flyers located in the department office in UH 018. The 4 binders are:
Internships in Mass Communication: Journalism, Radio, Television, Movies/Film
Internships in Public Relations
Internships in Small Businesses & Corporations: Clerical, Human Resources, Sales/Marketing, and Other
Internships in Government Agencies/Organizations and Internships On Campus
In some cases an internship announcement will be cross-filed. For example, an internship position at CSUSB public affairs will be put in both the on-campus and public relations binders. But this may not always happen, so you might want to review all the binders.
Another item you will find in each binder is a list of organizations where CSUSB students have done internships. Not all organizations provide us with announcements/flyers so these lists will give you a number of other internship possibilities.
- Research internships on your own.
Many students already have an idea of the type of organization where they would like to intern, for example, working in television production companies, then contact each company about the possibility of doing internships. Many of these large corporations have internship programs.
In some cases students have identified a specific organization in which they want to do an internship. For example, one student wanted to work for Disney so she focused her efforts on obtaining an internship with Disney. This is probably not the best strategy since internships with these types of companies are often quite competitive, and it's best to give yourself options.
Other students know someone so they network into an internship. Public relations students might attend the monthly luncheons of the local Public Relations Society of America chapter so they get to know people who might be looking for interns. This networking can be a very effective strategy for finding an internship, but it requires time to develop contacts. It is rare that a student can go to one meeting, meet someone, and be offered an internship.
Getting Credit for Your Internship / Registration and Contract Requirements
Undergraduate internships can be taken for from 2-5 units. Graduate internships also can be taken for from 2-5 units. The number of units dictates the number of hours during the quarter you are to work at the internship. The hours you are to work are specified what you must do to get credit for doing your internship.
If you are considering an internship, you must obtain a contract from the department secretary in UH 018 if you are an undergraduate student or from the graduate coordinator or you are a graduate student. The person supervising your internship is required to sign the contract. You must also obtain the signature of the department chair if you are an undergraduate or the graduate coordinator if you are a graduate student. You also sign the contract. If you do not meet the requirements of the contract, you will receive no credit.
Once you have obtained the appropriate signatures and filled out the contract, you are to give this to the department secretary who will then officially register you for the internship if you are an undergraduate. If you are a graduate student, you must give your completed and signed contract to the graduate coordinator to be registered for the class.
To receive credit for your internship, you must
- Complete the total hour requirement for the units for which you have registered.
- Submit a daily log/journal of your internship experience.
- Write a final paper describing what you learned during your internship experience and discussing how the experience relates to your education.
- Undergraduates must prepare resumes. Resumes should be prepared prior to obtaining internships, but if not, they must be turned in before the quarter ends.
- Additionally, the department will send an agency evaluation form to your internship supervisor. The supervisor must complete and return the form to the department before you received credit for the internship.
Internship Etiquette
Here are a few guidelines to follow so that you make the best impression at your internship.
- Be on time. If you are to arrive at 1:00 p.m., arrive at 1:00 p.m., not 1:10 p.m. If you are unavoidably detained (accident, flat tire, etc.) and you are able, call your supervisor to let him/her know what happened.
- Dress appropriately. On your first day, it's always best to dress in business attire. If you're not sure of what is considered appropriate business attire, ask the internship coordinator, or ask your internship supervisor what she or he prefers you wear to the office.
- Meet the hour requirement of your internship. If you are to complete 15 hours per week, then make sure you complete 15 hours per week. Failure to complete the hours required for the units taken can result in no credit for the internship. You have Made a contractual obligation with your internship supervisor to work a certain number of hours. Failure to do this reflects on your professionalism.
- Think and act as a professional - be responsible and dependable.
Remember that you are there to learn. People always respect those who are teachable.
If you are having problems of any kind at your internship, please contact the department chair if you are an undergraduate student or the graduate coordinator if you are a graduate student.
Good luck and good learning.
