Ann Haas; Lily Merchant; Emily DiGiacomo; Allison Peterson; Emilie Daigle
INTERNSHIPS ARE A WIN-WIN COMMUNITY BUILDER
As an intern, you can engage your strengths, interests, and values, while building your professional network. At the same time, you’ll offer your host increased capacity, new energy, and unique perspectives. Together, you’ll build reciprocal community relationships that contribute to a vibrant community.
Internship Scholarship Applications Now Open
UVM offers scholarships for undergraduate students who need financial assistance to cover costs of living while they complete an unpaid or underpaid summer internship.
Deadline: April 11, 2024
Curious how to get started?
There's are an infinite number of paths to explore! We strongly recommend internships as part of a continuum of experiential learning throughout your time at UVM. Your first steps could include engaging in some of the many opportunities listed on our Experiential Learning Resource Page. For more industry-specific opportunities, consult the resources created by your college (You'll find many of these resources on this page).
Questions to Consider
What are your goals for your internship?
Setting goals can help you narrow your search. You might want to:
- Try a new area of work
- Dig deeper into an area where you already have skills
- Build professional relationships and networks
- Learn and practice industry specific skills
- Gain experience in the Career Competencies
How much time can you devote to an internship?
- Will you need to balance the internship with a job?
- Internships during the school year are usually 6-15 hours/week
- 40 hours of work normally earns 1 credit
- Micro-internships are typically a total of 10-40 hours
What are your geographic preferences?
- Do you have housing?
- What are your transportation options?
- Consider UVM summer intern housing
What are your financial needs?
- Will you need to pay rent while interning?
- What food, travel and other expenses will you need to manage?
- Consider applying for a Summer Internship Scholarship
Are you an international student?
- Make sure to know how your immigration status impacts paid internship opportunities by connecting with the Office of International Education.
How to Find Internship Opportunities
Use these tips to make Handshake work for you:
- Log into your Handshake (HS) account and fill out your profile, including the Career Interest Survey. This enables Handshake to curate opportunities for you on your HS homepage. Users with a complete profile are 7x more likely to be contacted by an employer.
- Create and save a search on Handshake
- Consult the UVM Career Center curated Employer Collections on the Career Center tab on the left of your Handshake homepage.
Leverage your on-campus resources
- Log on to UVM Connect to explore internships, join a Career Interest Group, reach out to alums or request a mentor.
- Talk with friends, faculty advisors, and others who may have contacts to help with your search. Check out these photos and captions about Summer ‘23 UVM student internship experiences. You might find inspiration here
- Attend Career Events like job fairs, networking nights, and other events hosted by your college. They are also listed on your Handshake homepage.
Create your own experience
- If your dream organization doesn't have an internship posted, you can propose your own.
- Research your target organizations - Look at their mission/values, history, and programs.
- Let them know how you can further their mission.
Choose a balance of more and less competitive opportunities. Most students apply to 5-10 internships, and sometimes more.
Earn Academic Credit
- Consult with your academic advisor to understand how internship credit fits into your graduation plan. Typically, each credit is earned by 40 hours of work. Internship credit earned is often elective credit and does not always count toward major requirements.
- To earn academic credit, you must enroll in an internship course during the same semester that you complete your internship.
- You can find a listing of UVM Internship courses at soc.uvm.edu. Select Internship under Instruction Method in Advanced Search.
- If you are required to be enrolled for your summer internship but you don't want or need the credits, check out the affordable SINT summer credit option. ($110)
- If you completed an internship, but didn't get credit for it, you can register for CAS 2991 B -- a one-credit course that helps you reflect on your previously completed internship.
Considering an unpaid or underpaid internship?
UVM offers scholarships for undergraduate students who need financial assistance to cover costs of living while they complete an unpaid or underpaid summer internship.
Deadline: April 11, 2024
Additional Experiential Learning Opportunities
Check out this comprehensive list of internship programs including mentored internships, semester-away internships, community engaged learning and more. Open to all students.
A traditional internship might not the best fit for you. Our Experiential Learning page for more info about the following ways to gain meaningful experience:
- Micro-internships
- Part-time Jobs
- Job Shadowing
- Study Abroad
- Community Service
- Leadership Opportunities
- Service Learning
- Research
- Fellowships
Check out the step by step videos & tutorials in our Brightspace organization. From building your first resume to landing your first job, our series of self-paced learning modules to help through every stage!
Celebrate your champ
Applaud that faculty/staff member who's gone above & beyond to support you finding meaningful work with confidence, courage, and curiosity!