Internships
Internships provide an opportunity for students to apply the skills and knowledge that they have learned during their course of study and gain experience in a real world setting. Oftentimes, internships help students focus their career and build their professional network. Internships are particularly critical for business and accounting majors – as many companies use them in evaluating potential hires.
Internships may be for-credit or not-for-credit. Not-for-credit internships do not require any approval from LHU. Students may find such an internship, complete it, and list it on their resume. This is a valuable option for students who do not meet the GPA requirement for for-credit internships (see next paragraph) or for students who do not need any additional credits for their LHU degree.
Internships may be paid or unpaid. While every student would prefer a paid internship, there are some serious reasons to consider an unpaid internship. They include:
- If you want to eventually work for a particular company which does not offer a paid internship
- If you can’t find a paid internship that would look as good on your resume
Where can you find internships?
There are really three sources:
- Internship databases. You can find some of these through Career Services. You can find discipline-specific
internship databases by talking to a faculty member in that discipline. For example,
there is a marketing job/internship database that can be used to find a marketing
internship.
- Faculty members. Faculty often hear of (especially local) internship opportunities and can advise you on applying for them.
- Create your own internship. Contact the head of the department you’d like to work in (e.g., the Marketing, Finance, or Human Resources Director) at a company you’d like to work for. You ask them if they have a [marketing, finance, human resources] project they have not been able to get to because they don’t have enough staff. If so, they should consider you – a [junior/senior] at LHU with a concentration in that subject – who can give them 120 hours for free to do the project. Are they interested? This tactic is often successful, and assures the student they will be responsible for some project – which looks much better to potential employers than an internship that does a little of this and that. (Note: 120 hours is a 3-credit internship)
Following are all the requirements for a for-credit internship at LHU:
Eligibility requirements include:
- Student must have completed at least 60 semester hours
- Student must have a 2.5 or greater GPA
- Student must ask an LHU faculty member to be their faculty supervisor for the internship. This can be your faculty advisor or another faculty member who is a specialist in what your internship will be (e.g., an accounting professor for an accounting internship, a marketing professor for a marketing internship, etc.)
The following information describes the items and steps to follow for enrolling in an internship.
- Internship Student Application Form (which will require the following information)
- Name and contact information for the on-site supervisor
- Location and address of internship site (if out of Pennsylvania, please check the State Authorization Website and be prepared to apply well in advance of start date)
- Potential start and end dates (the internship cannot begin until all paperwork is signed)
- Number of credits (1 credit = 40 hours of internship work) and whether the student wishes to receive a letter grade, credit, or no credit. (Note: Be sure to discuss with your advisor how the internship may be counted toward coursework for degree completion).
- Job description which is a statement that should show how the internship opportunity allows the student to apply knowledge and skills relevant to their major of study
- Learning objectives (determined in conjunction with the supervising faculty member)
- Submit a weekly log to the supervising faculty member via email
- Write and submit a 10-page paper and 2-page summary of that paper due at the end of the internship. The supervising faculty member will set a specific due date. The paper should include what interns did/learned and how it either matched or differed from what interns have learned in their courses. The internship provides an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills learned in coursework, so the paper should relate to the topics or practical skills, etc., covered in any course either in the major (with greatest emphasis here) or in general education (esp., classes like speech and composition). The paper should apply standard writing conventions (e.g., correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.).
- Receive an on-site internship supervisor’s evaluation, which will be factored into the intern’s grade (if receiving a letter grade)
- Complete an online, self-assessment at the end of the experience (URL will be provided for the survey).
- Signatures (the form should be signed by the student, their Advisor, the Supervising Faculty Member, and Department Chair, and then goes to the Office of the Dean along with the LHU/PASSHE Internship Memorandum of Agreement - see #2 below)
- LHU/PASSHE Internship Memorandum of Agreement (which will require the following information)
- Name of the Organization (add the name and complete the mailing address at the end of the first paragraph on page one)
- Authorized signature (have the appropriate person from the organization sign the form on page 4)
The Dean’s Office will obtain the final approval and signature on the Internship Student Application Form. They will also obtain the Provost’s Signature on the LHU/PASSHE Internship Memorandum of Agreement. They will then distribute the completed documents to all involved parties, including the Registrar’s Office. Once the Registrar receives the application, you will be enrolled in the internship course which will appear on your academic record and student schedule for that term. The paperwork must be signed before the beginning of the internship and no later than the last day to add a course in the semester in which the internship is to be performed. Registration must be completed prior to undertaking an internship.
More information about internships exists on the Center for Career and Professional Development Website
