What is an Internship and Why Should I Do One?
Internships provide a unique and valuable professional experience. As an intern, you will work for a company or organization where you can contribute your skills and abilities while gaining professional experience and learning additional competencies in your desired career field.
Internships may be paid or unpaid. They are typically part-time though you may also find a full-time opportunity. Academic internships usually last a semester, but other internships may extend to up to a year. You may be able to receive academic credit for your internship.
There are many benefits to participating in an internship including the following:
- When you are ready to look for a job, the work that you have completed and the skills that you have honed during your internship will allow you to demonstrate to future employers that you have professional experience in your chosen field.
- An internship allows you to try out a career field and make sure that it is a good fit before continuing down your chosen career path.
- Your internship may also help you to refine your understanding of what kind of work within a field you are most excited to pursue.
- Internships provide an opportunity to begin building a professional network of contacts that will be important throughout your career.
3 Steps to Finding an Internship
* Click on each step listed below for detailed information and guidance
** ARE YOU AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT?
PLEASE REVIEW THESE IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL STEPS AND INFORMATION FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
STEP 1: Determine whether your internship will be non-credit bearing or academic (for credit)
Non-Credit Bearing Internships
As described below, some MassBay majors require internships, while others offer an internship as an elective. However, many students choose to participate in an internship without obtaining course credit.
Without receiving credit, you do not need to pay for the internship experience and will still receive the professional benefits of participating in an internship. As with academic internships, non-credit bearing internships are often part-time and can be paid or unpaid.
It is advised that you complete at least 12 credits specific to your major before applying for internships; coursework in your field of interest will allow you to better contribute as an intern and will make your internship more meaningful and productive. If you choose to pursue an internship without receiving course credit, please still work with Career Services so that we can help you ensure that your internship complies with the Fair Labor Standards Act and will provide you with a rich learning experience that will advance your professional growth.
Academic (For-Credit) Internships and Practicums
An academic internship and/or practicum is a position that provides you with professional experience while earning academic credit. Academic internships & practicums may provide between 1 and 6 credits; you must register and pay for an academic internship & practicum as a class. These credits may or may not be transferable to a four-year degree, so please check with the Transfer Coordinator located in the Academic Advising Office. Academic internships and/or practicums are required for several majors. Please see list below for the majors that require internships.
Academic internships typically require 5-15 hours per week at the internship site for 15 weeks or the length of the semester (summer and winter sessions may differ). To receive academic credit for internships, you must complete 40 hours of work at your internship site per credit hour. Required credits and hours vary by major so please note your major's requirements. Academic internships may be paid or unpaid and must comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act.
In order to participate in an academic internship, you must have:
- Completed 12 credits specific to your major
- A GPA 2.0 or higher. If your GPA is lower than 2.0, you will need a written recommendation by appropriate faculty or academic dean to participate.
- Secured a Faculty Sponsor
A Faculty Sponsor is a faculty member responsible for guiding you through and assessing the academic component of your internship. The academic component of your internship may include reading assignments, writing assignments and other work designed by the Faculty Sponsor to help you engage more deeply in your internship. Please see the list below to identify your Faculty Sponsor and contact them via email.
* Please note that this list may change according to faculty availability.
It is the student’s responsibility to identify and secure an approved internship experience; Career Services is her to support you (see STEP 2).
Once you have secured an internship and had it approved for credit by your Faculty Sponsor, you (with your Faculty Sponsor and Site Supervisor), must complete must complete and submit all forms to the Registrar to sign up for your internship as a class. Please see STEP 3, “Complete and submit all required internship forms”, for details.
IMPORTANT: Students are responsible for the cost of MassBay internship courses. The cost of an academic internship is the cost of the course and is dependent on the number of credit hours. Please see Course Offerings for current tuition costs for these classes.
MAJORS WITH REQUIRED ACADEMIC (FOR CREDIT) INTERNSHIPS
BIOTECHNOLOGY | Course#: BT240 | 4 credits
EARLY CHILDHOOD | Course#: ED230/240 | 6 credits
HOSPITALITY | Course#: BU250 | 4 credits
HUMAN SERVICES | Course#: SW201 | 6 credits
INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS & MANAGEMENT: MANAGEMENT CONCENTRATION | Course#: CS280 | 1 credit
INFORMATIONS SYSTEMS & MANAGEMENT: TECHNOLOGY CONCENTRATION | Course#: CS280 | 1 credit
INTERIOR DESIGN | Course#: BU901 | 3 credits
TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT CERTIFICATE | Course#: CS280 | 1 credit
In addition, in the following majors you may be able to participate in an internship as an elective. You must secure a Faculty Sponsor to in order to receive credit for an internship as an elective. Faculty Sponsors are listed below and may change according to faculty availability.
If you are in a major not listed below and you are interested in obtaining academic credit for your internship, please see your Academic Dean to find out whether you may use a course substitution to add an internship to your schedule.
MAJORS WITH OPTIONAL ACADEMIC (FOR CREDIT) INTERNSHIPS TAKEN AS AN ELECTIVE COURSE
GENERAL BUSINESS: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS | Course#: BU901 | 3 credit elective
COMMUNICATION | Course#: C210 | 3 credit elective
MARKETING CERTIFICATE | Course#: BU901 | 3 credit elective
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY CERTIFICATE | Course#: MN 201 | 1 credit elective
MANAGEMENT CERTIFICATE | Course#: BU901 | 3 credit elective
PARALEGAL STUDIES | Course#: PA251 | 3 credit elective
POLITICAL SCIENCE | Course#: GV 251-050 | 3 credit elective
STEP 2: Schedule a Career Services appointment
Work with Career Services to:
- Review and polish your internship search materials (resume, cover letter sample and LinkedIn profile)
- Discuss your internship search strategy
- Develop a targeted list of internship sites where you can apply
In order to apply for an internship, you need a resume, a cover letter and a LinkedIn profile.
Appointment #1: Preparing Your Internship Search Materials
Your first appointment with Career Services should be to review your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- Please use MassBay’s Resume Guide to help you create a resume draft. Please email an editable draft of your resume (not a pdf) prior to your meeting. You can find help developing cover letters and your LinkedIn profile by using our MassBay Cover Letter Sample → and LinkedIn Resources.
- Don’t worry about your materials not being “good enough”. We will review and polish together, but we will use our time most effectively if we have a draft to work from.
Appointment #2: Developing an Internship Search Strategy & Creating a List of Internship Sites to Apply
After your resume and LinkedIn profile are complete, please make a 2nd appointment with Career Services. In this appointment, you will:
- Further discuss your internship search strategy.
- Develop a targeted list of internship sites to apply.
We want to help and work hard to build and sustain excellent relationships with employers! Please follow these steps to schedule a remote or in-person Career Services appointment on the Career Services calendar
If you want to start identifying internships to apply for prior to your meeting, please see this list of some of our past internship partners: MassBay Internship Partners by Program →
This list is not exhaustive, but should give you a good place to start your search.
MassBay faculty are often able to provide you with excellent contacts in the field. If you are completing an academic internship, your faculty sponsor will be a particularly good source of information and be able to provide you contact information from past internship partners.
In addition, please we also suggest looking for internship sites on the following platforms:
Handshake: An interactive online recruiting platform for higher education students and alumni. Handshake partners with colleges, universities and employers to streamline and simplify the recruiting process for numerous employers.
For directions to activate your Handshake account, please follow the directions on the MassBay Job Search site
For more information and useful resources to optimize your Handshake experience, please follow this guidance.
Indeed is an American worldwide employment-related search engine.
Idealist is a job, internship and volunteer search engine focused on non-profit and social services opportunities and organizations.
Glassdoor is a website where employees and former employees anonymously review companies and their management. It also includes a job search engine.
STEP 3: Complete & submit all required internship forms online
Once you have secured an internship and had it approved by your Faculty Sponsor, please contact Career Services, careerservices@massbay.edu to obtain internship forms. These include the Student Internship Agreement and the Internship Approval Form.
Please note that for academic internships and practicums, you will need these forms completed (including the signatures of the Director of Career Services, your faculty sponsor, and your academic dean) before registering for your internship course.
Make sure that you complete all three steps to ensure your success!
Micro-Internships
You may also want to consider a Micro-Internship. Micro-Internships are short-term, professional, and paid opportunities which can be completed in a matter of hours. Almost all of these opportunities can be completed remotely. They are highly-specific, project-based positions that typically consist of 20 to 40 hours of work and can occur year-round. Students that participate in micro-internships are paid a flat rate and are given a timeline to complete their projects, typically over a two to four week time period.
Click the link to watch a 7-minute video overview for students about how the Parker Dewey Micro-Internship platform works.
Interested students are encouraged to:
- Create an account at http://info.parkerdewey.com/massbay
- Fill out your profile as completely as possible
- Review current Micro-Internship projects available
- Apply to projects of interest
- Continue to check the platform regularly for new opportunities
Appointments
- MassBay students and alumni can schedule 1:1 online, phone, or in-person appointments for individualized assistance
- Appointments are available from 9am-8pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from 9am-5pm Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. If you need an appointment outside of these hours or are having difficulty navigating our appointment platform:
⇒ Let us know by emailing us at: careerservices@massbay.edu and we will coordinate a time by email and do our best to accommodate your schedule.
SCHEDULE CAREER SERVICES ONLINE →
Contact Us
Julie Ginn, Director, jginn@massbay.edu
Lynn Barnet, STEM Mentoring and Career Navigator, lbarnet@massbay.edu
Kate Basch, Assistant Director, kbasch@massbay.edu
Sabrina Beach, Professional Network Mentor Manager, sbeach@massbay.edu
Brenda Egan, STEM Career Development Counselor, began@massbay.edu
Ugo Uzoeghelu, Career Coach and Adjunct Faculty, uuzoeghelu@massbay.edu