Do you know what you want to do in the future? Even though West offers a plethora of career technical education (CTE) classes, not all students are able to fully explore the pathways that lead them to landing a job; that’s where internships come in handy. Despite the tremendous opportunity, few students know how to get an internship, or even that West offers them in the first place. Thankfully, with the help of our career development coordinator (CDC), Kim Hayes, we were able to compile a list of what students should do to pursue a gateway into their future as an intern.
Before we get into the specifics, what should you expect out of an internship? As an intern, it’s expected that you work off campus for multiple hours a day before or after school every day of a semester, hopefully to meet a quota of 120 total hours over the span of 90 days. The internship is a class that will take up one of your periods during the day and will count as honors credit when you complete all of the semester-long requirements.
“It’s an everyday commitment, that’s your class for fourth or first period, so you have to be able to get yourself there every day because you’re working a set number of hours, 120, if you want to get honors credit for the class. You can be the best intern I’ve ever had, but if you don’t meet those 120 hours, I don’t care how good you are, you’re not going to get the credit,” Hayes said.
Interns are also expected to be unpaid, as they aren’t there to work for the company, but rather to learn about what they do.
“Students get to spend their time of the day off site, on the job site. The expectation is that they aren’t getting paid, but if the business offers to pay them, we’ll never turn that down,” Hayes said.
- Make sure you’ve taken at least a level two CTE course
If a student really enjoys a course, they’ll naturally want to take the next, more advanced version of that class. After completing two classes, where can that student turn to continue to pursue what they enjoy?
“Why would a student choose to do an internship? Because at the end of level two, there is no level three, there’s no other course to continue. Especially if they want to do it after high school, there isn’t any more content or technical knowledge we can bring to a classroom, so how can you put that work into the workplace if this is something you really want to do?” Hayes said.
This applies to Interior Design Studio, Apparel and Textile Production, Business Management, Sport and Event Marketing, 3D Modeling & Animation, Nutrition and Wellness, Fire Fighter Tech, JROTC, Automotive Services, Health Science, all Adobe classes and any other CTE course provided at either West or the Career Center. So, if you’re taking any of these courses, you should start thinking about applying for an internship so you can apply that knowledge in a real-world setting.
- Set up a meeting with the CDC
If you’re interested in exploring more of one of the CTE pathways, you should talk to Hayes for further information. Not only will she provide you with all the information you need to send in your application, but she will also get in contact with any potential employers for you. But just because you’ve already taken a level two CTE doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll get an internship; students will have to meet certain requirements.
“To even see if the sponsor wants to host them, students have to meet several other criteria. It’s not just completing the second level, but it’s also having a GPA of 3.25 unweighted; they have to be a rising junior or senior, they have to be at least 16 and they have to provide transportation for themselves. They could check every box, but if they don’t have at least one of those, they won’t be able to do it,” Hayes said.
- Find out what works for you
Assuming you check every box for the internship, now you have to figure out what exactly you want to do after the CTE class. Even if two students do the exact same course, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll have the same type of internship.
“Let’s take Sports Marketing, for example, a student could go to the Winston-Salem Dash for communications or social media, or they could go to Wake Forest University Athletic Department to be an athletic trainer. It all just depends on what your interest is in the class,” Hayes said.
By explaining exactly what you want to Hayes, she’ll be able to get you the right type of internship that you’re looking for.
- Meet with your employer
Once Hayes lines up a site for you to work at, the best thing you can do is meet up with your sponsor. Just like any other job, if you don’t get along with your boss, you likely won’t enjoy the next 90 days of your internship. Going to the job site as well makes sure that it isn’t too far away.
“If the sponsor is willing to host them, I’m going to introduce the two, just to make sure it’s a good fit and that the student is comfortable,” Hayes said.
- Fill out all paperwork
This is the last, and most important step of all: completing all of your paperwork. Typically, you need to submit this before the end of the class registration process so that your counselor is able to fit it into your schedule for the following year.
“I meet with counselors to make sure that they get everything registered appropriately, because it takes up a period, so it has to fit into their schedule. I typically can’t allow students to do an internship as a fifth-period credit, but if you don’t have any space in your schedule, I can fit it in as a fifth-period option and they can go after school ends,” Hayes said.
Another very important part of the application process is teacher recommendations; you need at least two recommendations from people you know very well, or have taught you in the past.
“Recommendations have to come from an academic teacher, preferably their level two CTE teacher, and then a recommendation of their choice. It can be any other teacher, a coach, boss, supervisor, or a family member, as long as they aren’t directly related to you. It just can’t be a good friend or another student, imagine the recommendations are for your job in the future,” Hayes said.
Even though this can be a lot to take in at once, feel free to contact Hayes in the office, or via email ([email protected]) for more information or if you’re interested in getting involved in an internship or apprenticeship program.
