High School Internships: A Comprehensive Guide
Navigating the world of career exploration can be daunting for high school students. Internships offer a valuable opportunity to gain real-world experience, explore potential career paths, and develop essential professional skills. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of internships for high school students, covering everything from the benefits of participating to how to find and secure the right opportunity.
Why Pursue an Internship?
For most high school students, deciding on a future career path remains uncertain. An internship serves as an introductory work experience within a specific professional field, offering invaluable insights and hands-on learning. Internships help students:
- Explore Career Interests: Internships provide a chance to test the waters in different fields, aligning interests with potential career paths.
- Gain Practical Experience: Stepping outside the classroom and applying knowledge in a real-world setting develops critical skills and provides a competitive edge.
- Build a Professional Network: Internships offer opportunities to connect with professionals, mentors, and peers, expanding networks and opening doors to future opportunities.
- Enhance College Applications: Participation in competitive and selective internships, demonstrating responsibility and leadership, can significantly strengthen college applications.
Types of Internship Opportunities
Internships span a wide array of fields and industries. Here are some examples of internship programs available to high school students:
- Research Internships: These internships offer students the opportunity to work alongside scientists and researchers in laboratories or research institutions. For example, the Summer High School Internship Program (SHIP) at Fred Hutch in Seattle provides hands-on training and mentored research activities. Other research-focused programs include the Zuckerman Institute’s BRAINYAC program at Columbia University, the Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) Student Research Internship Program, and research opportunities at Princeton University and Stanford University.
- STEM Internships: These internships focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Scholars Program offers hands-on experiences with AFRL scientists and engineers. NASA also provides numerous internships for high school students in STEM fields, allowing them to contribute to the agency’s mission.
- Arts and Culture Internships: These internships offer exposure to the arts, museums, and cultural institutions. The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers a paid internship for students in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The New York Historical Society provides opportunities for students to conduct research and share their scholarship through creative projects. Unpaid in-person internships are also available at all four Carnegie Museums.
- Government and Public Service Internships: These internships provide insights into government operations and public service. The USSS Pathways Program offers students a glimpse into the Secret Service. The YMCA offers internships that build professional and community leadership skills in health professions.
- Non-profit Internships: These internships connect students with non-profit organizations to serve their communities and build leadership skills. Opportunities can be found on websites specializing in non-profit internships, such as www.idealist.org.
- Business and Entrepreneurship Internships: These internships offer exposure to the world of business and entrepreneurship. Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students, connecting them with high-growth companies. Microsoft’s Discovery Program introduces students to computer science and programming.
- Environmental Internships: The Hutton Program is a paid summer internship and mentoring program for high school students interested in natural resource and environmental management.
- International Internships: Some internships offer the opportunity to work on social issues in other countries, such as the internship providing front-line support for social issues in India.
Finding the Right Internship
The search for the right internship requires careful planning and consideration. Here are some steps to guide your search:
- Self-Reflection: Before you begin looking for an internship, you need to think about what you are trying to get out of the experience. For internships, decide whether you want job experience, something fun, or an internship where you volunteer for a worthy cause. What are your interests and what jobs look appealing to you? Make a short list of your hobbies and favorite school subjects. What jobs coincide with the list?
- Narrow Down Your Options: Even with your general list of internship ideas, it is still necessary to make your search even narrower. This is where you have to make judgments on what you want to get out of an internship. Can you afford to work for free? Another narrowing criteria is where you can work. Do your parents want you traveling outside of your borough or taking trips on the train to an internship site? Also, how much time are you willing to give to this internship? Is it going to be after school, part time or full time? Some internships may ask for your availability before they can accept you.
- Start Early: Many internships require applications, recommendations and essays with early deadlines. Most high school students want an internship for the summer and these applications are usually due around January. For summer internships, it is smart to start searching two three months ahead. Planning early insures that you are able to apply for every position you want and not be limited by a few choices.
- Networking: Talk to your parents, the career center and teachers to get advice on resume format and what you should include. To get your name out, first talk with teachers at your school who are familiar with your internship goals. Networking is a key part of getting ahead and you should never be afraid to talk to people. Opportunities to network happen all the time, in local conferences, public meetings and internet forums.
- Utilize Available Resources: Lists of available internships can be found in most high schools. The career center and college office have information on companies that frequently hire interns in your area. Some organizations may even come to your school looking for interns. Keep your eyes open for postings around your school. The internet is one of the most important and useful resources when it comes to finding an internship. If a company does not have internships listed, that does not mean they are not hiring. For example, www.idealist.org, specializes in non-profit internships.
Making Your Application Stand Out
Securing an internship often involves a competitive application process. Here’s how to make your application shine:
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- Craft a Strong Resume: Resumes are the first things people look at when they are hiring and it is important to develop a strong resume. Talk to your parents, the career center and teachers to get advice on resume format and what you should include. High school students do not have a lot of work experience, so it is important to highlight your grades, after school activities, hobbies and career goals.
- Prepare a Compelling Cover Letter: Tailor your cover letter to each specific internship, highlighting your relevant skills, experiences, and enthusiasm for the opportunity.
- Seek Recommendations: Request letters of recommendation from teachers, counselors, or mentors who can speak to your abilities and character. For example, the SHIP application requires two recommendations.
- Proofread Carefully: Ensure your application is free of errors in grammar and spelling. For example, thoroughly review the SHIP application and complete your section well in advance of the deadline. Proofread your application and essays carefully. You will not be able to go back into the system after you submit your application.
- Submit Early: Submit your application well before the deadline to ensure your references have ample time to complete their forms.
Essential Considerations
Before committing to an internship, consider the following:
- Time Commitment: Have a good understanding of the time commitment, the length of the internship, the responsibilities.
- Compensation: Determine whether the internship is paid or unpaid. Some unpaid internships might offer other perks like free classes at related institutions, travel reimbursement, or even housing.
- Responsibilities: Before you commit to an internship, you should always make sure that you are clear on the expectations. For example, if you get an internship in a research lab, usually you won’t jump right into hands-on lab work. Instead, you’ll start with things like cleaning the lab and entering data into spreadsheets.
- Logistics: Interns are responsible for making their own housing arrangements. This includes locating their own housing options and paying for their housing. Your center location and housing options will determine if you need a car. At most centers, unless you find housing within walking distance, you will most likely need a car.
Overcoming Common Misconceptions
- Myth: NASA only offers engineering internships.
- Fact: NASA needs employees with a variety of knowledge and skills. At NASA, our engineers, mathematicians, scientists, accountants, writers, IT specialists, project managers, program analysts, and many other professionals work together to break barriers to achieve the seemingly impossible. Interns may support a variety of business and program management work, including human resources, administration and program analysis, accounting and budget, communication and public relations, procurement and contracts, information technology, security, and education.
Success Strategies
- Be Proactive: High school students miss many internship opportunities, because they are afraid to talk with adults or send out their information.
- Be Confident: Relax; be confident, understanding and always persistent.
- Communicate Effectively: Communicate proficiently in English.
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