EMPLOYERS Internships at The University of Iowa
Internship Overview
Internships can take place during the fall, spring, or summer semesters. Internships can be paid and unpaid, and this is left to the discretion of the employer. For an internship to be recognized by the Pomerantz Career Center, the student must meet specific requirements regarding hours worked, length of the internship, etc. (see Creating an Internship).
Benefits of an Internship
Hosting a student intern can provide many benefits to an employer. Students will become better acquainted with the business and if satisfied with the internship, will inform other students of the opportunity—thus enhancing your reputation on campus. Interns are always eager to learn and work hard and often bring a new perspective to the workplace. They can provide new and innovative solutions for your organization by applying the knowledge they received from their academic coursework. Finally, an internship experience can lead to a full-time hire that you won't have to retrain and reacclimate to the organization.
Creating an Internship
Creating a quality internship position requires some planning and research. There are four main areas that an employer should focus on when creating an internship.
- Staffing Needs
Work with each department in your organization to determine your staffing needs and where an intern could contribute the most. - Job Description
Write a job description including the duties and responsibilities, qualifications, hours worked, etc. Have a clear idea of the exact job duties required. Interns must work a minimum of 10 hours per week for 8 weeks during the summer and 10 weeks during the fall. The job must be at least 80% professional work. The student's main duties should not be filing, answering the phone, or photocopying. Once you have created a solid description, you can post it on UI Employment Expo for students to view (see Publicizing Your Internship). - Objective
Set an overall goal or objective for the student's work. This will help give the student direction during the internship. - Supervision
Assign a supervisor who is responsible for training and mentoring the intern. In order for an intern to register their internship for transcript notation, they must be supervised by a full-time professional staff person. Around mid-term, this staff person will receive an email from the Pomerantz Career Center asking them to fill out an evaluation of the student's performance.
See Complete List of Requirements set by Pomerantz Career Center
UI Internship Programs
Publicizing an Internship
For no cost, you can post your internship opportunity on UI Employment Expo, our online recruiting site.
You may also want to attend the Fall Job & Internship Fair which will take place on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 from 11am-4pm, in the Main Lounge, Iowa Memorial Union. In addition to the Spring Job & Internship Fair (tentative date of Wednesday, February 25, 2009), we will also sponsor smaller, targeted fairs including an: Arts, Entertainment and Media Fair, a Health, Science and Biotech Fair and a Sales, Marketing and Retail Fair.
For details and to register online, please select the Career Fair tab on the left. Online registration for fall fairs will begin in mid-May and for spring fairs will begin in mid-November.
Once you have hired an intern, the student should be directed to the Pomerantz Career Center to register their internship for zero credit hours and request transcript notation. For credit hours, the student should contact their respective "major" department.
Registration and Recognition of Internship Experience
The University of Iowa provides official recognition for successful student internships through the Pomerantz Career Center, in the form of a special notation on the intern's permanent transcript. While not providing academic credit (except in the Washington Center Program), this transcript notation provides a permanent documentation that the University recognized the internship as professional work experience in the student's field of study. Students can also choose to receive credit for an internship. The student would need to work with their "major" department to receive the credit hours.
To receive official transcript recognition, the prospective intern must meet specific requirements for eligibility, as must the work itself. If the requirements are met, students who have an upcoming internship (or job that qualifies as an internship) should submit a personal profile and a placement record in UI Employment Expo, the Pomerantz Career Center's online system for jobs, internships, and placements. They will then receive permission to register for a special non-credit (zero hours) internship course for the semester/term to be worked. For internships to be recognized in this way, they must be reported to the Pomerantz Career Center early enough to meet registration deadlines for the semester(s) worked. Internships cannot be registered retroactively for work done in previous semesters.
Internship Requirements
- Professional experience which relates to the student's major field or area of career interest
- At least 80% professional work
- Occupies at least one academic term (fall, spring, or summer)
- At least 10 weeks during spring or fall term, or 8 weeks in summer
- Full or part-time intern must work a minimum of 10 hours per week
- Requires continuous supervision by a professional in the field (not a student)