Employer Guide to Internships at Washington State University

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We believe internships are beneficial to both employers and students. In the short-term, internships offer employers access to highly motivated students and the opportunity to fill temporary job openings, free permanent staff for other projects, or ease the load during the busy season. In the long-term, internships offer employers a cost-effective means of evaluating performance and potential of employees prior to making them a permanent position offer.

Career Services is a clearinghouse for internship opportunities and resources for Washington State University (WSU). Individual academic departments have internship programs that provide students with opportunities to earn academic credit and gain experiences in an area related to their major. WSU strongly endorses internships and other types of experiential learning to help students progress in their personal and career development.

WHAT IS AN INTERNSHIP?

Generally, internships are designed by the employer to meet the organizational needs of the organization while at the same time providing for the needs of the intern. Interns make a short-term commitment to work for an employer in order to achieve learning goals and gain valuable experience and exposure to their field of interest. The employer in turn, commits to providing the intern with a learning experience, specific work assignments, and training.

Internship programs offer an opportunity for students to expand their education into the world of work. Students are seeking internships that allow them to build professional experience in their field of interest, test tentative career choices, receive mentoring, establish a professional network, and make their academic studies more relevant.

Internships usually last a semester (15 weeks) or summer. Internships can be part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid. They may be part of an educational program and carefully monitored and evaluated for academic credit. Or, they can be part of a learning plan that the intern develops. The important element that distinguishes an internship from a short-term job or community service is the intentional "learning agenda" that the intern brings to the experience and the employer provides. It is the responsibility of the student to work with their faculty internship coordinator if he/she is enrolled in academic credit during the internship. 

EMPLOYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Offer a true career-related experience that enhances academic learning. Hiring a student to perform busywork (data entry, filing, answering phones, etc.) is appropriate for internship experiences only when balanced with meaningful professional responsibilities. The internship serves as a link between classroom learning and practical application so it should involve the student in making decisions and learning about a field through hands-on experience.
  • Provide a position description that will describe the internship. If students are enrolling in academic credit for the internship, they may be required to complete an Internship Learning Agreement from their academic department, which they are responsible for sharing with you. This is an opportunity for you and the student to clearly define the learning goals and job duties for the internship.
  • Appoint someone to act as a mentor/supervisor during the experience. Be sure that this person has the time to oversee the student's performance and offer constructive feedback. Provide an orientation for the student to the work site. Introduce the student to the organization, the employees, the physical layout, and the order of responsibility. Be sure the student intern knows the general philosophy and procedures of operation for the organization as a whole. Inform the intern of rules and expectations to be followed.
  • Provide the intern with ongoing feedback and conduct a performance evaluation. You can use your organization’s performance evaluation, the standard WSU evaluation, or an evaluation that is indicated in the Learning Agreement.  (See the Resources section for form.)

RECRUITING AN INTERN

Career Services can provide you assistance in recruiting the right students for your internships. To be successful, contact our Recruiting Coordinator at (509) 335-9612 or internships@wsu.edu and consider the following resources:

Announce the internship - You can send your internship position description to internships@wsu.edu or FAX 509-335-4015 and we will post it for you within four business days, or you can enter it yourself through the Student Employment Center.

You may also want to consider placing an advertisement in the The Daily Evergreen (http://www.dailyevergreen.com/advertise/) , which is widely read by students and is distributed free on campus daily during the week. Contact The Daily Evergreen Advertising Manager at 509-335-5138 for more information.

Utilize our employer services - Attend our Career Expo that we hold each fall and spring, or attend another WSU career fair to reach large numbers of students seeking opportunities. Participate in our On-Campus Interviewing Program, use our video-conferencing or resume referral services, conduct a campus visit to meet with faculty or a student club, or facilitate a class presentation.

Contact faculty/staff in academic departments - Since students often seek information about internships from their academic departments, it’s a good idea to announce opportunities and build relationships with internship coordinators in the academic majors for which you are recruiting. (See the Resources section for list of departmental internship coordinators.)  Use the WSU homepage, http://www.wsu.edu to obtain information about academic programs and faculty/staff.

STARTING AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM AT YOUR ORGANIZATION

1. DECIDE WHAT THE INTERN WILL DO

Special Projects.  If you are like most employers, you have a long “wish list” of special projects that need to be done but don’t have the personnel resources to organize and implement them.  Because of the nature of their academic schedules, students often look for internship opportunities of limited duration (generally 15 weeks), so employers find interns to be an ideal solution to this problem.  For example, interns can be assigned to organize research projects, plan special events, develop special promotional campaigns, or design web pages.  When developing an internship involving special projects, you should identify goals, timelines, and outcomes so that everyone understands the purpose and expectations involved.

On-Going Operations.  Certain business and organizations routinely experience peak periods where additional staff is needed.  Others may operate under very limited budgets and need additional staff throughout the year.  Again, interns may be able to alleviate some of these problems.  For example, interns may be assigned to serve as facilitators for youth groups, human resource management support staff, public relations assistants or marketing associates.  Remember that students are looking for internships that provide them with professional experience with an opportunity to learn. 

2. DETERMINE HOW MUCH TIME THE INTERN WILL SPEND WITH YOU

How long will the internship last?  Determine how much time it will take to accomplish the goals.  Generally, students are available for a semester (15 weeks) or a summer internship and some students will consider longer durations. The semester timeframes for 2006-2007 are as follows: Aug. 21-Dec. 15 (fall); Jan. 8-May 4 (spring); May 7-Aug. 17 (summer).

Part time or full-time?  Many students intern full-time during the summer when they don’t have classes.  Some local internships are set up on a part-time basis (10-20 hours per week), allowing students to gain experience while maintaining a partial or full load of credits. 

3. ESTABLISH THE NECESSARY ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT

·         Designate a mentor/supervisor for the intern

·         Decide whether the intern will work in one department or several

·         Determine the kind of orientation and training the intern will need

·         Provide safe working facilities. Make available equipment, supplies, and space necessary for the student to perform his/her duties.

·         Assume liability for work-related injuries sustained by the intern, insofar as the agency may determine the same to be required by law in that state.

 4. WRITE A POSITION DESCRIPTION

Include the following:

·         Brief organization description and organization web site

·         Position title

·         Skills and qualifications required/preferred

·         Duties and responsibilities

·         Pay rate (or indicate that it is unpaid)

·         Hours per week

·         Location (city, state)

·         Start/end dates of the internship

·         How to apply and deadline to apply

LIABILITY CONCERNS

Medical Insurance: Students are responsible for obtaining their own medical insurance for injuries to self. WSU’s Office of Benefits and Payroll Services has student medical insurance available; the student may be able to be listed on their parents’ insurance policy; or the student could obtain insurance through a local vendor.

Worker’s Compensation: If a student is paid in an employment capacity, the student should be covered by the employer’s workers’ compensation policy. If a student is unpaid or receives a stipend, it is highly advisable for an employer to obtain a rider to its existing workers’ compensation policy to cover the intern.

Professional Liability: Many students are able to obtain liability insurance for a low cost through a WSU insurance policy offered through our Risk Management Office or through a professional association in their field.

WAGE ISSUES

Offer a paid or unpaid internship?
We believe that it is desirable to compensate interns in some manner. The average debt for WSU graduating seniors in 2005 was $21,000. Students participating in paid internships can alleviate some of their student debt. Employers also benefit by attracting the best applicants and maintaining a stronger sense of accountability with the interns. Many companies pay interns at least minimum wage but non-profit organizations often do not offer wages.

 

However, under federal wage and labor laws, student interns can be unpaid if six factors are met under the Learner Trainee criteria:

  1. The training is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school.
  2. The training is for the benefit of the students.
  3. The students do not displace regular employees.
  4. The employer derives no immediate advantage from the activities of students.*
  5. The students are not entitled to a job at the end of the training period.
  6. The employer and the student understand that the student is not entitled to wages.

A stipend is typically a lump sum, is not related to work performed, and usually cover costs associated with the internship like lodging, clothing, transportation, child care, and tuition; whereas salary/wages are received regularly and are related to work performed. Wage and hour law does not use the term “stipend.” If a person is entitled to be paid, then the stipend must equate to at least minimum wage.

The federal and state work-study programs will support students who are doing internships at qualifying organizations. Students must also be eligible for work-study financial aid. For more information, contact the Student Employment Center.

 

*Shelly Kaplan, general counsel for NACE, states, "Several court rulings, while not addressing the criteria head on, seem to suggest that as long as the internship is a prescribed part of the curriculum, is part of the school's educational process, and is predominately for the benefit of the student, the fact that the employer receives some benefit from the student's services does not make the student an employee for purposes of wage and hour law."

(Fall 2002 NACE Journal, p. 7)

 

How much should we pay an intern?
We recommend identifying a fair entry-level starting salary for a similar position at your organization and multiplying it by a percentage to determine the intern’s salary. The percentage will vary depending on the intern’s education level and experience. For example, a senior may earn 85-90%, a junior 80-85%, a sophomore 75-80%, and a freshman may earn 70-75% of a typical starting salary for a similar position. If you follow this rule of thumb, you can offer increases each year to returning interns and stay within your current salary structure. Contact Career Services for additional information.

RESOURCES

FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you have any questions, feel free to contact Career Services, at 509-335-2546 or email internships@wsu.edu.