Internships in the School of Economic Sciences
Students in the School of Economic Sciences are encouraged to strengthen the quality of their undergraduate experience by developing internships with federal, state, or local governments, private businesses, or non-profit organizations.
Information for Students/Prospective Interns
What is an internship?
An internship is a job experience for which you obtain credit hours that count towards your degree.
How can an internship add value to my career?
Internships permit you to: 1) learn “on-the-job” skills; 2) learn about how your interests match with “real world” jobs and help you screen a particular job or organization; and 3) provide you with experience which you can show on your resume. Organizations may want to hire former interns.
Internship Basics
- ELIGIBILITY- Students should be certified majors in SES with a GPA of 2.5 or above. Students who have majors in other departments should contact their advisor, their departmental office or the University internship program at (www.careers.wsu.edu).
- TIMING- Most internships occur during summer, but they may be completed any semester. Most internships are for 15-16 weeks. Credits will be adjusted in part to reflect hours of internship.
- PAYMENT- Internships may be paid or unpaid. Internship opportunities should not be evaluated primarily on payment. Internships should be viewed primarily as an opportunity to invest in your future career.
- LOCATION- Most internship opportunities are located in Washington state, but they may be located in another state or in another country if we can make the proper arrangements?
Steps to Take
- You are in charge of finding an internship, but many resources exist to help. Discuss your interests with your advisor as early as possible.
- Research a semester ahead of actually interviewing for internships.
- Prepare materials in advance. Seek assistance to assure that your materials are professional. See the Career services resource center at:
http://www.careers.wsu.edu/content/ResourceCenter/default.asp- Prepare your resume
- Contact your references
- Prepare cover letters. You will probably need several attuned to different kinds of employers. Your cover letter will also help you prepare for calls with potential internship sponsors.
- Find an internship:
- Use your personal connections
- Attend career fairs and similar events
- Check internship listings at Career Services and similar sites (see below)
- Talk to teachers, advisors, and the SES internship personnel
- Do telephone and personal interviews with the prospective internship sponsor
- Dress and act professional!
- Find a faculty internship advisor/coordinator. While any faculty member in the School may supervise an internship (where appropriate to student and employers interests, and agreed to by the faculty member), designated SES internship advisors will be able to help students who have not already established an internship. (See SES internship personnel below)
- Students may also want to consult with the Washington State University Career Services Office (www.careers.wsu.edu). The office has helpful information on internships at Student Guide to Internships.
- Internship agreement. All interns must complete an Internship Learning Agreement form before the internship begins, and preferably prior to enrollment. The form must be signed by the intern, the internship supervisor, and the workplace supervisor, and the Internship Director. The form can be found at: http://www.ses.wsu.edu/academics/internship
/InternshipLearningAgreement.pdf Copies of the signed agreement should be given to the student, the workplace supervisor, the internship supervisor, and the internship director. - Enroll for the agreed number of credits (Ag Econ 497; Econ 497).
School of Economic Sciences Internship Personnel
Internship Director: Bill Hallagan
Academic Coordinator: Maggie Kettwig
Contact Info
Bill Hallagan
509-335-4987
Maggie Kettwig
509-335-1667
Internship Agreement Form
Internship Listings
Life is good at WSU.
Secondary content can be almost anything. If you are not using this region delete all the content that is in between the div tags with the id ="additional".
A unique richness of students, faculty, location, activities, and organizations creates a full, lively student life at the University. This section gives you the insider's view on student life and a sampling of the opportunities here.
"Glimpses." Students talk about life at WSU
These brief posts are written by WSU students to give you a personal look through their window on campus life.