Internships

Internships are on-the-job experiences in company settings. They give you a chance to see what the "real world" of employment is actually like. People come back from internships with more understanding than they can easily quantify. You learn a lot of intangibles that are hard to express except by relating lots of examples of experiences you had. People usually return to their academic studies with a sense of purpose and a better knowledge of what is important to them.

Plus, they usually pay nicely! They serve as summer or interim or during-the-semester jobs---a chance to earn while you learn.

At St. Olaf, there are two kinds of internships:

• Internships for credit are arranged through the Center for Experiential Learning (CEL), and are taken as regular (ungraded) courses. CEL seeks companies to arrange for these experiences; or, a student interested in working with a particular company can contact CEL to associate credit with that experience (as long as they start these arrangements well before the internship starts!). The planning between student, college, and company helps to insure that an internship for credit will serve the student and the company well.

• Non-credit internships are jobs that use a student's CS and computing skills. Whether or not they use the title "internship," they may still be valuable experiences.

Finding an internship is like a warm-up for a career search: identify interesting companies, create a resume and cover letter, make connections, and apply. This may sound intimidating, but only if you haven't tried it yet---the hardest part is getting started! The Center for Experiential Learning exists to help you with it all. They offer resume workshops, resources for finding companies, pre-arranged internship opportunities for credit, and other internship listings. Stop by and check them out!

A word of advice for students: be proactive! If you get started in late Fall term or in January, you'll give yourself a chance to apply for the best internship situations and reduce the amount of stress in your life.