The University of Iowa is one of America's premier public research universities.

Founded in 1847, it is the state's oldest institution of higher education and is located alongside the picturesque Iowa River in Iowa City.

A member of the Association of American Universities since 1909 and the Big Ten Conference since 1899, the University of Iowa is home to one of the most acclaimed academic medical centers in the country, as well as globally recognized leadership in the study and craft of writing. Iowa is known for excellence in both the arts and sciences, offering world-class undergraduate, graduate, and professional academic programs in a wide variety of fields. 

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The University of Iowa Pomerantz Career Center is a world-class facility with a national reputation for excellence. The Center directly serves more than 20,000 undergraduate students from the Henry B. Tippie College of Business, the College of Engineering, College of Education, College of Nursing and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The centralized and comprehensive services we provide are focused on the areas of Career Coaching, Leadership and Career-Related Academic Courses, Experiential Education, and Campus Recruiting. From their first semester in college through the year after they graduate, students can take advantage of extensive services, both in person and online. Likewise, employers work with a team of staff members who assist them in recruiting well-prepared students for internships and full-time positions.

Mission Statement
The Pomerantz Career Center assists The University of Iowa by empowering students to transform their future and connect to their career possibilities.

An internship is a hands-on opportunity that provides the student with a meaningful experience where they apply the principles that have been learned in the classroom to a real-world setting. 

An internship should be designed to meet both the needs of the organization and learning goals of the student. It should have pre-set goals outlined by the employer and agreed upon between the employer and student to ensure that all expectations are met.

Internship Basics:

• Internships should balance the work needs of the organization and the learning goals of the intern

• Internships promote academic, career, and/or personal development

• Internships may be paid or unpaid and can be full-time or part-time

• Internships are distinguished from a short-term job or volunteer experience because there is an intentional learning agenda structured into the experience

• The duration may be anywhere from eight weeks to two years, but typically last the course of a semester

Recruitment and Training Cost Savings

• Proven, cost-effective way to recruit and evaluate potential employees

• Opportunity to assess students’ work and fit within the organization

• Enhanced recruitment and retention outcomes

• Reduced turnover and training time for entry-level employees

Meeting Organization Needs While Developing Professionals

• Quality candidates for temporary or seasonal positions and projects

• Year-round source of highly motivated pre-professionals ready to learn

• Additional people to pursue more creative projects

• Developmental experience for staff by supervising and managing talent

• Opportunity to foster the next generation of professionals in your field

Fresh Perspectives

• New perspectives, concepts, ideas, and the latest technologies for your organization

• Innovative solutions utilizing the knowledge students bring from their academic coursework

Expanded Pool of Qualified Candidates

• Greater chance of hiring the top students in your field through showcasing your organization to potential employees

• Increased visibility of your organization on campus and as a potential employer, internship site, or volunteer site

• Enhanced community image by contributing your expertise to the educational enterprise

In order to attract interns who are both qualified and passionate, employers should understand the potential benefits for students and structure internships in a way that provides a positive experience for the student. Students value internships that enable them to explore careers, develop leadership and other skills, network and establish connections, and build their resume.

Career Exploration

• Learn about a career field from the inside and decide if it isthe right career field for them

• Work alongside a professional in their chosen career area

• Observe the work place and see if it matches expectations

Leadership and Skill Development

• Add to knowledge base while gaining confidence in abilities

• Learn new skills such as communication and teamwork

• Gain industry knowledge first-hand from an organization and its professional staff

• Demonstrate reliability and initiate responsibility

• Apply knowledge acquired in the classroom to connectschool and the professional world

• Gain a sense of accomplishment by contributing to an organization

Networking

• Meet new people and practice networking skills while establishing professional contacts and mentors

• Establish potential contacts for writing reference letters

Resume Enhancements

• Gain valuable experience to add to their resume

• Enhance their applications for full-time jobs or to graduateschool

• Create an advantage over other job or graduate school applicants

Best Practice:

Providing interns with real work is essential to ensuring your program’s success. Interns should be doing work related to their major, that is challenging, that is recognized by the organization as valuable, and that fills the entire work term.

You can guarantee that hiring managers provide real work assignments by checking job descriptions, emphasizing the importance of real work assignments, and communicating with interns frequently throughout the work term to determine how they perceive what they are doing.

– NACE: Best Practices for Internship Programs

Note: These are minimum requirements for an employer to post an internship with the University of Iowa. Certain academic departments may have different requirements for their internship courses.

• Professional experience which relates to 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)
• Students must be at least a sophomore or above (must have completed at least 12 semester hours of UI coursework)

Students can choose from a variety of options to report, receive recognition, or earn credit for their internships. Internships must be registered prior to the student's start date. Internships cannot be registered retroactively.

After researching the legalities of unpaid vs. paid internships, the employer should develop a compensation plan.

Paid Internships

Paid internships are opportunities offered primarily in the private sector or large organizations that are designed to pay students to learn while they work. However, more nonprofit and civic institutions are prioritizing payment for their interns. Employers that offer paid internships are often evaluating interns as potential full-time employees upon graduation, and/or have short-term large projects. The rate of compensation can be determined by the employer; however, most successful internship programs offer comparable hourly wages, stipends, licensing, and/or tuition reimbursement.

Unpaid Internships

The decision to offer an unpaid internship is largely determined by the employer or the area of discipline. Unpaid internships are typically volunteer internships at not-for-profit organizations including religious institutions, charities, universities, state and local government agencies, and various hospitals. However, for-profit organizations can host unpaid interns if they meet certain criteria. Organizations should consider that they will attract a larger pool of qualified candidates if they offer compensation. The Pomerantz Career Center advocates for paying interns.

Legal Considerations

The U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act restricts employer’s use of unpaid interns. This Act applies to businesses that have two or more employees directly engaged in interstate commerce as well as annual sales of $500,000 or more. If you find you cannot pay your intern, you must meet seven standards under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Creating a quality internship position requires time and energy for planning and research. Keep in mind that the primary purpose of an internship is to provide a learning experience for the intern.

Successful internships are characterized by the following components:

• Support from the top administration

• Clearly defined objectives and goals for the internship that are communicated to all staff

• Designated supervisors who understand and are committed to mentoring and internships

• Projects and responsibilities that are meaningful, clearly defined and not centered around clerical work

• A system for regular feedback on student performance and the internship experience itself

Successful internships begin with the support of top administration. Not only do funding decisions start there, but staff attitudes regarding the value of interns can be heavily influenced by the attitudes of the leadership team. To make a case for the value of interns, focus on the overall organizational benefits achieved by hosting interns including the effect they can have on the “bottom line.” An effective, well-managed internship is the single best tool for attracting college talent, and effectively reduces turnover by providing the opportunity to make more carefully considered hiring decisions based on experience.

Time Commitment

The amount of time needed to create an internship varies based on:

• The needs of the organization

• The size of the organization

• The number of interns needed

• The employer’s application and hiring process

• Whether the intern earns or does not earn academic credit

• Whether the internship includes compensation

• Whether the intern’s hours will count towards licensing or certification requirements

• The number of projects and opportunities readily available that provide meaningful learning opportunities

Internship Goals

Set an overall goal or objective for the student's work. This objective should be detailed and measurable and will help give the student direction during the internship. The objective needs to be known and accepted by staff in order to send a clear and consistent message of support. In order to develop an internship program that benefits the student intern and fits with the organization’s goals, there are several questions that should be used to guide development of the internship program:

• What does your organization hope to gain from hosting interns?

• Is your organization looking to fulfill a need on a specific project?

• Will the internship(s) encompass one major project, or entail a variety of small projects?

• What are the tools and workspaces necessary to provide the student?

• How will this internship provide a learning experience or growth opportunity for the intern?

• To what professional or industry standards, skills, or ethics do you wish to expose the intern?

Writing a job description will allow you to recruit and hire an intern. Write the description in clear, everyday language that will help the student understand the position and the organizational culture. If the opportunity offers a broad exposure to many elements within the organization, be sure to state that in the description. Interns appreciate knowing the expectations in advance. Employers will also find this a useful tool to inform other staff about the intern and to establish clear expectations about the internship.

An effective job description includes the following:

• A brief organizational description

• Position title

• Skills and qualifications required or preferred, including education level or minimum GPA

• Duties and responsibilities as well as information about potential projects. Remember that the job must be at least 80% professional work

• Skills to be developed, and a description of what the intern may expect to learn

• Pay rate (if any), other compensation, and any other benefits provided

• Other less tangible potential benefits, such as networking opportunities

• Hours per week and expected work schedule

• Start/end dates of the internship—are there any holidaysor other non-working days?

• Details about the application process and deadlines

Sample Job Descriptions

Best Practice: Consider work arrangements that will work for your interns and your organization.

According to research conducted by NACE, more than half of students have a preference for in-person work arrangements, while about two out of five are interested in hybrid work arrangements—working part of the time in person and part of the time remotely. Very few (about one in 10) wanted to work exclusively in a virtual environment.

Keep in mind that it is generally easier to build connections among and between your interns and your organization when everyone is together, so in-person and hybrid arrangements are likely to be most effective for you. Still, depending on the nature of the work, remote internships can be a good option if your organization is seeking to attract students who are not able to take part in person even part of the time; in such cases, you need to recognize that building and maintaining connections with remote interns will require more time and effort. 

You could also consider keeping our interns on as part-time, remote employees after they go back to school (depending on the type of work they do for you and whether they have a willing manager), and/or having them come back and work over school breaks for a couple of weeks. These are excellent ways to keep communications open and build a stronger bond. 

– NACE: Best Practices for Internship Programs

• Recruit in multiple ways
• Align interview questions to job duties and organization values/culture
• Use an official and robust offer letter; while not a contract, it clearly sets expectations and a tone of professionalism
• Utilize timely communication throughout the process

Orientation and Training

It is very important that interns be warmly welcomed to the workplace and introduced throughout the organization, just as one would with a new full-time employee. Not only are interns new to the organization, but in many cases they are new to the professional world of work. The sooner the intern learns about the organization and understands how it operates, the sooner he or she can assume assigned responsibilities and become productive.

When providing interns with an orientation, the supervisor should:

• Give the intern a tour of the office or worksite

• Introduce the intern to the other staff members

• Develop a schedule, as the intern may have to work around class schedules or another job

• Establish regular meeting times to review the intern’s work and discuss assigned projects

• Inform the intern how and when feedback will be provided throughout the internship

• Provide the intern with information concerning pay schedules (if applicable), procedures for calling insick, and overall expectations for attire and behavior (if you have an orientation sheet or manual for new employees, use it with your interns)

• Teach the intern how to use the office technology (copier, fax machine, email system, etc.)

• Provide a stable workspace (do not expect the intern to move around the office and occupy temporary workspaces). Desk sharing between individuals on alternate days is often an acceptable practice for internships

Supervisor Expectations

As a supervisor, your primary obligation is to foster the success of your organization. It is important to keep in mind that the primary purpose of an internship is to provide a professional learning experience for the intern. There is no real conflict between these two goals and both can be accomplished with effective supervision.

Best Practices Include:

• Provide clear expectations

• Orient the intern to polices, duties, and lines of command

• Be available, approachable, and encouraging

• Share your knowledge and expertise

• Be patient with questions

• Be a role model-- practice ethical and legal behaviors at all times

Staff Support

It is important that the intern be recognized and respected by management and workers throughout the organization. While it may not be possible for the intern to meet the executive officers of a large corporation or non-profit agency, every effort should be made to introduce him or her to others within the organization, up to and including the highest ranking official on-site. These could be informational interviews, observations of special meetings, or an afternoon of job shadowing in different departments.

Some programs choose to assign a supervisor and an official mentor or "buddy" so interns can receive coaching or support outside their chain of command.

Incentives and Compensation

Additional Incentives for Students:

• Scholarships

• Housing assistance, living stipend, and/or transportation reimbursement

• Professional development or networking opportunities

• Time worked as an intern can accumulate and apply toward benefits if the intern becomes a full-time employee after graduation

• Paid holidays (if already receiving compensation)

• Tuition reimbursement

• Perks such as parking or cafeteria discounts

Keep in mind that it is illegal for an unpaid intern to replace or otherwise do work in lieu of a paid employee. Employers cannot “hire” an unpaid intern to avoid hiring or paying a regular employee. See the U.S. Department of Labor fact sheet for more information.

Best Practice: Bring in speakers from your company’s executive ranks.

One of the greatest benefits for students who intern is the access to accomplished professionals in their field. Consequently, speakers from leadership roles are very popular with students—it’s a great career development and role modeling experience for interns. Having a CEO speak is especially impressive.

Best scenario: An executive speaker is personable, willing to answer questions, and willing and able to spend a little informal time with the students after speaking—your interns will be quite impressed.

For you, having executives speak to interns is another way to “sell” your organization to the interns, and get your executives invested in (and supporting) your program.

– NACE: Best Practices for Internship Programs

In addition to accomplishing job duties, it is important for an internship to be a learning experience. The creation of objectives help employers and students create an experience where both work accomplishments and learning are priorities.

Internship Objectives

Internship objectives are goals established to ensure the student’s productivity and growth as a part of his or her experience within the organization. These objectives should be project-based and training-based, align with the job description, and/or provide structure to the student and supervisor for the time spent at the internship.

Sample Internship Objectives:

• Intern will gain familiarity with office structure and field-specific knowledge through an orientation, informational interviews or job shadows with staff members not on the team, observing all staff meetings, and access to the employee manual.

• Intern will work as part of a team to support voter empowerment through weekly candidate outreach for assessments, database training and updating, and researching and writing 3 memos on candidates and issues.

• Intern will practice communication skills to educate the public on history and the environment through daily hour-long interpretive presentations, twice weekly Q&A shifts at the visitor’s center, and development and facilitation of 3 family nights.

• Intern will follow professional and safety standards by arriving to lab on time, maintaining cleanliness of lab equipment and space, and demonstrating active participation during weekly lab meetings.

• Intern will be exposed to all facets of our environmental and safety management systems through trend evaluation meetings, safety program audits, corporate responsibility activities, and root cause analysis.

• Intern will gain excitement about the company and understand our culture by attending staff socials, mentor lunches, and monthly professional development sessions.

Program Learning Outcomes

The Pomerantz Career Center supports and measures the following learning items as part of the course work and evaluations for students who register for the 0-Credit Transcript Notation or the PCC Academic Internship course. However, the Pomerantz Career Center hopes that all internships offer students the opportunity to do the following:

• Evaluate their fit within a career field

• Describe two job-related skills or knowledge gained from the experience

• Examine how knowledge and skills learned in the classroom directly relate to their experience

• Demonstrate leadership skills

• Demonstrate effective communication skills

• Demonstrate the fundamental behaviors of cultural competency

• Write a resume section outlining the internship experience

• Describe a next step to take on their career path

Student Learning Objectives

If your intern is not registered for an internship related course, we recommend that you create student learning objectives as part of the conversations during the hiring process or as part of the orientation. These objectives are the intern’s goals for academic, professional, and personal development. The objectives also have action items in order for the student and employer to plan ahead for the achievement of the objective. They can also be part of regular check-in meetings to discuss progress and challenges.

Sample of Student Learning Objectives:

• Gain experience in membership and grant writing by helping with the annual campaign mailings andnewsletters, and the Hubner Foundation grant report. Discuss these experiences with my supervisorand professors to decide what area of expertise I should develop in future internships.

• Gain familiarity with case management by assisting my internship supervisor with 1 group sessionper week and shadowing individual client meetings.

• Become an advanced user of Excel by supporting product analysis with Pivot Tables and PivotReporting daily.

• Gain confidence in my communication skills by participating in weekly staff meetings, conducting 3 focus groups, and drafting a social media marketing plan.

• Develop cultural competence by processing team dynamics and client interactions with my supervisor and seeking out information about the organization’s diversity initiatives.

Evaluations are the final planning step after an organization has created an internship job description, decided on the necessary organizational supports and discussed the learning opportunities for the intern. Feedback fosters growth for the student. If the organization is hosting an intern who has opted not to register their internship, having an internal evaluation will be helpful.

Consider these categories if creating an evaluation:

• Work outcomes such as documents, projects or presentations

• Key behaviors necessary for a role (ex. knowledge of a computer program)

• Office values (ex. collaboration, excellent customer service)

• Transferable skills necessary for professional success (ex. a positive attitude, ability to communicate)

• Student learning objectives

Decide if the evaluation should be written narrative feedback or on a scale (e.g. 1 to 5). Allow the intern to see the evaluation at the beginning of the internship and intentionally set aside time at the midpoint and the end of the internship to discuss the feedback.

If the intern has registered through the Pomerantz Career Center, the supervisor will be e-mailed an evaluation. The supervisor would not need to develop another evaluation unless the organization deemed it necessary.

These categories are included in the Pomerantz Career Center’s evaluation of interns who register for course credit:

• Professionalism

• Interpersonal Skills

• Communication Skills

• Ethics and Integrity

The Pomerantz Career Center asks for submission of the evaluation to us after discussing feedback with the intern.

Sample Employer Evaluation of Student

How well did the student demonstrate the following skills and competencies?

Best Practice: Conduct exit interviews.

Whether face-to-face or via Zoom or phone, a real-time exit interview done by a member of the early talent recruiting team is an excellent way to gather feedback on the student’s experience and to assess their interest in coming back. Having the students fill out an exit survey and bring it to the interview gives some structure to the conversation.

Additionally, the best way to ensure your program is effective is to track and analyze related data. This is critical to success—from ensuring you are attracting and securing the students you want to determining how effective your program is at converting interns into full-time hires. 

– NACE: Best Practices for Internship Programs

Once the internship planning is complete, the next step is to market the opportunity in order to find quality candidates. Once the job description is ready the organization can post the internship opportunity for free on Handshake, the Pomerantz Career Center’s online recruiting site. 

Through Handshake, the organization can post internship opportunities, request space for on-campus interviews, create informational events, etc. In addition, organizations can use Handshake to register for the University of Iowa Career Fairs and networking events.

The Pomerantz Career Center hosts several career fairs annually. Employers from many different industries attend these fairs to network and interact with our students and alumni from different colleges. Attending a career fair is a great way to draw attention to your organization and build your brand on campus.

To further connect with students on campus and increase your organization’s awareness there are several activities you can do:

• Contact student organizations

• Participate in mock interviews sponsored by the Pomerantz Career Center. Mock interviews, which take place in the Fall and Spring semesters, are a great way to connect with students who are taking the initiative to polish their skills. In addition, a former intern may be the perfect person to promote the experience. Consider asking them to post the opportunity on social media or to refer classmates they think would be a good fit. 

• Participate as a host organization for a Career Trek, a career exploration initiative that allows students to visit employers in career fields of interest.

• Host a student for HawkShadow, our job shadow program

• Participate as a class speaker

The Employer Relations Team welcomes your interest and questions about recruiting University of Iowa students and campus involvement; please call (319) 335-1023 for individualized help.

The typical college student is developing a sense of competence with newly-acquired skills and knowledge in work and daily life. They are learning to be more professional in their written and verbal communication and to manage emotions when receiving constructive criticism. Their career path is coming into clearer focus and becoming part of their identity. They are developing the decision-making skills that will allow them to lead personal and professional lives of integrity and purpose.

Typically employers will start looking for an intern three to six months ahead of the start date. However, some very competitive fields and organizations post their openings, complete interviews, and make internship offers six to twelve months ahead of the start date.

Transparent communication with your intern from the beginning will be helpful. Share your organization’s expectations—as well as your own—regarding their schedule. Whether your intern is full or part time, come to a mutual agreement and document it in writing so there are no misunderstandings. 

For part-time interns during the Spring and Fall semesters, remember to discuss their mid-semester exams and final exam schedule. Extra flexibility may be required at those times. If your intern is receiving transcript notation from the UI for their internship, they must work a minimum of 10 hours per week. If your intern is receiving academic credit, their required hours will vary based upon the number of credit hours they wish to earn. 

To be in compliance with the U.S. Department of Labor internship guidance, it also benefits the organization to have start and stop dates align with the semester or summer that the internship is taking place.

In order to make the most of having an intern, create structure and learning objectives before the internship begins. If you answer important questions ahead of time, such as what outcomes you expect, how and when you will train the intern, when and where supervisory meetings will take place, and who will help with mentoring, the intern will be oriented quickly and will have a clear understanding of what is expected.

You can also be creative in how the internship is structured. For example, you could plan an internship that extends through two semesters to avoid training a new intern every semester. Or, develop two internship positions, a “beginner” and an “advanced” internship, and require that candidates for the advanced internship must have completed the beginning position. Advanced interns will already be familiar with the organizational culture and standards of professionalism, and can take on greater responsibility and autonomy.

If you are an Iowa company, the Iowa Workforce Development supports internship programs in certain industries. Contact Iowa Workforce Development for more information.

Use Handshake, consider giving presentations on your organization at a student organization meeting, have former interns post on social media, and/or participate in a career fair.

Reflect upon the professional standards and knowledge necessary to work in your field or organization. Then choose tasks or projects that expose your intern to these elements while helping the organization accomplish its goals. The learning and program objectives can also be a good guide. Interns are expected to work on professional tasks at least 80% of the time. Projects interns have completed in recent semesters include:

• Managing social media through HootSuite and using GoogleAnalytics to report on organization web traffic

• Researching brand consultants and reporting recommendations back to the organization

• Creating a client appreciation program

• Recruiting sponsors and managing volunteers fora fundraising event

• Conducting focus groups to assess products, ads, and community programs

• Creating, administering, and reporting on a satisfaction survey

• Material testing using multiple instruments

• Researching and applying for grants

• Auditing the organization’s sustainability and social policies

• Completing a compensation analysis

• Designing lessons and facilitating education programing

• Track animal feeding and behavior habits

• Creating curriculum for staff professional development

• Writing press releases

• Fixing bugs in the organization’s app

• Assisting in leading a support group

• Collect, analyze, and document water samples

Interns are students, and some may need direct feedback, tailored instruction, or reinforcement of professional standards, particularly if this is their first exposure to them. When discussing a problem or behavior issue with your intern, it is important to focus on the problematic behavior and not the individual. Such discussions should always take place in private and when you are both feeling calm, and with adequate time available for conversation. Your goal is to explain the negative impact of the behavior and then move the conversation toward solutions which will allow your intern to move forward with your support.

If appropriate, you may wish to discuss negative consequences for the intern if the problematic behavior does not change.

Example: 
Karli, I appreciate how much energy you are using in working with the youth program. However, I am worried about your number tracking for attendance. There were 2 days this week when students were not marked as present when our overall head count shows that they were here. Attendance may not seem that important but it affects our funding and the student’s safety. If we were in an emergency situation, we would need to be responsible for all our students. I would like to hear your perspective on this and discuss how I can support you in brainstorming solutions so you can improve.

All interns need to understand that their personal behavior impacts both their public image and that of their employer, and can have a negative effect on personal and organizational productivity. It is possible to be informal while maintaining high standards of professionalism. Professionalism can include adherence to the organization’s dress code, compliance with scheduling expectations, and accountability, all of which can be expected of interns. To teach them, carefully review your policies and expectations with them. If jeans and t-shirt are your normal dress code, insist that your intern’s clothing is clean and free of tears, holes, and inappropriate decoration, and that they are well-groomed in the workplace. If tardiness is tolerated, make sure your intern knows to communicate with the organization when a conflict arises. If a project deadline is not strictly established, insist that they keep you apprised of progress, and promptly report challenges or problems to you as they arise.