Internships and Work Experience
The Internship and Work Experience program offers professional opportunities for students looking to improve their employment skills now or in the future. Internships can be for credit--structured around a class or independent experiences not associated with a specific class or major.
Employers Recruiting for Jobs and Internships
The Internship and Work Experience Office can help you with paid, unpaid, for-credit or non-credit internship support including placement services, resume review or design, on-the-job coaching and instruction to help you build your skills and advance towards your next professional goal.
As part of the for-credit course and with the help of the instructor and employer, students will develop Individualized Learning Objectives that will improve their ability to perform and grow in their profession. At the end of the course students will evaluate their progress and complete a Capstone Project that propels them to transfer their learning and experience into future success. Grading for this course is Pass / No Pass.
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Requirements and Steps for Enrollment in for-credit Internship
Obtain a paid or unpaid Job, Internship or Volunteer Position. Confirm agreement with employer for participation OR seek the support and guidance from the Internship and Work Experience office to identify an Internship.
Determine unit value of course you wish to take (if you want/need credit). The number of units for a course depends on hours worked or volunteered (see below for more details). Students can choose between .5 - 4 units
Schedule and attend a one-on-one meeting with the Internship and Work Experience Instructor. The Instructor will then schedule your individualized section (all for-credit Internships are designed as closed sections so students may not schedule them themselves for the sections but need an add code from the Work Experience Office). Please reach out to the Internship Office for support.
Paid Internships or Work Experience (75 hours/unit)
75 hours = 1 unit
150 hours = 2 units
225 hours = 3 units
300 hours = 4 units
Unpaid Internships or Work Experience (60 hours/unit)
60 hours = 1 unit
120 hours = 2 units
180 hours = 3 units
240 hours = 4 units
Requirements and Steps for Course Completion
At your Orientation meeting with the instructor, you will be added to the course automatically as a customized Internship class will be create for you depending on your major and your Unit requirement.
Attend job or internships as assigned and begin documenting hours. Complete initial round of assignments.
Within two weeks: Meet with the instructor to finalize Individual Learning Objectives for the course.
Approximately halfway through completing required hours: Provide a written progress update and participate in a progress meeting with the instructor.
Upon completion of work experience hours, complete final round of assignments and capstone project.
Additional Specific Information Regarding Course Assignments
In addition to completing the required work hours on the job to receive credit, students will complete the following assignments and activities to receive a passing grade for the course. Below is a brief description of each as well as an approximation of time needed for completion.
This document communicates the specific roles for employer, student and college for course completion
This document specifies scope of student job/internship including the roles, responsibilities, qualifications, wage and schedule.
This assignment requires the student to personally assess their professional technical and non-technical skills, abilities and knowledge.
This assignment is done with support of instructor to document specific, measurable goals to develop professional skills, abilities and knowledge
This assignment and meeting allows for formal communication between instructor and student to assess progress and address any challenges that may arise
This meeting allows formal communication between instructor and supervisor to assess progress and address any challenges that may arise
This document is to track hours necessary to complete course requirements.
This assignment requires the student to personally assess their professional technical and non-technical skills, abilities and knowledge develop during their work experience
This project is designed for you to reflect and analyze your work experience so that you can effectively communicate and transfer your learnings to advance your future educational and career goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Students
No. The word internship is sometimes loosely defined, but an internship is tailored to a student or recent graduate in a particular field of study. An internship provides hands-on, supervised job training by a professional in the field.
An internship will identify specific learning outcomes with clear action steps needed to achieve outcomes. This may mean performing job duties that help the student demonstrate skills for which they are being trained
In addition, an internship is a finite placement with a clear start date, finish date, and schedule determined upon hiring. Internships can be paid or unpaid. They can be as short as a few weeks or up to a year in length, internships typically fall in the 3-6 month range. Duration can be determined by the employer.
Students who already have an internship, job, or volunteer position can enroll for credit during the first 12 weeks of Fall and Spring semester and the first 6 weeks of Summer session.
Students often use the Incomplete Process if the hours needed to complete their course carries over past the end of the semester they are enrolled in. Students taking an Incomplete grade will make a contract with the instructor to identify the completion date for the course.
Yes. Once you enroll, you can begin counting hours toward completion of your unit requirements.
The Internship and Work Experience instructor can provide advising to assist with this. Students can also refer to the degree and certificate requirements online or meet with an academic counselor for requirements.
Yes, this course can be repeated. Students can enroll in up to 6 units of Cooperative Work Experience and/or 12 units of Occupational Work Experience.
Yes, employers are required to:
- Complete the Employer/Student Contact form
- Review and sign the Cabrillo College/Employer Memorandum of Agreement
- Provide a job description
- Assist in the development of student learning objectives
- Meet with the Cabrillo Internship and Work Experience Instructor at the worksite
- Complete a short performance evaluation
- Sign off on time card
See for documents.
Occupational Work Experience Courses are assigned to specific programs. Credit for these courses specifically relate to program instruction and outcomes as well as count toward degree and certificate completion. General Work Experience is for students wishing to gain credit and experience but not connected to a specific college program.
Cooperative Work Experience Education. This is the technical term for the program as defined by CA State Ed Code.
Yes, most students participate in local internships and jobs but many opportunities exist worldwide, and earning credit is an option.
Additional Information and Links:
General Info on Internships: Internships can be loosely defined, but a quality internship will be tailored to a student or recent graduate in a particular field of study to provide hands-on, supervised job training by a professional in the field. This may mean performing job duties to help the student demonstrate the skills they are being trained for.
An internship should identify specific learning outcomes for the student with clear action steps needed to achieve outcomes. In addition, an internship is a finite placement with a clear start and finish date and schedule determined upon hire. Internship duration can be determined by the employer. They can be as short as a few weeks to up to a year in length, but typically fall in the 3-6 month range.
General Info on Internships: Internships can be loosely defined, but a quality internship will be tailored to a student or recent graduate in a particular field of study to provide hands-on, supervised job training by a professional in the field. This may mean performing job duties to help the student demonstrate the skills they are being trained for.
An internship should identify specific learning outcomes for the student with clear action steps needed to achieve outcomes. In addition, an internship is a finite placement with a clear start and finish date and schedule determined upon hire. Internship duration can be determined by the employer. They can be as short as a few weeks to up to a year in length, but typically fall in the 3-6 month range.
Paid and unpaid internships: It is important to know that if an intern is paid, they will be onboarded as an employee for the business or organization. Their position will also need to meet the requirements set forth by all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. A paid intern earns at least minimum wage and is compensated accordingly for their time. In return, employers paying interns receive the flexibility to assign responsibilities and roles they otherwise would not should the intern be unpaid.
Unpaid internships for for-profit companies, according to , are expected to meet the following criteria to be in compliance:
The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training given in an educational environment.
The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern, and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded.
The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.Job Fairs and Hiring EventsJob Fairs and Hiring Events