Internships and Experiences


Employers value academic excellence and relevant work experience. As you progress throughout your USU journey we recommend getting involved in your industry/field early and often. Experience can come in many forms such as part or fulltime jobs, job shadowing, volunteering, internships, and micro internships.
 

Start with AGGIE Handshake to apply for on-campus (including work-study) or off-campus student jobs and internships. Internships can be posted as early as fall for the next summer and are available year-round but most competitive in the summer.

Other great tools to use are Standout to prepare for interviews, CareerShift to make connections with, and Aggie Alum for extra resume help. You can also look at micro-internships at Parker Dewey to increase your skills.

Visit your college's career page to get help tailoring your application materials and prepare for interviews and offer negotiations.

Internship Guidelines and Benefits

Internships are short term work experiences that give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent. They usually last 12-14 weeks and run on the same timeline as academic semesters:

  • Fall (Late August - Early December)
  • Spring ( Early January - Late April)
  • Summer (Mid-May - Early August)

Internships should include elements of learning and reflection, goals and objectives, supervision, feedback and evaluation. These applied experiences may be paid or unpaid and, if approved and supervised by a USU academic college or office, taken for academic credit. Internships can provide students with many benefits such as:

  • Gaining valuable experience for your resume.
  • Become more marketable for the job market or graduate school.
  • Build networking relationships/contacts for the future.
  • Increase your chances by 70% of obtaining a job offer from your internship employer.
  • May be eligible for college credit and compensation.
 

How do I get Academic Credit for an Internship?

  1. Find and apply for internships that align with your career goals or interests
  2. Check to see if your program has an internship course/coordinator and enroll in your program-specific internship course. If your program doesn't offer a for-credit internship course option, you can enroll in either USU 2250 (Introductory Internship) or USU 4250 (Advanced Internship).  
  3. Once your internship proposal has been accepted, meet with your internship coordinator to set up the internship for academic credit.
  4. Stay in close contact with your internship coordinator throughout the internship to ensure you are meeting necessary criteria for credit

Handshake Tutorials

You can also visit our Handshake page for more information and insight on how to create an account and how to use AGGIE Handshake.

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