• What is an Internship?
    An internship is a career preparation activity in which students are placed at a work site for a defined period of time to participate in and observe work firsthand within a given industry. Unlike work experience, internships often allow students to rotate through a number of departments and job functions. Internships provide the student an opportunity to “test-drive” career possibilities, to gain experience in the field they are interested in pursuing, determine if they have an interest in a particular career, create a network of contacts, and gain school credit. An internship is an excellent way to determine if the industry and the profession is the best career option to follow before investing a lot of time and money in training and education. The internship experience does count as an elective (honors and academic options) class credit. 

    A student's academic standing, attendance, career interest, and incident history will be considered when applying for an internship.  It is the responsibility of the student to find an internship host. Although I can help - the process of finding an internship host is important for students to learn to network and practice soft skills. 

    Requirements for an internship credit: 

    • 120 hours of on the job experience
    • 11 pre-prompted journal entries
    • 10 signed time sheets
    • 2 honors level enhancement projects (Honor Level Only)
    • One all-encompassing project 
    • A presentation at the end of the semester summarizing your experience 

    How do I find a company to intern with?
    Internship Sources:
    Your family's contacts and family friend's contacts are usually the best sources for providing information on potential internship sites. Having family members reach out to their contacts is a great way to use networking to find an internship site. Reach out to your parents friends, your friends' parents, members of your church, sports team, or other extra-curricular activities. This source is often the easiest way to secure an internship because in most cases, family friends already know you and what kind of student you are.

    Another way to find an internship site is to complete an Internet search using Google to find local companies of the type you would like to intern with. Once you find companies or organizations that you are interested in, you will need to contact a decision maker at that company/organization to see if they will host you as an intern. You can do this in person, by email, or by phone.

    You can also use one of the following sites to find companies/organizations:
    Internships.com 
    Better Business Bureau (search for companies in the Raleigh-Durham area)

    Fuquay Varina Chamber of Commerce (Look at the business directory) 
    Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce (Look at the business directory)

    NCDOT Internship

    Once you find a potential company…
    Option I: Dress up like you are going in for an interview and visit the company. You can explain who you are and that you are interested in completing an internship. Use the email script below to help prepare for what you will say. **If you need some business casual attire, Willow Spring has a Career closet, students have access to - reach out the me in order to pop in for a visit**

    Option II: You can send an email to a specific person at that company/ organization, requesting an internship.
    Note: Although Option I may sound more difficult, it is often more successful. It is much easier to say “No” to an email then it is to someone’s face. It also shows that you are taking the initiative to get yourself out there.

    Sample Email to Request an Internship:
    You should try to send your email to a specific person, not a general company email address. To determine who to send it to, look up the company or organization on the Internet, go to their website and try to find an email address for one of the decision makers, such as the owner, manager, office manager, or partner. If you cannot find a specific person on their Internet site, call the company and explain to the person who answers the phone that you are inquiring about an internship and would like to know who to send your request to. Try to get the person's name, email address and phone number. Once you have a name and an email address, send an email like the one below to that person and be prepared to follow-up by phone. Make sure you write down who you sent it to, so that you know who to follow up with.

    Click here for a sample letter.

    When you send the email, send a copy to Mrs. Gates at vgates@wcpss.net  so that if the company decides to contact Mrs. Gates, she will know who they are calling about.

    Internship Application Information Packet