The Internship Process: FAQs 1. How do I find an internship site? a. NETWORK and BE PROACTIVE! Talk with other students, your advisor, family, friends, professors, and other professionals you come into contact with during your academic career. b. Meet with the Internship Coordinator, using the Form on the following pages of the Internship Manual. c. Access OSU Career Services and BeaverJobNet The career services offer centralized services that provide skills and knowledge to develop career life-planning processes. They periodically sponsor internship and career fairs that bring agencies and organizations to campus for students to meet. Career services are also a good source to help you organize your resume. They can be found in 008 Kerr Administration Building or at the following link, http://osu.orst.edu/career/. d. Think about your career goals and who you are: Do you have a particular population you want to work with (children, women, older population, specific ethnic population, etc)? Is there a particular organization/agency you are interested in (health department, hospital, school, business, nonprofit organization, etc)? Is there a particular public health issue you are passionate about (HIV/AIDS, obesity, substance abuse, etc)? Is there a particular skill you want to obtain or enhance (EPIC training, program planning, grant writing, etc)? e. Look for an internship site on the internet: Opportunities may be listed under internships or volunteering If there is no information available, call to see if there are opportunities, just because it isn t listed, doesn t mean there isn t an internship opportunity and many sites are willing to create an internship opportunity, if one does not exist. Professionalize yourself before contacting people: email, voicemail, solid resume, professional goals identified
2. I want to do an international internship, how do I go about it? a. Students wanting to complete an international internship MUST go through the office of International Degree & Education Abroad (IDEA). IDEA works closely with the Study Abroad Advisory Committee to identify, carefully assess, and approve education abroad program providers whose programs meet OSU students academic and service needs, as well as the risk and safety standards set by the university. This extensive and official approval process guarantees that students will earn OSU resident credit by participating in an IDEA-approved program, and that they will also be appropriately insured while abroad. Additionally, the participation of IDEA-approved education abroad programs will allow students to apply their OSU financial aid towards the cost of the program. The IE3 website is: http://ie3global.ous.edu/, and it provides a list of current internship opportunities abroad. Their requirements and application process are detailed on their website. NOTE: You must complete their application procedures in addition to the paperwork required in this manual. The deadlines for their application submissions are listed on their website and are VERY EARLY. 3. How do I contact a potential site and what do I say? a. If there is clearly an application process stated, by submitting your resume, and/or other documents, closely follow the instructions. If you are not sure about the closing date, or any other aspects to the application process, find a contact to call or email and ask. b. If there is not an application process, but there is a volunteer coordinator or internship coordinator listed, contact them by email or phone. Your initial conversation/email should be similar to a cover letter (see example in this Internship Manual), in which you are inquiring about internship opportunities, tell them about yourself, and state why you want to intern at that particular organization. Attach your resume or offer to send it. c. If there is no contact listed, call the agency/organization, asking who you would talk to about student internship opportunities, following the same procedure as above when you are connected to the person. d. If there are no internship opportunities at that site, thank them for their time.
4. What if they ask me what my internship requirements are? a. Let them know the internship is 360 hours 12 credits or 180 hours for 2 terms, 6 credits each if you are doing the split internship. b. You also need to tell them that there will be forms to sign. c. The final requirement is that it the activities have to be related to public health, and your specific option (HMP, HPHB, ESH). You can send them the appropriate page (either HMP or HPHB) from this Internship Manual that has suggested projects, but is not exhaustive. They can assign any relevant activities that will benefit you and them. 5. How do I practice professionalism? a. Always address a person formally: Dr, Mr, etc, or ask if you are unsure b. ALWAYS reply to calls, emails right away, if you don t have the answer, respond and give them an indication as to when you will provide them with the requested information. c. Maintain professionalism in all settings: and dress appropriately, it is better to overdress than underdress. d. Make sure your email address, ALL SOCIAL MEDIA SITES (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and voicemail are professional. e. Create a LinkedIn profile. f. Attend Career Fairs, networking events, and other leadership events/activities. 6. I haven t heard back from the site after initially contacting them, what do I do? a. If it has been 2-3 days since you contacted them, either try calling them, or send a follow-up email, and just confirm that they received your first email! 7. How do I interview with a prospective internship site? a. Do additional research on the organization, to be able to discuss programs/activities you might want to be involved in, if possible during your internship. b. Come early, professional, and prepared: bring extra copies of your resume, dress professional, make eye contact. c. Practice answering questions about why you want to intern at the organization, what your future goals are, and what the internship requirements are.
d. Ask questions at the end: what programs will you be involved in? What does a typical internship day look like? Will you be working with others? What will be your schedule be, will you be getting hours through an independent project outside of the workplace? Can you attend/observe meetings, serve on committees, advisory boards? 8. I got the internship, now what do I do? a. After the site has notified you that you have gotten the internship, then find a time to have a follow-up meeting to discuss further details. b. Bring Form A2 to the follow-up meeting and complete it. Submit it no later than the Monday before the term you will be interning. It is strongly encouraged to take Form C as early as possible to complete it, and revise it as needed, to turn in by Week 5. 9. How do I register for the internship? a. If you are doing an International Internship, IE3 will register you, but you still need to submit Forms A1 and A2 to the Internship Coordinator no later than the Monday before the term you are interning. Your IE3 Advisor can complete Form A2 with you. You can wait on Form C and submit it when you are in your site. b. If you are doing a domestic internship, you go to the internship manual and print out Form A1. The manual is on the internship website. c. Submitting Form A1 is your ticket to an override! H410 is departmental approval only, so once you submit Form A1, you will receive an override to register. d. When you have the override, go into the online registration, and select H410, your option (ESH, HPHB, or HMP) and then select 6 or 12 credits from the drop down menu. Please note, if you don t do this, it will remain at 1 credit! 10. I turned in Forms A1 and A2, now what? a. Continue to address issues in Form C to make sure you and your internship site have clear expectations of the internship process. b. Once you are comfortable with what to expect, you do not need to do anything until you start your internship. 11. How do I stay prepared during my internship? a. Print out the checklist for the one or two term internship, get the forms turned in during the appropriate times b. Make a copy of Form C for yourself and refer to it often c. Maintain clear communication with your preceptor, and the agreed upon methods of staying in touch. d. Collect information for the portfolio
Document the skills you are gaining, and how they help you for your future goals, add them to your resume Look for additional opportunities to network and advance yourself professionally: ways to gain new skills Get to know your preceptor or other staff for potential future references or letters of recommendation e. If you are looking for a job afterwards, start searching at the beginning of your internship, and let your preceptor know! f. Send a thank you letter/card when you are done, and if you made professional connections, stay in touch with them, updating them. g. If you are offered a job, this is the best possible outcome, OR an opportunity to stay involved with the organization. 12. My site can t give me all of the 360 hours, what do I do? a. You can read the book What Color is Your Parachute?, preferably the most recent edition. Then write a paper, variable length, based on how many hours you need to fulfill. Document your hours on a new Form B2, and submit at the end of the term. You can substitute this book with another career development book of your choice. b. You can do professional development activities including job shadows, informational interviews, independent projects related to your internship site, attend conferences, etc. At this stage, I encourage you to be proactive and find appropriate activities/projects to pick up additional hours. 13. I am done with my internship, now what? a. Keep a list of your professional references, and keep them updated periodically b. Look for professional organizations to belong to. c. Look for additional experiences/qualifications to make you stand out/increase your options Continue to strengthen your professional advancement, looking for new opportunities!