Internships and Other Experiential Opportunities

Why Should You Consider an Internship?

The purpose of an internship is to gain experience and develop career skills.  As much as possible, an internship should simulate a typical employment opportunity. Assuming you do not already have an opportunity identified, you need to go looking for the right kinds of experience.

Steps to Finding an Internship:

• The process begins here:  Boise State Internship Information
• There are several different approaches to finding a good placement for this experience.

First approach

• First approach is Boise State’s Student employment program. You can access all of that information through the HandShake Site: Handshake for Students and Alumni
• Students typically find something that they can do through this site, however, the service providers that post here do not always result in maximal internship fit. 

Second approach

• Second approach is the database of previous internships: Boise State Internship Application Search
• Students frequently find experiences of previous students to be a great resource for their own opportunities. This site will get you access to the previous experiences as well as a listing of programs who have established relationships with Boise State University and are likely to be interested in working with students again. 

Third approach

• Third approach would be to seek out your own opportunity. Students who have a clear vision of what they are interested in doing for their internship are very successful in finding the opportunity of maximal fit, by just contacting people in the community and in organizations where they would like to work. You can use the information through here: Boise State Career Center: The Job Search Process to organize your approach and get ideas on what skills and engagement styles are perceived as highly desirable. 

Dr. Mary Pritchard is the Psychological Sciences Internship Coordinator, and she is in charge of reviewing and approving all internship applications, and instructing the internship course. Dr. Pritchard’s email: marypritchard@boisestate.edu

• • Steps to take after finding an internship opportunity:

• Once you find an opportunity that is a good fit for you, reach out to the organization that you are looking to work with and negotiate an internship with them, or get “employed.” Once you have agreed upon your internship duties and definition with your site supervisor you are ready to complete the Internship for Credit Application.
• Once the internship application has been completed and submitted, it gets received by the Psychological Sciences Coordinator Dr. Mary Pritchard. As a final step in the process of obtaining departmental approval, Dr. Pritchard will then ask the student to submit a college level essay detailing how their internship and psychology course work intersect. In their essay, students should incorporate how the internship will be an extension or incorporation of what they have learned through their courses in the Psychological Sciences Department. “College Level” is identified by professional writing as well as a clear demonstration of critical thinking.
• Once Dr. Pritchard has received the student’s essay, she will then be able to approve the application. Information will then be sent to their site supervisor for approval and then on to the registrar to enroll the student in PSYC 493 – Psychology Internship. Students will be expected to complete assignments asynchronously while completing their internship hours.

To gain further understanding of internships and other field experiences, please refer to the additional internship resources page.

Need Professional Experience?

We here at Career Services want to acknowledge that your Boise State experience has changed significantly this semester and in the midst of this change, we want to stress the importance of having “on-the-job” experience” upon graduation.  We have over 100 Work U opportunities with some fantastic employers throughout the Treasure Valley. You can check out our current Work U opportunities here!

“Create Your Own” Work U opportunity

In addition to applying to 130+ Work U opportunities, we are accepting applications for students that wish to create their own Work U opportunity! This is a brand new option! If you are a student that can identify a professional mentor, work closely with an organization for 10 hours a week for 130 hours total during the spring semester, and can describe the type of meaningful work you will be offering, then this opportunity is for you! In addition, your Work U opportunity can be fully online; this ability to go remote is especially important for students outside the Treasure Valley!

Work U is a career development experience with a twist, giving you hands-on professional work experience, clarification of your career goals, an opportunity to be mentored, focused classroom time, and a chance to build your resume and network – while gaining three upper-division credits.

Work U Details

• 10 hours a week at Work U employer
• 75 minute weekly class with a Career Advisor
• 3 upper-division credits towards your degree

Please check out our video about applying to Work U to learn more. If you are a hard worker, willing to learn, and want professional experience, apply to Work U today!

If you have any questions please reach out to our team at worku@boisestate.edu.

Other Experiential Opportunities:

Studying abroad is an opportunity to spend a summer, semester, or year studying at another university while immersing yourself in a new culture and way of life!

Learn more about Boise State’s Study Abroad Program and attend the Virtual Study Abroad Fair!

For more information, contact The Center for Global Education at studyabroad@boisestate.edu or call (208) 426 – 2630