internship development guide

Capstone Education Advisers LLC, an education consultancy whose website I built and maintain, hired me to lay out and publish an Internship Development Guide for aspiring research scientists. Dr. Shelley Enger wrote the text, which I copy-edited and laid out as an interactive PDF. The first edition of the guide was completed on an abbreviated schedule to meet a deadline; future versions are anticipated to be hosted online, with downloadable PDF supplements, or with revised formatting and additional illustrations and new copy. The included pages represent only a small sample of the contents of the book, as the full text is available for purchase on the Capstone website. Click the button below to learn more or purchase a copy.

internship guide

Capstone - Higher Education Experts. Internship Development Guide. (c) Capstone Education Advisers LL. Version 2023-06.

About the author Capstone co-founder Dr. Shelley Enger is a big believer in the value of internships. As a college student, she was uncertain about what career to pursue. Thinking she might want to be a physical therapist, she spent six months interning in the physical therapy department at a local hospital during her first year of college. Then, she thought she might be interested in academic research, so she interned in an anatomy lab on campus during her second year. She had heard about biotechnology, which was in its infancy at the time, so during her third year she interned in a start-up biotechnology lab. Still uncertain, during her senior year of college she interned in a microbiology lab at the California Department of Health Services, where she first learned about epidemiology. Dr. Enger completed a PhD in epidemiology and a postdoctoral fellowship in preventive medicine, and then worked as a research scientist, building a vibrant research program in cancer epidemiology. Through the years, she has mentored undergraduate and graduate students, research staff, and early-career PhD scientists to help them achieve their educational and career goals. For more than a decade now, she has guided dozens of high school and college students through the process of obtaining research internships and completing college or transfer applications. While serving on her school district’s Board-appointed Academics Advisory Committee, she spearheaded an effort to create internship opportunities at local colleges for students in the district, which later evolved into a formal class for high school students to do research and receive mentoring at Caltech. Internship Development Workshop Every January, Capstone hosts an Internship Development Workshop. In the workshop, you will learn how to identify and communicate with mentors, write a cover letter, create a resume, and make the most of your internship. For more information and to reserve a spot in the workshop (no payment due now), click the button below:

Part 2. What kind of experience do you want? Companion Worksheet: My Internship Goals (page 38) Before you start the process of searching for an internship experience, give yourself time to think about what kind of experience you want and how much time you can commit to the experience. Internships are a big commitment for both the prospective mentor and the intern. Worksheet The following sections have companion worksheets, activities, and reference material. You can find them at the end of the book, starting on page 38. Complete the worksheets and activities and use the reference materials to follow along with the content. What do you want? Many students and families immediately jump into the task of finding an internship before considering the student’s goals. However, it is important to take the time to think about why exactly you want to do an internship and what you hope to gain from it, which will help you more effectively connect with a mentor. If you haven’t started tapping into your authentic interests, now is the time to do so. College admissions officers and mentors have pretty good radar for authentic engagement and interest in learning. The more engaged and interested you are going into an internship experience, the more fulfilling the experience will be and the more likely you will be to have great experience. Think about what inspired your interest. Did a topic in one of your science classes intrigue you? Do you find yourself drawn to online videos or documentaries on specific topics? Did you complete a lab in one of your science classes that you found particularly exciting? Have you always been fascinated by nature? Have you developed a curiosity about a particular career, such as astrophysics research or medicine? After thinking about what inspired your interest, think hard about your goals for the internship. What do you most want to gain from the experience? If your main goals are to strengthen your college applications and get great letters of recommendation, you might be doing the internship for the wrong reasons. The strongest college applications are generally from students who are the most authentically engaged in their own learning. They love to learn for the sake of knowing and to build new skills so they can learn more. Also, remember that internship providers make a commitment to you, the intern, when they provide you with an internship. They are very busy people with heavy responsibilities and deadlines, so you want to respect them and their time, and not just use them for your own goals. By hosting an intern, they benefit from knowing they may have made a real difference in the life of a young person, but you need to do your part by engaging in this experience for your personal growth and not just to improve your chances on your college applications. Worksheet Complete the first three questions on the My Internship Goals Worksheet. » What are my academic areas of interest for an internship? » What inspired my interest in doing an internship? » What are my goals for the internship?