Internships and Work Experience
The Internship and Work Experience (IWE) program offers professional opportunities for students to improve their employment skills while in school. Students can earn credit for their internship or work experience that is CSU transferable.
Employers Recruiting for Jobs and Internships
The Internship and Work Experience Office can help you with paid, unpaid, for-credit or non-credit internship support including:
Placement services
Resume review or design
On-the-job coaching and instruction
...in order to help build your confidence, skills and abilities to advance towards your next professional goal!
Steps for Enrollment in for-credit Internships
The Employment and Internship Office can help you find an internship. Fill out our and we will reach out to set up an appointment with you. Your current job may also be approved for an Internship or Work Experience site.
Once you have an internship or work experience site selected, make an appointment with the Internship and Work Experience Instructor to get oriented to the class. When you meet, you can ask all your questions, regarding hours and units, assignments, employer questions and much more!
The Internship and Work Experience (IWE) course can be taken as a program requirement or elective in the following majors: ACCT, BUS, CAHM, CEM, CIS, DM, HS (Community Health Worker), HORT, JOURN, and MUS.
Students may elect to take IWE-99 and earn college transfer credit even if they are not enrolled in any of the listed majors above.
You must be approved by the Instructor before you can add the class and be given an Add Authorization. The class will not be listed in the schedule before you are authorized to add it because the classes are designed specifically for each student.
TIP:
As soon as you decide an internship is in your future, schedule a meeting to learn more about timing and deadlines. It's better to plan ahead, so your internship will be ready when you want to enroll.
Steps for Course Completion
Meet with your instructor to get oriented to the class and learn about the assignments and due dates.
Register for the class after you receive an Add Authorization from your instructor. Review the Canvas course.
Complete the Employer Agreement and submit your Job Description. Fill out the Pre-Course Skills Inventory.
Draft your Learning Objectives and schedule a meeting with your instructor to review.
Submit your Final Draft Learning Objectives and End of Semester Showcase and Final Project of your choice as well as your timesheet and Post-Course Evaluation.
Internship Success Story
"I felt the sense of belonging since the first day of my internship at Granite Construction. I'm a woman, and construction is still a male-dominated industry. I really want to continue inspiring other girls and women to pursue a career in the construction industry."
Frequently Asked Questions
Students
No. The word internship is sometimes loosely defined, but an internship is tailored to a student or recent graduate in a particular field of study. An internship provides hands-on, supervised job training by a professional in the field.
An internship will identify specific learning outcomes with clear action steps needed to achieve outcomes. This may mean performing job duties that help the student demonstrate skills for which they are being trained
In addition, an internship is a finite placement with a clear start date, finish date, and schedule determined upon hiring. Internships can be paid or unpaid. They can be as short as a few weeks or up to a year in length, internships typically fall in the 3-6 month range. Duration can be determined by the employer.
Students who already have an internship, job, or volunteer position can enroll for credit during the first 12 weeks of Fall and Spring semester and the first 6 weeks of Summer session.
Students often use the Incomplete Process if the hours needed to complete their course carries over past the end of the semester they are enrolled in. Students taking an Incomplete grade will make a contract with the instructor to identify the completion date for the course.
Yes. Once you enroll, you can begin counting hours toward completion of your unit requirements.
The Internship and Work Experience instructor can provide advising to assist with this. Students can also refer to the degree and certificate requirements online or meet with an academic counselor for requirements.
Yes, this course can be repeated. Students can enroll in up to 6 units of Cooperative Work Experience and/or 12 units of Occupational Work Experience.
Yes, employers are required to:
- Complete the Employer/Student Contact form
- Review and sign the Cabrillo College/Employer Memorandum of Agreement
- Provide a job description
- Assist in the development of student learning objectives
- Meet with the Cabrillo Internship and Work Experience Instructor at the worksite
- Complete a short performance evaluation
- Sign off on time card
See for documents.
Occupational Work Experience Courses are assigned to specific programs. Credit for these courses specifically relate to program instruction and outcomes as well as count toward degree and certificate completion. General Work Experience is for students wishing to gain credit and experience but not connected to a specific college program.
Cooperative Work Experience Education. This is the technical term for the program as defined by CA State Ed Code.
Yes, most students participate in local internships and jobs but many opportunities exist worldwide, and earning credit is an option.
Additional Information and Links:
General Info on Internships: Internships can be loosely defined, but a quality internship will be tailored to a student or recent graduate in a particular field of study to provide hands-on, supervised job training by a professional in the field. This may mean performing job duties to help the student demonstrate the skills they are being trained for.
An internship should identify specific learning outcomes for the student with clear action steps needed to achieve outcomes. In addition, an internship is a finite placement with a clear start and finish date and schedule determined upon hire. Internship duration can be determined by the employer. They can be as short as a few weeks to up to a year in length, but typically fall in the 3-6 month range.
General Info on Internships: Internships can be loosely defined, but a quality internship will be tailored to a student or recent graduate in a particular field of study to provide hands-on, supervised job training by a professional in the field. This may mean performing job duties to help the student demonstrate the skills they are being trained for.
An internship should identify specific learning outcomes for the student with clear action steps needed to achieve outcomes. In addition, an internship is a finite placement with a clear start and finish date and schedule determined upon hire. Internship duration can be determined by the employer. They can be as short as a few weeks to up to a year in length, but typically fall in the 3-6 month range.
Paid and unpaid internships: It is important to know that if an intern is paid, they will be onboarded as an employee for the business or organization. Their position will also need to meet the requirements set forth by all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. A paid intern earns at least minimum wage and is compensated accordingly for their time. In return, employers paying interns receive the flexibility to assign responsibilities and roles they otherwise would not should the intern be unpaid.
Unpaid internships for for-profit companies, according to , are expected to meet the following criteria to be in compliance:
The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training given in an educational environment.
The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern, and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded.
The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.Job Fairs and Hiring EventsJob Fairs and Hiring Events