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Phase 1: Setting up the Internship
Phase 1: Setting up the Internship
Strong internship programs are grounded in three core areas, each led by the Internship Coordinator. First, they must take stock of their students' interests and skills; second they must use that understanding to develop sites aligned to students’ interests; finally, they must outline clear expectations around what an effective site looks like, and use them to onboard both students and site supervisors. Each of these foundational steps build off each other, ensuring that the program is both meaningful to students and set-up to deliver a high quality experience.
To support the set-up and maintenance of an internship program, Internship Coordinators shared these tools they use:
An interest/skills Inventory to take stock of student Interests and help match them with the right internship opportunities. This assessment may be conducted at intake or when a student expresses interest in the internship program. It may include questions about their interests, hobbies, and future goals.
ASA Futurescape - lets students explore thousands of education and career paths on their own terms
My Next Move - interest assessment based on the Holland Code career test
Work Values Assessment - Sort values into three piles, identifying whether each is “essential,” “important,” or “not important” for your career needs
Career Test - assessment that examines interest and skills to define various career options
16 Personalities - based on Myers-Briggs assessment
The RIASEC Test (online version) - The Holland Occupational Themes is a theory of personality that focuses on career and vocational choice. It groups people on the basis of their suitability for six different categories of occupations.
An Employer Site Assessment Form to develop quality sites aligned to student interests: detailed below, with a facilitator’s guide
A Learning Agreement to set clear expectations with all parties, asking the school, employer, student, and caregiver to review and agree to the type of experience they will be participating in with the internship. Expectations include both logistical pieces, like working hours, as well as clear descriptions of the internship’s duties, skills, and opportunities.
Example 1: YABC Practitioner Handbook (pgs. 102-105)
Example 2: GSS Shepherd Service Learning Agreement
Example 3: NYCID LTW Agreement
The Employer Site Assessment Form was originally designed by Queens Community House as a site development tool. Queens Community House used it when describing what LTW is to prospective employers and working with them to determine whether they would be a good fit for the program. We encourage Internship Coordinators to continue adapting the form so it fits the youth they support. Additionally, Internship Coordinators can use this tool to set expectations with their student-interns, and later, to check in on how their experience throughout their internship aligns with it.
Employer Site Assessment Form
Rationale for this tool
First and foremost, this form supports setting expectations for a quality internship experience. It is also a reference point for continuous feedback between youth, internship coordinators (ICs), and site supervisors about work sites. We sourced the questions in this form from conversations with students and LTW staff about the qualities that make good internship/worksite experiences. ICs are encouraged to tailor the questions to specific sites and supervision styles, optimizing the tool to sustain clear communication.
Who can use this tool and when
This form is designed for internship coordinators (the “you” in this guidance) to use:
When you first meet with a new site supervisor or whenever a new cohort of interns is starting with an employer
When you are preparing youth for their internship at the employer site
During your 1:1 check-ins with interns
How to use this tool:
Developing the Site
When visiting potential work sites, bring this form with you and fill it out in conversation with the person who would be the site supervisor. This will help you do a couple of things:
Set expectations with the employer about what you’re looking for in a work site. In the form under the Work Site Qualities, under each header (e.g. “Working with Youth), there is a sentence that starts with, “A quality internship site supervisor…” Use these sentences to communicate how the site supervisor is expected to engage with interns.
Build your understanding of the site and assess if it’s a good setting for your students. Filling out this form during your visit will give you a clear picture of the site’s qualities, and will inform whether you should place youth there.
Starting the Work
If you’re working with a site supervisor for the first time,
Go over the questions with them and discuss if questions need to be modified. (e.g., tweaked language or a different rating system.)
Align your and the site supervisor’s understanding of the form and its intention.
Then fill out the form together, asking the site supervisor themself.
If you are using this form with a site supervisor you’ve worked with before, review the ratings together to see if anything has changed since the last time you looked at it. Remember that your experience counts. If, for example, a supervisor has not been entering timesheets on time, raise that point if they are saying they ‘consistently’ do this. Or, if the interns from the last cohort at this site reported something that doesn’t match with the supervisor’s ratings, talk about that with them.
Have the site supervisor review and sign the Learning Agreement.
Onboarding Interns
Use this form for all interns working at the same employer to help set specific expectations for the youth before working with their site supervisor. When you sit down with your interns, share the site supervisor’s responses with them (e.g., “They said they were very busy and would probably only be able to supervise you directly sometimes.”) This will help set specific expectations for the youth before working with their site supervisor. Additionally, review the intern’s Interest/Skills Inventory, and discuss how this internship experience aligns.
Have the intern review and then sign the Learning Agreement.
Tips: You have or will no doubt set general workplace expectations for youth through seminars or PD sessions. This form supplements what you have covered in those spaces by setting expectations for working with specific sites and supervisors.
Regular Check-ins
As you’re regularly checking in with youth using the Intern Interview Protocol (part of the Monthly Skills Progress Tool), return to the site supervisor’s responses gathered by this form. The responses will help you surface specific questions, concerns, and bright spots you can later communicate with the site supervisor.
Tips: For many reasons, the work site qualities might change, and this tool can help navigate change and ground conversations to avoid miscommunication, confusion, and tensions.
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