Nā Hokua offers a variety of Career Preparation supports for program participants. Students can earn stipends, gain valuable career experience, and access coaching from Nā Hokua staff to support career development goals. Successful completion of program requirements will also provide the student with a University of Hawaiʻi certificate of achievement that can enhance the student's job-readiness profile. 

Fall Semester: Nā Hokua participants will complete one of the following options by the end of the fall semester - Informational Interview, Internship, Staffing Agency, Professional Development, or Artificial Intelligence Certification. Full details for each option can be found below. Monetary stipends or cost reimbursements are available for most of these options. Students who want to start early and complete a fall semester career prep activitity during the summer will need to discuss with their assigned coach and receive confirmation that all program documentation is complete. Some career prep activities may be repeated for additional experience and monetary stipend.

Spring Semester: All Nā Hokua participants are expected to do a Career Preparation Presentation (aka "student share-out") before the end of the spring semester. See details below. Participants have the option to earn additional stipends by doing more career prep activities from the fall semester list above. Please discuss with your coach.

Fall Career Preparation Activities

Informational Interviews

Stipend Available. Level of Effort: 10 hours per interview (up to 8 interviews)

Students can develop valuable professional connections and communication skills through informational interviews. Please review the documents below and discuss next steps with your coach. The Contract must be completed and approved by Nā Hokua staff prior to submitting stipend requests. Review the Guide for Informational Interview and use it to record your progress. Use those notes to complete the Informational Interview Report Form. See the flowchart below to identify all of the required steps.

• Informational Interview Program Description and Contract (Sign and submit)

• A Complete Guide to Informational Interviews (Background)

• Guide for Informational Interviews (Reference/Notes)

• Informational Interview Report Form (Google Form)

Internship
Stipend Available. Level of Effort: 10 hours minimum, 80 hours maximum

Students can develop valuable work experience and professional contacts through internships. Employer paid internships are fantastic opportunities, but may be difficult to find. Nā Hokua can provide a stipend in lieu of an employer paying for an internship. This opens up many more opportunities, and it may also address liability concerns that prevent some organizations from hosting unpaid interns. Please discuss with your coach if liability is a concern and how the Nā Hokua program can support both you and the host organization.

Please review the documents below and discuss next steps with your coach. The Internship Contract must be completed and approved by Nā Hokua staff prior to submitting timesheets. Timesheets must be submitted and approved for stipend disbursements.

• Internship Program Description and Contract

• Timesheets

• 11 Reasons Why Doing Internships Can Benefit Your Career

Staffing Agency
Stipend Available. Level of Effort: 10 hours

Students can improve their job readiness and marketability by working with a staffing agency. This option takes a student through the screening and application process with a firm such as Altres. Students will review the jobs listed on the staffing agency’s website and submit an application to join the team. The agency’s staff will guide participants through the process of becoming “job ready” with the goal of being added to the agency’s roster of available talent for their clients to engage. Altres has offered to support Nā Hokua students whether or not they find job listings directly related to their long-term career goals. If this describes you, please email Nā Hokua and copy your coach to indicate your interest.

To receive a stipend for this career prep option, the student will need to submit the Staffing Agency Option Stipend Contract. Upon approval, the student will then contact a staffing agency and follow their application and talent development process (which may include activities such as resumé refinement and interview strategies). Whether or not you are ultimately placed on the agency’s staffing roster, we believe active and thoughtful participation in this process is a powerful developmental experience. Please complete the Staffing Agency Reflection form below to initiate the stipend request. If you are qualified as “job ready” by a staffing agency and placed on their roster, congratulations!

• Staffing Agency Option Stipend Contract

• Staffing Agency Reflection

• How Do Staffing Agencies Work?

• Hawaiʻi-based Staffing Agencies

If you did not attend the Staffing Agency workshop, please watch the interview linked below to learn more about this career preparation option.

Artificial Intelligence Certificate

Stipend Available. Additional Google Certifications Available. Level of Effort: 5 hours 

UH offers students access to a variety of free Google training and certifications. Nā Hokua participants are eligible to receive career prep activity credit and a monetary stipend for successful completion of the Google AI Essentials course and certification. If you choose this option, please email a screenshot of your certification to your coach and CC nahokua@hawaii.edu. Students may also pursue other Google career certificates for additional stipends. Please confirm your plans with your coach.

Please review the documents below and discuss next steps with your coach. The Guide for Artificial Intelligence Certificate can be used to monitor your progress through the experience and take notes on lessons learned. The Report Form is where you enter these notes when you have completed the Artificial Intelligence Certificate.

• Guide for Artificial Intelligence Certificate (Reference/Notes)

• Artificial Intelligence Certificate Report Form (Google Form)

Here is an excerpt from the UH press release announcing the launch of the partnership with Google and the online training provider, Coursera.

The University of Hawaiʻi has partnered with Google to provide AI training to its students and employees across its 10-campus system at no cost. The initiative offers access to the Google Career Certificates program, which equips people with skills for in-demand fields including cybersecurity, data analytics and IT support. University of Hawaiʻi students will also have free access to Google AI Essentials course.

Students who participate in the Google Career Certificate program have access to an Employer Consortium of more than 150 companies — including Deloitte, Ford, Siemens, Shutterstock, T-Mobile, Verizon, Wells Fargo and Google — that consider Google Career Certificate graduates for relevant roles. More than 350,000 people have completed the Google Career Certificate program in the U.S. and more than 70% of graduates report positive career outcomes (e.g. new job, promotion, or raise) within six months of certificate completion.

Google’s AI course can be completed in approximately 5 hours, and teaches foundational AI skills, prompting techniques, AI best practices, and how to use AI responsibly. The courses help people get practical, hands-on experience using AI to help with work tasks through videos, readings, and interactive exercises. The skills learned can be applied to a variety of roles across industries.

"This is a valuable opportunity for our community to develop in-demand AI skills and stay ahead in today's rapidly evolving technological landscape," UH President Wendy Hensel said. "We are excited to partner with Google to offer this valuable resource. It is critical for our students to gain a foundation in this area.”

Upon successful completion of the courses, participants will earn a credential which can be displayed on professional profiles and resumes. Interested students and employees can access the UH - Google AI Essentials registration pageand follow the enrollment instructions.

UH students now also have access to Gemini App —Google's generative AI with enhanced security and privacy, included with Workspace for Education at no cost. Recently deployed across the University of Hawaiʻi System, students and educators can use Gemini to assist in learning across various subjects.

Spring Semester
Career Preparation Hōʻike Presentation 

Program Requirement – Level of Effort: 10 hours

Nā Hokua students will complete a Career Preparation Hōʻike Presentation, often referred to as our "Student Share-Out," during the spring semester. This provides an opportunity to reflect on what they learned from their first Career Preparation experience and increase the impact of their reflection both for themselves and for other students. Presentations can be either live or recorded. Recordings will be shared and students not attending live will comment on other students’ presentations. Dates for live presentations will be provided at the start of the spring semester.

Please review the Guide for Career Preparation Presentation (Reference/Notes) and discuss next steps with your coach. The Guide for Career Preparation Presentation can be used to monitor your progress through the experience and take notes on key dates and lessons learned. Please watch the following video to see examples of prior student share outs.