A: Most graduates (80-85%, in fact) across the nation will have completed at least one internship during college. They are your competition for jobs and graduate school. Without professional experience, it's hard even to land basic entry-level career positions these days. The degree is, unfortunately, not enough. So consider an unpaid academic internship as a necessary step to your long-term goal of following a career
A: Unfortunately, no. A paid internship is a job, and an unpaid internship for credit is a course. Our program provides much more support, enrichment, and security than a paid work experience. UML English academic internships are pre-screened to offer students only the highest quality educational experience, achieving academic learning objectives, and earning course credit.
If you need to work for pay and still want to take on an academic internship, keep in mind that managing both at the same time will be tricky, but not impossible. Some placements will gladly accept help from a remote intern and/or provide flexible hours, allowing students during evenings and weekends. If your paid work is not full time, or not completed during regular business hours, then there should be no problem scheduling an internship. Academic internships require a total of 120 hours of work, which, depending on when the internship starts and ends, is usually about 8–10 hours a week in fall or spring and 10–15 hours a week in summer.
A: You don't need to! An internship is NOT an add-on. An internship taken for academic credit is a real course, with assignments, due dates, and academic requirements. You will take the internship as a part of your regular course load (one of your five courses) and schedule around that obligation as you would prepare for any upper-level course. Plan ahead what courses you take, and you should be able to fit in an internship just fine. Ask your advisor to help you decide which semester(s) you should take your internship. Generally we recommend students complete their first internship in Junior year.
A: The English Department does not provide paid internship opportunities, so you will have to find your own. If you want to find a paid internship, please note that such positions are generally highly competitive. Since many students are hunting for them, you will need to apply several months in advance. Check with Career Services for help in finding a paid internship. Also, be careful! Some paid internships are little more than minimum-wage gopher jobs: running to the mail room, photocopying, fetching coffee, filing and answering phones, etc. To prevent this, the English department's unpaid academic internships are carefully screened to provide high-quality, relevant experience for our students.
A: Yes! If you live in Lowell, then we have dozens of local opportunities that are close enough to take the UML shuttle. Or, if you don't live in Lowell, you can find a placement near your own location. Students do it all the time. Look around your neighborhood at organizations or governmental offices or programs you admire, and offer your services to them as a volunteer writing/research/etc. intern. Non-profit organizations are generally glad to welcome a university intern offering free help. Just make sure if you do this that you don't get taken advantage of—internships should give you valuable experience in the field or they aren't really worth your time. If you need help sorting this out, contact the department internship coordinator. (Diana_Archibald@uml.edu)
A: Talk to your academic advisor and/or the internship coordinator (Diana_Archibald@uml.edu) about this. They have a lot of experience working with students and can usually determine if a student is ready for the internship experience. Also, we offer a lot of great courses in which students can practice and gain confidence. Consider, for example, taking a foundations course which offers a good baseline: Introduction to Professional Writing. The 3000-level Intermediate Professional Writing course and other writing classes are also options. In other words, if you don't feel confident, there are things you can do about that!
A: Log into the SIS portal and register for course ENGL.4960 (Internship 1). Students must have completed one of the pre-requisites: either Critical Methods, Intro to Professional Writing, Intro to Creative Writing, or Play Analysis. Class will only meet one 75-minute period a week. Students will also spend 8-10 hours a week at the internship site (must total 120 hours minimum). Recommended for Junior year and beyond, though second-semester sophomores are eligible. Once you register, check out our list of Pre-Approved Internships and let the internship coordinator know if any of these interest you—or if you would like to find another opportunity. An Internship placement is guaranteed to those who enroll in the course!
If you didn't get your questions answered, please ask the internship coordinator directly. (Diana_Archibald@uml.edu) You can do this!