Find an internship/experience

Find an Internship 

Internships and professional experiences are an investment in your future. 

Our goal in the Career and Internship Services office is to help you invest your time wisely and maximize the learning and skill-building available to you through this experience and our reflection courses. 

Here are some questions students often have as they begin:

When is a good time to do an internship?

We encourage students to do their first college internship as early as sophomore year. This allows you to then build on your early experience.

That said, if it is your last college semester and this is when you can make an internship happen, go for it. We will 100% support you!

How do I ensure I have a meaningful internship experience?

The key to having a meaningful internship experience is to go into it with intention and at least a little bit of thought. 

A few considerations are:

What career are you considering? Not sure, see a Career Consultant in the Career and Internship Services Office.

Ask yourself these questions and think about if you can do these at the site you are considering: 

• What do you want to get out of this? 

• What do you want to learn? 

• What skills do you want to develop?

Where can I look for internships or professional experiences?

Many internship opportunities and professional experiences are posted on a variety of websites. 

A few of our favorites are:

• Handshake

• Career Info By Major

• LinkedIn

• Internships.com

• MN Council of Nonprofits

• Careerwise

• Employment at the U of MN

Be sure to consider your own personal and professional contacts:

• Networking

• LinkedIn

• The Maroon and Gold Network

Another idea is to search online for your 'area of interest.' Be sure to use keywords, location, or type of internship you'd like.

What if I am doing an international internship?

If you have lined up an international internship and you hope to take CFAN 3096 or CFAN 4096, be sure to follow these important steps:

• You must have access to the Canvas site throughout your experience

• Your internship supervisor must be able to respond in English to emails and evaluations

• Check the GPS Alliance website for countries that require pre-approval for student international travel.

• Register your international travel with the Student International Travel Registry. Through that process, you will complete an online health and safety module through Canvas and receive University-approved international medical insurance.

Some international internship programs that are University of Minnesota approved may not require that you take CFAN 3096/4096 as they may fulfill the CFANS experiential learning requirement in lieu of CFAN 3096/4096. Please discuss this with your CFANS Academic Advisor.

I am an international student, what should I keep in mind?

We strongly suggest you review all the information on the ISSS website about CPT and OPT. And/or come see your career consultant in our office. We will help you sort things out.