Turn your job or volunteer position into an internship
Lisa Sanders, M.S.
&
Nohemy Chavez
Internship and Career Center

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Help you identify your future career goals
Learn how you can build career specific experience without adding more to your plate
Share the guidelines & benefits of an internship
Offer specific steps on how to create an internship
(Disclaimer: check with your program area)
Give case study examples
Help you identify ideas that will work for you
Explore resources

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Provides space to reflect on career and academic goals & interests
Increases competitive edge in job searching (resume, application, interview, network & reference)
Creates a competitive academic transcript for graduate school
Develops essential skills and on-the-job experience
Provides an opportunity to establish expectations with your supervisor in a job or volunteer position
In this economy, you can’t afford not to do an internship!

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40 hours per quarter (10 weeks) or an average of 4 hours a week
Student must have a 10 week minimum commitment, but can continue for multiple quarters
Paid, non-paid or work-study
Professional (not peer) supervisor or faculty person
Must be related to academic or career goals
Can get academic units

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Internships can: provide assistance with the ongoing work of a business or organization involve a special project or assignment
 Can be a student of any level in school
Can gain Transcript Notation through
Aggie Job Link to document that your experience is University approved

Think about: o o o
Your major
Occupations or careers of interest
Skills or experiences that you need to enter the field
1) __________________
2) __________________
3) __________________

Possible avenues that you can take:
1) Look for an already existing paid internship in your field of interest
2) Create your own internship by finding a volunteer position or a job that relates to career goals
3) Create an internship out of your current position

Scenario #1:
 Third year Sociology major
 Pre-Law
 Needs to find a paid internship so that current job can be put on hold
 Work-study

Scenario #1 (con’t):
 Aggie Job Link current paid internships:
 California State Rural Health Associations :
Research and Development Intern
 Non-profit organization, $300 Stipend
 California Coalition for Rural Housing: Affordable
Housing & Community Development Intern
 Summer Internship, pays $12- $14/ hour

 Tips:
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Be patient with your search! It takes time to find, apply and land the internship.
Be broad when searching.
Look for related skills in the internships you are searching for and your career goal.
The internship doesn’t have to be exactly what you were looking for.
Get units through your department! If you are already going to be at the internship at least four hours a week, get faculty sponsorship for units, that way you have to take one less class!

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Scenario #2:
4 th year, Managerial Economics Major
 Currently in a student organization
 Flexible about career when graduating (due to economy)
 Wants to gain as much experience as possible and to build resume before graduation
 Decides to take initiative to create an internship locally

Scenario #2: (con’t)
 Approaches Nugget Market
(locally owned/corporate headquarters)
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Asks what projects might be needed or where they need help:
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Marketing/market research
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Research project: customer service survey
Financial/accounting
Management/ HR
Option to:
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Volunteer
TN
Get units work-study (if eligible)
Outcome: gains mentorship, network contacts, reference, insight on business

Scenario #2: (con’t)
Additional internship options for next quarter:
 Paid student assistant for the State for Tax
Franchise Board because really likes working with financials of Nugget
 Nugget hires student on for paid position due to initiative, high-quality performance, etc.
 Student organization- takes on leadership role

 Tips:
 How can you build transferrable skills in business?
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Be creative about where you can accomplish this (maybe not as prestigious, but valuable just the same)
What are the other sectors that are more reliable?
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Setting goals is key
Take initiative
Be flexible & really listen to opportunity
See the other benefits. Take advantage of mentors, informational interviews, network potential in the position

Scenario #3:
*Someone who has a current job and is taking a full course-load.

 Tips:
 Expand upon the skills/experiences that you need to develop
 Take initiative
 Find a project that will help you build skills or knowledge
 Identify projects or unmet needs in your job
 Volunteer to fulfill these needs

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Talk to your supervisor about your goals
Ask what needs they have or where they need help (or pay attention on the job and come to sup with idea)
Let them know what experiences you would like to have or what skills you want to develop
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Present your ideas and come with a plan
Ask for the mentorship or support from your supervisor
Coordinate compensation: Units, vol, work-study, TN, etc.

By getting Transcript Notation:
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Confirm with program areaHBS, AES, Eng & LABS
Get an approved & supervised internship
Go online at icc.ucdavis.edu
to log in to Aggie Job Link
Complete the online Transcript Notation proposal in AJL
Finish the internship and log on to Aggie Job Link to:
 Complete your time sheet and personal essay
 Have your employer to log on to Aggie Job Link to complete the supervisor’s evaluation

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Paid position
You can be efficient with time
Shows initiative
Increase chances of promotion or management position
Bolster resume/skills
Increase experience

 Exercise:
Read over your goals & the options we discussed:
Write down 3 concrete ideas of how you could create an internship to meet those goals.

1) UC Davis Student Housing: Cultural/Service Programmer,
Resident Advisor (1/15)
2. UC Davis Advising Services: Advising Coordinator,
Orientation Leader, EOP
3. UC Davis Campus Recreation & Campus Rec Youth
Programs: Personal trainers, Building Supervisors, Camp
Student Manager
4. UC Davis Department Assistants: Biomedical Engineering
Student Assistant
5. UC Davis Department Laboratory Assistants: Entomology
Lab Assistant

6. UC Davis Information and Education Technology (IET):
Computer Room Consultant (CRC), The California Aggie,
Creative Media
7.
ASUCD: Unitrans, Coffee House, Campus Copies,
Classical Notes, Bike Barn, Experimental College.
8. UC Davis Student Firefighter Program
9. UC Davis Bookstore: Student Supervisor
10. UCD Shields Library

 Aggie Job Link account
 Program of Events
 Internship and Career Fair
 Resume Books
 Student Employment
 Financial Aid/ Work-Study
 Ami Tripp, Work-Study coordinator
 1216 Dutton Hall

 Nohemy Chavez
 Office Hours:
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Tuesday & Thursday
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9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
 Lisa Sanders
 Office Hours:
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Thursday
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1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.