Whatever your post-graduation plans may be, an internship can help you build confidence, experience, and connections that will enrich your life after college.
When students enter BYU’s College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences, they gain more than a degree — they gain the resources, education, and experiential learning needed to become a force for good in their communities. Internships are a key part of this experiential learning, helping students prepare for the workforce before they graduate.
Many students, however, may not know how to find an internship or understand its importance. Here are some helpful tips.
Finding Internship Opportunities
To find an internship, students first need to know where to look. Alison Sondrup, internship manager for the BYU College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences, encourages students to explore multiple job search platforms, including the college’s internship database, department LinkedIn pages that highlight alumni careers, or the BYU Handshake portal. Through these resources, students can find internships posted by employers both inside and outside of Utah.
Professors can also be valuable guides. Sara Newman (BS ’25) from Spanish Fork, Utah, found her internship at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, with the help of Debbie Hema, a family life professor.
Newman knew she wanted a career as a child life specialist from a young age. She discussed opportunities with Hema and reviewed the career requirements on the Association of Child Life Professionals' website. With those requirements in mind, she contacted Intermountain Health's internship coordinator to obtain both an internship and practicum that would help her along the path to becoming certified.
Setting Intentions
Some majors require an internship for graduation or allow internships to count toward required credit hours. To gain college credit for an internship, students must enroll in an internship course like 399R Internship Preparation in the same semester as the internship. And, yes, students will need to pay tuition for those credits, but internship grants are often available to help offset that expense. Danny Damron, assistant dean of professional development and experiential learning, teaches one of these courses designed to guide students through their internship to ensure that experiential learning is taking place.
“Experiential learning is engaging in an experience in a way that helps us identify what we need to learn, and then learning that thing,” Damron says. “It’s after we learn something that we can engage in new, more informed behavior — or do something that we couldn’t do before.”
The framework of experiential learning includes intention, reflection, and integration. Students can be inspired in all elements of this process — in defining their intention or what they hope to learn, in reflecting on the experience to discover what they have learned or what they still need to learn, and in integrating what they have learned in new, more effective behaviors.
At the beginning of the internship course, students set specific goals about what they hope to learn. They then meet with their employer to discuss the employer’s expectations as well as what the interns hope to learn from the experience. Damron’s students are encouraged to approach their internships with clear intentions and to reflect on their goals throughout the process.
Integration and Reflection
Newman’s internship included a list of professional competencies she needed to develop as a future child life specialist. She selected several competencies and incorporated them into her personal goals for the internship. Because she had clearly defined what she wanted to improve, she felt more confident as she sought opportunities and feedback from supervisors.
“It helped me know what to ask for,” Newman says.
By regularly reflecting on her experiences, Newman was able to recognize areas of growth, apply feedback, and integrate new skills by recalling past lessons when facing new challenges.
“It helped me to just sit with those experiences, and think about them and take a moment,” she remarks.
Discovering Direction
Isabelle Cook, a senior studying history from Murrieta, California, feels graduation approaching sooner than she’s ready for. She interned at the Fort Douglas Military Museum in Salt Lake City, hoping it would provide some direction for her future.
“It didn’t make my decision for me,” Cook says. “However, it did give me so much hands-on experience.”
Cook’s internship provided professional connections and an inside look at the work behind historical establishments. These experiences will remain valuable to her, whether or not she does more work with museums. For students like Cook who haven’t settled on a clear career path, internships can aid in weeding out interests — and that’s valuable too. Additionally, students can gain valuable industry connections and be exposed to adjacent career opportunities.
Overcoming Hesitation
A student might be more ready for an internship than they know. According to Sondrup, an intern doesn’t need to have an overabundance of hard skills. While the best time to complete an internship is probably before students start their senior year, the search for opportunities should start a year in advance. And that’s probably before they’ve started most of their major courses.
“You just need to go in willing to learn and to jump in and take initiative,” Sondrup says.
Tyler Eldredge, a geospatial science and technology student from Riverton, Utah, recently interned with Lehi City in the Public Works Department. He felt somewhat inexperienced before securing his internship but soon realized that everyone at his internship was willing to help him learn.
“Apply to everything, even if you think you’re not qualified,” he says.
When looking for an internship, students do not need to have everything figured out. In fact, internships are designed to provide learning experiences. What matters is that students approach their internships with intention by setting realistic goals for what they hope to learn, reflecting on their experiences to identify what they are learning, and then integrating that learning into how they approach future work. In doing so, they enter a career not only with some relevant work experience, but also with the ability to continue on a path of learning and growth throughout their lives.
Visit the Family, Home, and Social Sciences Internship Office in 1049 JFSB to get an early start on an internship experience.