Internship Guide
Internships are highly recommended for establishing your portfolio, building your resume and landing the career you want. Internships are also an important part of IUPUI’s RISE initiative, which challenges students to incorporate experiential learning into their degree programs for intellectual and professional development.
The School of Informatics allows students to receive elective course credit for internships approved by the Career Services Office. Please review our helpful guide on the different internship opportunities available and contact us to discuss specific possibilities for you.
Internship Benefits
- Obtain “real-life” work experience, in addition to academic classroom experience and knowledge, in order to enhance the opportunity to gain full-time employment after graduation.
- Enhance marketability upon graduation by learning valuable communications skills from various work settings.
- Receive academic credit toward graduation.
- Earn money to help defray the cost of education.
- Develop self-confidence, responsibility, and professional competence.
- Gain networking contacts and exposure to the working world.
- Develop short-term and long-range career goals.
- Integrate work experiences with classroom instruction.
What Makes a Great Internship Employer?
- An opportunity must have a mentoring supervisor — someone who knows how to complete the project but is asking for student assistance. The mentoring supervisor must be willing to provide direction as needed.
- The duties and responsibilities of the internship should consist of work that would be given to a person starting in an entry-level position. A typical split would be 80% professional and 20% administrative.
- The employer should be based out of a corporate (commercial) location. To qualify for credit, students should not engage employers that run businesses out of a personal residence or home.
Credit Internships
Credit internships are structured internships that require a student to complete a course for college credit (3 – 6 credit hours). Internships that extend beyond one semester may be considered for additional credit hour registration in future semesters. Coursework for credit internship courses includes:
- Daily Journal (identifying areas of learning)
- Employer Evaluation
- Student Evaluation
- Discussion Forums
- Site Visit (by the Internship Program Director / Instructor)
- Executive Summary (of internship experience)
- A minimum of 45 working hours per credit hour
- Related professional duties and responsibilities must align with the internship course of enrollment
You may seek credit for paid or unpaid internships. It is up to the student to seek credit for curriculum fulfillment or in response to an employer requesting an internship to be taken for credit. Courses are taught via Oncourse so in-class time is not required.
Paid or Unpaid
We encourages employers to pay their interns. Pay can average $10-15 per hour with an overall range of $8-$25+ per hour depending on major, industry and demand.
Length of Internship
Credit and non-credit internships typically last the duration of a summer, spring or fall semesters, but may depend on dates set between the employer and student.
- Keep in mind the purpose for doing an internship is to gain experience, so pay should be viewed as a benefit. The employer is providing a means to gain well needed experience by allowing you to work directly with managers in your chosen career field.
- For unpaid positions, always look at the duties and responsibilities of the position to make sure the tasks are worth pursuing. If you are unsure of the credibility of the position, you may bring the description to the
- Career Services Office for review.
- Employers should be aware that unpaid internships may impact the quality and quantity of students that apply.
Working Hours
- A part-time internship consists of 10-30 working hours per week.
- A full-time internship consists of 40 working hours per week.
- Summer internships tend to have full-time working hours.
- Employers typically provide flexible work hours to help work around class schedules.
Registering for a Credit Internship Course
Once an internship is obtained, an internship form will need to be filled out and brought to the Career Services Office. The mentoring supervisor will need to sign off on the form to acknowledge the internship and verify that all information is correct. Return the form back to the Career Services Office for approval within 1-2 business days. You will be contacted with a course number for registration should your internship qualify for credit.
Deadlines to Register for Credit
Credit internship forms must be turned into the Career Services Office by the end of the fourth week of classes for fall and spring semesters and by the end of the first week of classes for the Summer I & II sessions.
Non-Credit Internship Recording on Transcripts – INFO I490 Professional Practice
Students may apply for a “Milestone” to be designated on their transcript for internships that are not taken for credit. Milestone internships are a good way to show experience on a transcript to employers or for applying to graduate programs. To obtain a Milestone designation, a student must fill out and return an internship form and indicate a Non-Credit Internship at the top of the form. This form must be turned in prior to the start of the internship. All Milestone Internships must meet the minimum non-credit internships standards as stated on the form to be considered for transcript designation. Internships reported for credit will not be marked as Milestones. Credit bearing internships are recorded as a course on the transcript under the appropriate internship course number upon registration.
Internships for Foreign Students
You may receive authorization to work off-campus under a Curricular Practical Training (CPT) work permit for internships. A CPT work permit requires international students to be registered for a credit internship course that has a practicum component. To obtain CPT authorization, call the Office of International Affairs at 317.274.7000 for more information.
International Internships
Contact the Study Abroad Program at the Office of International Affairs on the IUPUI campus at 317.274.7000 for more information.
