Internships

A meaningful internship is a partnership between Centre College and a host employer, collaboratively defined and guided by the student, a faculty internship mentor (if the student is receiving credit), and an on-site supervisor from the host employer. To ensure that an experience is educational and thus eligible to be considered a legitimate internship, all the following criteria must be met:

• The experience must be an extension of the classroom: a learning experience that provides for applying the knowledge gained through the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the host employer or be the work that a regular employee would routinely perform.
• The skills or knowledge learned must be transferable to other employment settings.
• The experience has a defined beginning and end, and a job description with desired qualifications.
• There are clearly developed learning objectives/goals related to the professional goals of the student’s academic coursework.
• There is supervision by a professional with expertise and educational and/or professional background in the field of the experience.
• There is routine feedback by the experienced on-site supervisor.
• There are resources, equipment, and facilities provided by the host employer that support learning objectives/goals.

• The chance to apply knowledge from class in real-life situations

• The opportunity to “test drive” a possible career and find out if it suits you

• Professional contacts who often prove helpful when you’re searching for a job after graduation

• Relevant job experience and an enhanced resume, making you more marketable to employers

• Possible academic credit on your transcript

Setting up an internship at Centre is simple. Students pursue academic internships during their sophomore, junior, or senior year and may participate in non-credit internships at any point in their time at Centre. If participating in a credit internship, they choose a faculty advisor and, with the help of the Center for Career & Professional Development (CCPD), find and apply to an internship site. Together, the student, the faculty advisor, and the intern sponsor set expectations for the internship.

Learn more from CCPD

Here’s a sampling of organizations where Centre students have recently completed internships:

• American Heart Association
• American History Museum
• Brown-Forman Shanghai
• Center for Disease Control
• Central Baptist Hospital
• Cincinnati Curatorial Arts Center
• Cincinnati Zoo
• Commonwealth Economics
• C-SPAN
• Hilliard Lyons
• Johns Hopkins University
• Neuroscience & TMS Treatment Centers
• Northwestern Mutual
• Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Prague Summer Nights Music Festival
• Smithsonian Institute
• The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
• University of Kentucky Center of Drug and Alcohol Research
• U.S. Department of State
• U.S. Congress – Oversight and Reform Committee
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• Vermont Law School Institute for Energy and the Environment