10 Tips on How to Get an Internship in High School
High school is not too early for an internship. In fact, it’s the ideal time to consider applying for one! An internship can help you try a potential career option, build your skill set, and learn beyond the classroom.
You can find a wide range of internships for high school students offered by institutions, universities, federal agencies, and independent organizations. They offer structured internship programs, and/or research opportunities. You can find online, in-person, or hybrid high school internships; and based on your specific goals and requirements, you can look for paid or unpaid opportunities. You can look through the options here to figure out which type of internship would be the best fit for you, and how to find it!
Before exploring a few tips on how to get an internship, let’s look at why an internship in high school can be beneficial.
Why consider internships in high school?
Boost your profile: Securing a prestigious internship can add value to your profile. The internship experience would demonstrate a set of skills that could help you stand out among your peers, opening doors to similar opportunities in the future. Additionally, early exposure can strengthen your college applications by showing admissions officers that you are committed to honing your skills and exploring career options.
Gain hands-on experience: An internship can give you insight into the real-world application of the concepts you learn in the classroom. In addition to applying theoretical knowledge, you get to hone your critical thinking, analytical, interpersonal, business communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills while interning.
Build a strong network: Internships come with opportunities to interact with experienced professionals and established experts in your field and learn from them. You can build lasting connections with them and your fellow interns that may help you in the future.
Explore career paths: Internships offer a first-hand look at professional work in your field of choice, helping you figure out if that’s something you would like to do in the future. It’s like trying out a career in a low-stakes setup!
Earn while in school: Working towards financially supporting yourself is an important step, especially as you will be in charge of your own finances while at university. Several internship programs can come with a stipend, which you can save, invest, or set aside for the future. If this is a priority, consider checking out this list of paid internships.
Are there any cons to a high school internship?
Unfortunately, yes. Here are a few you might want to take into consideration while planning your extracurriculars.
You may get really busy if you take up an internship in high school. Internship duties could interfere with schoolwork, so it’s best to choose opportunities that do not come with a huge amount of work or time commitments during the school year.
An internship does not guarantee a job in the future. It’s wise to have the right expectations when applying to be an intern.
The internship structure and outcome may not be as expected. You may have to work on tasks you have no experience or not much interest in. So, you should carefully assess the internship details and ask the hiring team key questions before applying.
Now, let’s look at 10 tips on how to get an internship in high school.
1. Determine your interest
The first step toward finding the right internship is choosing the field you want to intern in. The first step to this is often to narrow down on your subject area choices. First, consider broader fields like science, media, arts, and business. For instance, if you are considering a STEM major, narrow down your interests further into one field from options like biology, engineering, mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, computer science, and information technology. If you’re interested in exploring business and related fields, you can also consider looking for specific internship opportunities in marketing or advertising, administration, or even international business.
Your chosen field of interest does not have to be limited to school subjects; it can also be any extracurricular activity that comes naturally to you or seems intriguing to you. For instance, you can find internships in architecture, journalism, coding, or writing. Once you have a field in mind, you can begin your online and offline search for internships.
2. Utilize available resources
If you start by just typing in the kind of internship you want into Google, you can access a lot of useful information, from how-to guides to top internships and actual companies offering such opportunities. You can start your online search by visiting job portals like LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, and USAJobs.
You can also check out company/agency profiles on these platforms, so begin by searching for businesses or organizations within your areas of interest. Keep checking the portals regularly for updates and internship listings. Also, consider reaching out to school coaches and teachers, parents of friends, and other professional connections. Businesses tend to contact high school guidance offices to advertise internship opportunities, so getting in touch with your school counselors can help. Counselors can also connect you with former students who have interned in the past. Guidance counselors will also be able to assess your goals and recommend suitable opportunities.
3. Plan ahead and start early
Opportunities are posted all the time, sometimes nearly a year before the internship starts. It’s important to have a timeline in mind to avoid missing application deadlines. For instance, if you are looking for a summer internship, remember that listings are posted around November, with application deadlines in early winter, even if the internship starts in May or June. Additionally, when looking for vacancies online, search for internships using the right filters to find opportunities based on your availability.
4. Check local opportunities
Many in-person internships are exclusively available to high schoolers living close to the workplace. Those that are open to students across the country might not provide housing, meals, and transportation. So, you should utilize online resources to find out if small and large businesses, government departments, universities, libraries, and other establishments in your area offer internship opportunities. You can also directly call or email these local organizations to ask if they’re open to hiring high school student interns. This is a great way to get involved in your community.
Check bulletin boards at coffee shops, bookstores, libraries, grocery stores, and other establishments for program fliers, too!
5. Carefully assess available opportunities
When you begin shortlisting internships that align with your interests, you should carefully assess the following aspects:
Tasks and responsibilities: Ideally, the internship you choose should involve tasks that offer some exposure to the career path you’re planning to pursue. Even if you are assigned beginner tasks or grunt work, it is important to avoid one-sided opportunities, where only the organization benefits from hiring interns.
Work hours: The length of the internship (short-term or year-round) and the work hours you would be expected to put in are key aspects to consider. With summer internships, you may be able to fulfill the work requirements easily, with no school commitments to consider. However, if you’re looking at internship programs that run during the school year, ensure they consider that interns will also have to dedicate a lot of their time to schoolwork. If you have additional commitments outside or after school, you should carefully consider if you will be able to give the required number of hours.
Eligibility: Review the complete eligibility criteria before applying. If you don’t, you may end up spending time on an application and preparing for an opportunity that is meant for students in a different area, from a different background, or in a different grade. For instance, the Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR), a well-known 8-week research internship, is open to all students in the US. However, local North Carolina students are heavily favored in the selection process. This is also mentioned on the program site. So, you must double-check the eligibility criteria to shortlist options meant for students like you.
Additionally, if you’re looking for paid internships, carefully check the stipend amount, exceptions to receiving the full stipend, if any, and other benefits (such as transportation, meals, housing, and free parking). While high school internships tend to prioritize offering exposure over monetary benefits, evaluating the benefits can help you shortlist opportunities that seem more valuable than others. However, note that programs that offer good stipends can be extremely selective.
6. Consider nonprofits and unpaid opportunities
As paid internships are often highly competitive, you should also consider unpaid opportunities and volunteering roles that align with your interests. This can be another way to get your foot in the door and gain valuable work experience in high school. If you are passionate about making a difference in your community, internships or volunteering opportunities offered by local nonprofits can be a solid way to get started. You can look for charities, community service groups, or recreational clubs in your area on a search engine and visit their websites, specifically the careers page, to see if they are hiring high school interns. Nonprofits aim to either provide resources or organize events for a specific target group. Interning at such an organization can help you learn first-hand how to create positive change in your community.
7. Work on your resume and cover letter
To land an internship, craft your resume to be relevant to the position. A resume is a summary of your qualifications and experiences that helps recruiters see if you are a good fit for the role and in the organization. As a high school student, your resume should include your name, contact details (email, professional social media profile), and grade. Then, list your work experience (if any), including volunteer work and extracurricular activities, starting with the most recent developments. Also, mention any awards or accolades you’ve received, such as being on the honor roll. You should ask someone to proofread your resume.
Additionally, if the internship asks for a cover letter, ensure that you submit one — even if it’s optional! The letter should be a single-page document where you discuss your interest in the organization you’re applying to and the contributions you would make during your internship. The letter should also elaborate on why this specific internship opportunity excites you.
Bonus tip: Spend some time creating an appropriate professional and personal digital presence. Your professional digital presence would consist of your LinkedIn or Indeed profiles. These profiles should have your updated resume, a network of peers and professionals, and appropriate pictures and posts highlighting your achievements. Your personal profiles on social media platforms do not have to be as carefully curated. But, potential employers can look at these profiles, so it is best to keep public social media profiles as professional as possible.
8. Reach out to potential employers
Now that you have worked on your resume and cover letter, you can directly contact businesses, universities, nonprofits, government agencies or departments, or institutes offering suitable internship opportunities. You can apply on the program website, via email, or through job portals. Before you do this, be ready with an elevator pitch, which is a brief introductory message that quickly introduces you and what you can offer to recruiters. The goal is to get the recruiter's attention and make them see the value in considering your profile. You can find guides, templates, and examples of elevator pitches online. Keep refining the message over multiple applications. Your elevator pitch can be written in your application or spoken during your interview.
9. Establish clear goals
Knowing what you want out of an internship can help you make the right choice. You should have a clear idea of what the internship experience would do for you. For instance, you may want the internship to help you choose or confirm your choice of a college major, provide some hands-on research experience in a field of choice, or develop or hone key skills that will help you professionally. To know for sure if the opportunity you are considering can help meet one or more of your goals, you should review the intern duties shared on the program page or by the recruiter. During the interview or application process, you should be ready with questions that can give you a clear idea of what a typical day for an intern looks like. For instance, when applying for a research internship that aims to offer hands-on experience, get some information on what the work involves. If your goal is to work on an independent research project with one-on-one mentorship, then do not settle for an opportunity that only offers some lab training and minimal research work!
10. Prepare for the interview
In addition to setting clear objectives and asking relevant questions, here are a few tips to help you have a smooth interview experience:
Spend some time researching the potential employer, their history, the organization’s mission, and current projects or initiatives. During the interview, you can discuss how the organization’s mission aligns with your goals and also mention specific projects you would like to be involved in as an intern.
Be prepared with your elevator pitch and be ready to discuss your high school experience, previous internship or work experiences (if any), and areas of interest. You can prepare answers for frequently asked questions such as:
- What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- Which college and major are you considering?
- What makes you a good fit for this internship?
- Why are you interested in this organization?Be on time. For a virtual interview, set up your device and check your earphones and mic before the meeting starts. For an in-person interview, arrive a little ahead of time and carry a copy of your resume for the interviewer. Irrespective of the interview format, consider dressing professionally.
Treat the interview as a valuable conversation. Not only is it an opportunity for the interviewer to see your value, but it is also a chance for you to determine if this is indeed a worthwhile opportunity for you. Listen carefully and ask questions as and when required. Don’t hesitate to get more details about the internship and the work environment.
Here’s our detailed guide on preparing for an internship interview as a high school student!
To help you get started, here are some internship opportunities you can consider based on your preferences:
STEM internships (Multidisciplinary STEM opportunities)
Looking for an immersive internship experience?
Check out Ladder Internships!
Ladder Internships is a selective, virtual internship program where students work with startups and nonprofits from around the world! The startups range across a variety of industries, with a large number of them in tech. As part of their internship, each student will work on a real-world project that is of genuine need to the startup they are working with, and present their work at the end of their internship. In addition to working closely with their manager from the startup, each intern will also work with a Ladder Coach throughout their internship. Apply now!
Stephen is one of the founders of Ladder Internships and a Harvard College graduate.