General Information

The Undergraduate Business School is very interested in working with employers interested in hiring our students as interns.  Although internships are not required for business students, they are very valuable, enabling students to gain practical experience that will supplement their classroom learning.  An internship is a position, usually part-time, that is related to the student's academic goals and is pre-professional in nature.  It should be designed to give the student the opportunity for career exploration and development. 

Benefits of Interns to Employers

There are benefits to the employer hiring the intern.

• When you hire interns, you are creating a pool of experienced candidates from which to hire.
• The chance of a "fit" between the candidate and your company is increased.
• The new employee who has completed an internship with you already has a better understanding of the work world and your company.
• An internship allows an employer to assign a project or task to an intern -- the project might not otherwise have been accomplished because regular staff does not have the time.  A position consisting primarily of clerical tasks such as filing and copying would not be considered an internship.  Students should have the chance to learn new skills, explore career interests, and meet new social and intellectual challenges.
• Interns come in with a higher skill level than someone hired on a temporary basis.
• Internships allow students to apply their theoretical skills in a practical environment -- they may contribute new ideas to the employer based on their recent learning.

The best internship placements include the following:

• A clearly delineated position description.
• Duties and responsibilities that are not haphazardly determined nor purely clerical in nature.
• Provision of specific work area for the intern.
• Exposure to other professional staff, clientele, etc. (as appropriate) for professional growth.
• Opportunities for mentoring as appropriate.
• Opportunities for feedback and discussion.

If you are interested in sponsoring a UW Business School student as an intern in your organization, click here for instructions.

Expectations for and Responsibilities of Employers

By sponsoring an internship an employer is entering into a three-way agreement with both the student and the Business School faculty sponsor.  The employer accepts the following responsibilities:

• making sure that the internship is meeting the needs of an internship experience
• signing their Internship Contract if the student would like to receive credit for the experience
• completing and submitting a Student Intern Performance Evaluation at the end of the internship that details the intern's accomplishments during the internship and suggests areas for improvement

Finding Interns That Meet Your Needs

The Business School does not, as a rule, recruit students to fill particular internship positions, but we do prominently display listings, distribute listings electronically to our student e-mail lists, and routinely encourage students to consider the merit of such an experience.  We can neither guarantee an employer an intern nor a student an internship.  The Business School can only serve as a clearinghouse, providing opportunity and structure.  Therefore, giving the students as much information as possible about your needs and expections is very helpful in attracting those students who would best fit your needs.

You may use any or all of the following means of finding interns:

• You may work through the Business School and the specific departments within the Business School if you are interested in advertising your internship directly to business students.  Below are instructions for the different options on how to do this.  Students will contact you if they feel they match your needs and desired qualifications.  The Business School neither guarantees that we will be able to locate a qualified student for the position nor obligates you to accept any student who contacts you for an interview.
• In addition, if you have a more general position which may attract or be served by business and non-business students, you may also contact the Center for Career Services.  By advertising your internship via eRecruiting you have access to all students at the UW, not just those in the Business School.

• Internship title
• Description of duties
• Skills or qualifications that you'd like applicants to possess
• Explanation of the benefits to the student (i.e., what will be learned, what skills can be developed, what training or mentorship will be provided, etc.)
• If this is a paid or stipended position, please specify
• Number of hours per week
• Start date
• Duration of internship (one quarter, two quarters, etc.)
• Your organization's name
• Internship supervisor's name
• Materials you'd like applicants to submit (résumé, cover letter, etc...)
• How you'd like applicants to contact you (phone, e-mail, fax, postal mail) and contact information
• Date you would like the position to no longer be advertised

Advertising an Internship through the Business School

To set up a new internship and advertise it to UW Business undergraduates, you may:
 

• List Your Internship Online

The information that you provide will help to attract qualified students.  Details of an internship agreement can be worked out jointly by a representative of your organization and the student.  Once you submit this information and it is approved by the Business School, it will be posted on the Internship website.

OR

• Fill out the Internship Placement Form
  The completed form can be sent, emailed or faxed back to the Business School.   Sending it via email will allow the internship to be posted to the website more quickly.  Please attach any additional information about your organization (e.g., brochures, goals or mission statements, company profiles) that will help ensure the best possible match between the host organization and the student. We will also keep any materials you send in the Undergraduate Program Office for students to review.

• E-mail message: bzintern@u.washington.edu,
• FAX: 206-685-9392,
• Postal Mail: University of Washington Business School, Undergraduate Program Office, Internships, Box 353200, Seattle, WA 98195-3200.

• E-mail announcement to qualified students
• We'll add your organization to our list of internship sponsors on our web site
• We'll make hard copy materials that you send us available to qualified students

Students earning credit for internships

Students who participate in an approved internship have the ability to earn academic credit by registering for one of the following courses:

• ACCTG 495
• FIN 495
• MKTG 495
• IS 495
• IBUS 495
• MGMT 495
• OPMGT 495

Credit is earned at the rate of one quarterly credit for every ten hours per week for a minimum of ten weeks (one academic quarter).  The maximum credits a student can earn is four credits per quarter and a maximum of eight credits total for internship experience. Once you have hired a student intern, it is up to the student to arrange for academic credit with our office.  Student interns fill out an Internship Contract specifying the learning objectives and the activities the internship will provide in order to meet those objectives.  This needs to be signed by the internship supervisor within your company as well as the faculty sponsor in the Business School.  (If you'd like to read more about student requirements, see Internship Information for Students).  We'll send you a confirmation letter during the third week of the quarter, letting you know that the student is enrolled for credit.  If you need this confirmation earlier, please don't hesitate to contact our office at 206-685-3400.
 

Submitting the Student Intern Performance Evaluation

There are several ways to submit your intern's performance evaluation at the end of the academic quarter.  Please choose ONE of the following methods, based on what's most convenient for you:

• Submit a paper copy of the evaluation form. We will mail you the form a few weeks before the end of the academic quarter.  You can submit it to us by postal mail (a postage-paid envelope will be provided) or by fax to 206-616-8225. 

• Use the online Student Performance Evaluation (not available yet) to submit your assessment and comments in a secure, paperless format.

• Send us a letter or an e-mail message that details the student's accomplishments, strengths, and areas for improvement.  You can use the postage-paid envelope we send you, or you can fax to 206-685-9392, or e-mail to bzintern@u.washington.edu.

Employer Internship Forms

    Internship Placement Form to have your internship advertised thru the business school
    Student Intern Performance Evaluation Form to be submitted at end of the internship.

Links to Additional Information and Resources


Department Contacts:

Accounting
Patricia Angell, CPA
angellp@u.washington.edu

Finance and Business Economics
Frances Maloy
thanks@u.washington.edu

Information Systems
Laura Schildkraut
laurasc@u.washington.edu

Management and Organization
Jane George-Falvy
janegf@u.washington.edu

Marketing and International Business
April Atwood
atwood@u.washington.edu

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Internship Coordinator, Business School Undergraduate Program Office, Box 353200, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3200, (206) 685-3400, bzintern@u.washington.edu.