Internships

Internships provide students with the opportunity to gain hands-on professional experience and apply what you have learned in the classroom. Internships may be paid or unpaid, for credit or not for credit, on campus or off.

Although employers may define internships differently, St. Mary’s College of Maryland follows standards from the (NACE).

To ensure that an experience—whether it is a traditional internship or one conducted remotely or virtually—is educational, and thus eligible to be considered a legitimate internship under (NACE) guidelines, all the following criteria must be met:

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

If these criteria are followed, it is the opinion of NACE and St. Mary’s College of Maryland that the experience can be considered a legitimate internship.

There are many ways to find an internship. One of the best places to start is to log into with your SMCM login and password, or visit our for updated offerings on and off campus. Another great way is to network with professors, classmates, and alumni. For more detailed steps, see our Job Search Tips.

If you have any questions about internships, please contact Meredith Weiers at the Center for Career & Professional Development at internships@smcm.edu��or (240) 895-4203.

Internships give you skills and experience that make you more competitive when you apply for jobs. When you include your internship on your resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letter, and in interviews, you show that you can apply what you have learned.

Your Internship Mentor (site supervisor) is responsible for:

• Mentoring and supporting you by providing sufficient formal and informal training, a supportive, safe, and productive work atmosphere, opportunities to learn and develop new skills, challenging and appropriate responsibilities and tasks, and ongoing constructive feedback and advice; and to abide by all applicable College policies and requirements.
• Completing both a mid-term evaluation and a final evaluation during your internship.
• Verifying the hours you have worked in a timely manner.

Your Faculty Sponsor is responsible for:

• Serving as an accessible resource to support you throughout your internship experience.
• Discussing your internship with you and assigning an academic project (corresponding with the number of credit hours you are earning) that aligns with your academic coursework, internship work and professional goals in order to gauge your academic success in the internship with a credit/no credit grade.
• Assessing and grading all submitted materials and providing a final grade to the Office of the Registrar in a timely manner at the end of your internship experience.

Yes, you can get paid for an internship either directly by the employer, or in some cases through St. Mary’s College funding. For details, please contact the Center for Career & Professional Development at careercenter@smcm.edu��or (240) 895-4203.

Yes! In order to fulfill the Honors College Promise, the Center for Career & Professional Development requires students to report all internships (paid or unpaid, for credit or not for credit, on campus or off) report them in Handshake Experiences. To track your experience, follow these four steps:

1. Log into your
2. Navigate to the Career Center tab
3. Click on the Experiences page
4. Click on “Submit an Experience”

A micro internship is a project-based apprenticeship where a company hires you to complete a project. When you complete the project, the internship ends. A micro internship can take place year-round, and may range from 5 to 40 hours of work, and are due between one week or one month after kick-off. The purpose of micro internships is to allow students to demonstrate skills, explore career paths and build professional networks.

Micro internships are offered by Fortune 100 companies to emerging start-ups, and range across departments such as sales, marketing, technology, human resources and finance.

: These short-term, paid, professional projects are open to all college students and recent graduates of all U.S.-based institutions. From working directly with an entrepreneur to supporting a large enterprise, you’ll have the opportunity to explore different roles and company cultures in a way that fits into your schedule.

: Our job simulations build real-life skills for real-life roles, offering a window into the company and a preview of their day-to-day. Job sims are 100% free, open access and self-paced.