Internships, Pittsburgh Regional Compact



	Classroom Speakers Workplace Tours Job Shadowing Career Mentoring Work Readiness Training Educators in the Workplace Graduation Project Advisors Internships Internships What is it? Often, internships are thought of simply as summer jobs offering some work experience. However, a high school student can contribute to and learn from an employer, during an internship, in more meaningful ways. Because a high school student may not have the same level of maturity or experience as a college student, it may be more difficult for a business to hire that student for a short term, full-time job experience. In contrast, high school student internships can offer participating students a venue for gaining maturity, discipline and real world job experience as they work part time, one on one with an employer, during the school year or even work in groups on specific projects related to the employer’s business for an appropriate span of time. Student interns will gain valuable insights about possible career options and will gain work experience and on-the-job maturity. This can make them more marketable for paid employment later in their high school or college years. What needs to be accomplished? Set specific goals for the internship program. Write a plan outlining the details of the program. Work with schools to recruit interns. Implement a system for managing the intern(s) to ensure that time is well spent. Measure the success of the internship to improve the experience for future interns. What is the benefit? Because their exposure to the business world is limited, high school students often bring fresh perspectives. Having students work on selected problems or projects allows a business to gain new insights and to address issues that might otherwise be left unattended. Adding value, internships introduce students to the jobs in a particular industry and teach them about the basic skills and expectations of conduct required in a workplace.
The Pittsburgh Regional Compact is an employer-driven initiative collaboratively sponsored by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, business leaders, educators, students, educational institutions and workforce development organizations across the 10-county Pittsburgh region.