By Linda Coutant

What is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door of your chosen career field? An internship – a culminating experience at a work site with a qualified professional mentor. Appalachian State University emphasizes this form of experiential learning because it helps you:

• demonstrate your skills
• expand your competencies
• network among industry professionals

Such opportunities can be crucial in helping you land that first job out of college or get accepted into graduate school.

“This is a chance for students to prove they know and can do what they’ve learned in class,” said Sharon Jensen, associate director of Appalachian’s Career Development Center. “It’s also that important step in learning how to research potential employers, submit a resume and interview for a position before they graduate.”

Some academic majors require an internship. Others encourage one, either in a volunteer capacity or taken for academic credit in which the student benefits from the support of a faculty supervisor. Depending on the site, an internship might offer pay. You can take advantage of Appalachian’s alumni and employer connections, structured internship programs like the State of North Carolina Internship Program or create your own opportunity.

The Career Development Center will meet with students individually to help identify not only sites that will meet internship requirements but also to help students network with alumni, find housing, and explore funding opportunities. Internships can be domestic or in another country.

Internships increasingly are becoming necessary as employers expect more from new hires and offer less on-the-job training, Jensen said. The most rewarding internships, she added, develop when the host and student choose each other for the best fit.

Below are a few examples of how Appalachian students have found, applied for and succeeded in their internships.

Intern Profiles

• 

  Cala Castleberry ’17
  Hayley Wynn ’17

  Back-to-back National Park Service internships after graduation give anthropology alumnae Cala Castleberry and Hayley Wynn a chance to apply their skills while gaining additional experience before graduate school.

• 

  Staci Hunter ’18

  As part of her SECU Public Service Fellow Internship, Staci Hunter ’18 — a recent graduate of Appalachian’s criminal justice program — interned at the Wilkes County Sheriff’s Office during spring 2018.

• 

  Carmen Lowe ’15 ’16

  An internship with SBI leads Carmen Lowe ’15 ’16 into a law enforcement career.

• 

  Jordan Boles

  After interning with the Ocean Isle Beach Sea Turtle Protection Organization, Jordan Boles wants to use her communication degree to promote nonprofits with a focus on the environment.

• 

  Tyler Tobin

  Sociology major Tyler Tobin ’17 interned at Western Youth Network, where he learned the challenges young people can face.

• 

  Nic Sisbarro

  For Nic Sisbarro, a campus job with Food Services shaped his choice of major and led to an opportunity to intern at Sonesta Resort on Hilton Head Island in summer 2017.

• 

  Patrick Sullivan ’16

  Patrick Sullivan ’16 completed four internships to bolster his practical know-how — two on campus and two more in Washington, D.C.

• 

  Sarah Aldridge

  Political science major Sarah Aldridge pursued two part-time internships in Washington, D.C., during fall 2016: one with the Sustained Dialogue Institute and another with the Senate HELP Committee.

• 

  Amy Mercier

  Amy Mercier, a music therapy graduate student, interned at Four Seasons Hospice in Hendersonville, North Carolina, from June-December 2016.

• 

  Banna Bazzarie

  A recreation management major, Banna Bazzarie found an internship overseas within the tourism industry of Jordan.

• 

  Eric Burton

  An internship in a NOAA laboratory during Summer 2016 provided a lesson in the value of collaboration.

• 

  Steven Denton

  A finance and banking major, Steven Denton interned at Liberty Mutual Insurance in Charlotte in summer 2016.

• 

  Laura Brookshire ’16

  Laura Brookshire said her summer internships in child nutrition services and with community gardens led to her job with Farm Aid.