In my previous blogs, I addressed the why and how of using high school students in enterprise IT internships. In this blog, we’ll look at the timing of these internships.
Before discussing timing, I’d like to briefly share my internship experience. As a high school student, I interned at a local community newspaper, where I learned about printing and publishing and developed writing skills that later supported my career in designing and documenting technology solutions. Building on that experience, I offered internships to high school students while serving as IT Director at Houston County Schools, as mentioned in a previous blog. More recently, I developed and managed a virtual internship program for SchoolDay, Inc., which gave more than 100 high school students nationwide experience in a simulated, real-world enterprise IT environment. Students performed common IT operations tasks, including data sharing, user authentication, and access management.
Choosing the Right Time Commitment
In the U.S., the academic year typically consists of two semesters followed by summer break. This schedule creates two distinct internship models: programs offered during the school year and those offered during the summer.
During the school year, students must balance internship responsibilities with classes and other commitments. Summer internships, by contrast, usually allow students to devote more time and attention to the experience.
In our virtual internship, we allocated 15 to 20 hours per week during the summer, while during the school year that number dropped to between 5 and 10 hours per week. In an onsite internship, the institution can allocate more time than in an online virtual internship. In my experience, a good target for an onsite internship is at least two hours per day during the school year and four hours per day during the summer. Adequate time should be allowed for both training and performing tasks.
Initiating the Internship
Internship training and activities should be structured to fit the designated program period, whether one semester, the full academic year, or the summer break. The internship should commence as near as practicable to the beginning of that period. When participants receive Career and Technical Education (CTE) course credit, the host organization will coordinate with representatives of the student’s school, an arrangement most common during the academic year. Summer internships may be less directly tied to a student’s regular CTE course schedule and, depending on the district, may be administered more directly by the host organization. Regardless of the program format, the internship should begin early enough to provide participants with sufficient time to fulfill its objectives.
Monitoring and Mentorship
Participant progress should be monitored regularly, and each intern should be assigned a mentor to help ensure that program objectives are met. For internships tied to Career and Technical Education (CTE), the student’s school will often provide documentation and guidelines for periodic performance reviews and reporting. When the host organization has primary responsibility for the internship, monitoring and mentorship practices should align with the program’s local goals and objectives.
Effective monitoring and mentorship help both the student and the host organization realize the full benefits of the internship. In our virtual internship program, we held brief, scheduled meetings, typically about 30 minutes, with interns each week during the summer and every two weeks during the academic year.
Each host organization should establish monitoring and mentorship practices suited to its operating environment, program objectives, and available time.
Give students enough time to learn, contribute, receive feedback, and see the results of their work, and the internship becomes far more than an introduction to IT—it becomes meaningful career preparation. In conclusion, a successful and meaningful internship depends on three essential elements: thoughtful planning, appropriate timing, and consistent evaluation.