Planning for Internships

Generally, an internship is a temporary assignment filled by a student or recent graduate working to gain experience in a field of interest. Most internships occur during the summer months when students are between semesters, but some agencies offer internships during the academic year as well.

Hiring interns as temporary employees makes it easier for agencies to pay competitive hourly rates to individuals who have little to no work experience. For example, if an agency wanted to offer internships under the Forestry Technician I classification, an applicant would need to meet the minimum education and experience qualifications for that class1 to be eligible for the internship:

• Associate’s degree in forest management or an environmental or natural science curriculum from an appropriately accredited institution; or
• High school or General Educational Development (GED) diploma and two years of related experience in providing forestry services; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.
• Necessary Special Qualification: Possession of a valid North Carolina driver’s license required within 90 days of hire.

Designating the Position as an Internship

When an agency notifies Temporary Solutions that a position is an internship, we can work with the agency to create education and/or experience requirements and hourly rates specific to that internship. This will allow Temporary Solutions and the agency to recruit and hire applicants with those unique qualifications instead of those intended for applicants who already have a degree and/or the amount of experience required for the full class.

Sample Internship Qualifications Requirements

NOTE: This is an example and not a real internship.

The Forestry Summer Internship Program is accepting applications for its annual eight-week internship where participants will learn about providing a variety of forestry services including forest management, fire prevention, and emergency response. To qualify, applicants must be:

• Enrolled in an undergraduate degree program in forestry or natural resource management for the upcoming fall semester
• Interested in a career in forestry
• Able to be outdoors for 4-6 hours per day during the summer months. Interns will experience high temperatures, humidity, insects, and rugged terrain

There are 20 internships available. Interns meeting the above criteria will be selected for the program based on an interview. Interviews will be held virtually between March 1-15 and internships will be offered during the last week of March. All interns will be paid $20 per hour.