BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — College students, here's your chance to get college credit while working this summer. California State University Bakersfield students can do one of two types of internships, academic credited internships and non-academic credited internships. Both are still available this summer for students around Bakersfield and Kern County.
Two CSUB students were in the center for career and education and community engagement office. They are looking for careers after graduation and said an internship is a key part of their process.
CSUB Sophomore, Carly Elliott, said, “Being an education lawyer, working for the state or federal government.”
While senior, Martin Mendoza, said he’d like to “Work as an engineer in the agriculture industry. ”
Jill Lackey is CSUB’s employer relations coordinator. She said, “Internships are important because they help the student connect the classroom to their career. It helps them gain valuable skills, expand upon their experiences and their knowledge as well as network outside the university setting.”
Lackey said there are two types of internships available to CSUB students academic credited internships and non-academic credited internships. Academic credited can be paid or unpaid but will gain three credits towards graduation, while non-academic credited tend to be paid and focused more on experience and doesn’t get the student credit.
The easiest way for a student to start their process is online.
“We utilize an online career platform called Handshake,” said Lackey. “And we encourage a lot of our partners to post their internships through Handshake. We have them both locally, regionally and we try to promote internships statewide for students who may be looking for areas outside what we offer here in Kern County.”
Elliott and Mendoza are CSUB students and are planning on doing internships this summer. Mendoza said his is already lined up.
“So I work for Rain for Rent I’m an engineer intern. What I do there is we work mostly with industrial. So with the pump systems for emergency jobs where there’s floods,” said Mendoza.
While Elliott said she’s still on the hunt for a summer internship here in Bakersfield.
“I’m hoping to get an internship in either a lawyer firm here in town or a school district,” said Elliott. “That way I can work on policy and learning how a law firm works and wanting to fight for certain cases especially in education. So that’s kinda what I’m leaning towards. But I’m happy with any type of internship.”
Mendoza said this will be his third internship while at CSUB and said he’s seen the impact they make.
“Everything you learn in class it’s mostly all conceptual and theories. But when you get into the workforce you apply those theories and go oh okay this is why we studied so much to learn these theories, because we actually use them in real life and it’s not just a course that you take,” said Mendoza.
Another benefit of internships is they can lead to future employment. Sara McComas is about to graduate from CSUB in a couple of weeks. She hopes her last semester with the Special Olympics Kern County will jump start her professional career.
“I want to get as much experience with Special Olympics,” said McComas, “so that when I move to Los Angeles in August, I can take that with me and maybe just transfer to another region for Special Olympics Southern California.”
Kellie Peterson is the sports manager for Special Olympics Kern County and oversaw McComas during her internship. Peterson said she loves partnering with CSUB. And her interns get a lot of hands on experience from event planning to social media and marketing.
“I have used them now for the last two years,” said Peterson. “And it’s been pretty amazing. Some of our interns have moved on to other states and to other cities.”
Peterson said what makes the CSUB internship so successful is how easy it is for students and the Special Olympics to get teamed up. And she said it’s easy because it’s all at the click of a button.
“Handshake is easy,” said Peterson. “We send out what we’re looking for on our job description or intern description, it gets placed into Handshake, the student can go on and look and see what we’re offering and what the expectation is.”
Lackey said most summer internships start in June. And time to apply and signup before the deadline is running out.
“Students need to apply now,” said Lackey. “They need to utilize Handshake, come by our office, speak with the facility, see if they can find an internship opportunity, because the school year ends in about two weeks, most internships will start in June. So our office is open all summer long. We’re open all year round. They can come by. They can come talk to us to develop our resume, get the application ready and get it out to get the internship.”
Lackey said students should be familiar with Handshake. If they’re not they can access it on their student portal online. If they still need help finding it they can talk with her office. And lackey said if you’re motivated enough they can help you get hired.
“If a student wants an internship we will find them one,” said Lackey.
If you already have plans this summer and you want an internship for the fall semester Lackey said don’t wait, now is the best time to get into her office to go over your resume. She added the most common majors looking for internships are business, engineering and nursing. The more students request certain job fields, the more her office looks for internships in those areas.
For a full list of internships still available, including the 12-15 available with Special Olympic Kern County, visit Handshake.
