Guide for Teens: Finding a Summer Internship

As a college consultant for high school students, Robert has seen how the right summer internship can make college applications sparkle. Summer internships offer unique, real-world experiences critical for personal growth, and they are an important part of you or your teen’s college application process. These sorts of lived experiences provide rich content for college essays and are certain to bolster your application.

Internship experiences come in unexpected places and take different forms, which can make the search process tricky. That’s why we’ve compiled a list below to help you successfully land your dream internship!

Online Resources

There are many online job boards that can help you find summer work. A few popular and useful ones are sites like Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Idealist (for nonprofits), internshipprograms.com, and Chegg Internships.

Remember to tailor your searches. Important filters are location and job type (remember to select “internship” or “paid time”). This will help to narrow your search. For broader results, set fewer filters when you search. It is common for high school internships to be unpaid. Setting that as your price filter may help increase your results.

If you already know the general industry or profession you want to intern in, type that position followed by the terms “internship or high school internship” into the search bar (e.g. marketing high school internship). If you are uncertain about which area you want to intern in, try searching up a general interest followed by “internship or high school internship” (e.g. writing internship or math internship).

High School

High schools offer a range of resources for summer opportunities. A good place to start would be the clubs or organizations you are a part of. If your high school has a Key Club, consider joining. If you are already a member, ask student leaders and the club advisor for any volunteer work or summer service-based opportunities they know of. Browsing Key Club’s online resource center might give you inspiration for different service projects you could take on during the summer. Likewise, if your high school has an Interact Club, consider joining to get involved with community service activities.

Contacting your region’s Rotary and/or Kiwanis International club board members (the parent organizations to Key Club and Interact Club respectively) to check for internship opportunities is a great way to seek out internship opportunities as well. Find the club that corresponds with your location, and search online for their website. This should provide you with club board members’ contact information (e.g. Wilshire Rotary Club of Los Angeles). Meet and connect with members who might put you in touch with an internship opportunity. Keep in mind that doing so may be easier if done through one of its service-based high school clubs, like Key Club or Interact Club.

Finally, teachers are probably aware of great internships in the subjects they teach, and may even be able to recommend students too. If there is a subject you’re particularly interested in, talk with that teacher.

Local Government and Politics

Local governments will often have internship opportunities for high school students, especially with elected officials. The Mayor, City Council, Council Committees, and City Attorney are elected positions that are great places to start your search. The City of Los Angeles’ website provides public information on elected officials and includes many officers’ websites, social media platforms, and contact information. Navigating to and exploring these sites may lead you to posted internship programs. You might even try calling or emailing an official you wish to work under or contacting a candidate you believe in and wish to help campaign for. Remember to always do your research beforehand. Being knowledgeable and thoughtful about whom you contact can help you make a more authentic connection with them, even in an email.

Local Community

Doing a broad search of your county or community’s internship opportunities on Google might also help you locate internships. The County of Los Angeles’s website has an entire page dedicated to internships, and while many may be for college students, if you are interested in a specific one,