Internships are offered to all Bucks students, both full and part-time. In addition to that, students that are over 18 in a dual enrollment program, who are in high school taking courses at the college, are eligible to apply for an internship.
Professor Brenda Seibert is in charge of the internships and is also the job developer for creating internships. Seibert’s job is to bridge the gap between the perspective employers and the students at Bucks.
When a student fills out a form, Seibert reviews the form and then takes that information to match them with a potential employer.
There’s a number of internships offered ranging from political campaigns to business and even journalism. “There’s a lot more employers interested in our students than students to connect [employers] to,” said Seibert, who focuses her energy on reaching out to students.
Applying for an internship is a quick and easy process. All a student needs to do is go the Bucks website to find the Student Employment and Career Development page. Once there, click on the internship icon, then the student icon, and then follow the student internship toolkit link and fill out the student interest form at the bottom of that page.
“A lot of students equate internships with not being paid,” remarked Seibert, when asked if a lot of students knew about the internships program. Not being paid is actually not the case for most internships offered by Bucks: the pay can range from $8 to $14 an hour.
Being paid all depends on the type of industry. For instance, someone with an internship involving sociology or psychology most likely will not receive payment because those fields are primarily nonprofit organizations.
Seibert’s job doesn’t just include matching students and employers to existing jobs. It’s also up to her to find an internship that might not be offered. If the student is looking for something not offered, Seibert will call the local business within the area that the student is interested in. At times, Seibert will reach out to different faculty members to find students.
“I think it is my job to make sure all of my students get a good job,” said Seibert. “I think internships can play a huge role in that. I wouldn’t be doing this otherwise.”
Internships can have an important part in getting a job. Since a lot of jobs want people with experience, someone who has completed an internship becomes a perfect candidate. According to Seibert ,about 2-3 years ago, every student in the paralegal program who completed an internship received a job offer from their internship employer.
For more information on internships, you can check out the flyers around campus or contact Professor Seibert at [email protected] or stop by her office in the Center for Student Employment and Career Development on Wednesday’s between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. Students can also stop by the Center during the week.