Undergraduate For-Credit Internship Checklist and Approval Process

Basic Criteria

Students completing an internship for credit must have a minimum GPA of 2.0 and at least 60 semester hours completed. Most undergraduate internship courses are worth four (4) credits, which equates to 200 hours of required intern work that must be completed during the 16-week term. Note: internships in the Plus One programs are three (3) credits and therefore require 150 hours of intern work during the term.

Steps to Secure an Internship

1. Meet with your academic advisor to determine which semester your required internship will best fit into your academic plan and register for the internship course when registration for that term opens.
   
   
2. Update your Handshake profile and schedule an appointment with Career Services for assistance with your resume and career exploration.
   
   
3. Begin searching for an internship on Handshake, LinkedIn, Indeed, and individual companies’ websites.
   
   1. To allow time for multiple rounds of interviews, lengthy selection processes, and paperwork, start your internship search six months to one year before the term in which you plan to complete an internship.
   2. Define your goals for the internship. What do you want to gain from the experience?
   3. Reach out to your network (peers, family, friends, faculty) and let them know that you are looking for an internship, so they can share any connections they may have or opportunities they have come across.
   4. Create a spreadsheet to track positions you’ve applied to, application dates, deadlines, and your correspondence with these companies.

Submitting Your Internship for Approval

Have the following information available before filling out the form in Handshake:

• The internship site’s full address.
• Your site supervisor's contact information, including their name, email address, and phone number.
• A position description that details your duties and responsibilities. This should be a paragraph or list of bullet points that outlines the tasks you will be performing.
• A brief explanation of how this internship will contribute to your career goals.

Steps to Submit an Internship Experience through Handshake

1. Click Aurora University Career Center on the left navigation menu.
   
   
2. Click Experiences from the Career Center page.
   
   
3. Click Submit an Experience, located in the upper-left corner of the page.
   
   
4. Choose the relevant Experience Type (Internship) and Term from the dropdown options. For example, Marketing Internship 4940 or Business Internship 4940.
   
   
5. Enter the employer details for your internship:
   
   1. Employer
   2. Location
   3. Industry
   4. Employer Phone Number
   5. Employer Email Address
      
      
6. Enter the job details for your internship:
   
   1. Job
   2. Department
   3. Date (yyyy-mm-dd)
   4. Job Type
   5. Employment Type
   6. Salary
   7. Offer Date
   8. Offer Accepted
      1. Yes
      2. No
      3. Undecided
   9. Add experience (internship) to profile?
      1. Check the box to add to your Handshake profile (optional)
         
         
7. Enter your approvers (internship site supervisor) information:
   
   1. Email Address (required)
   2. Name (required)
   3. Title
   4. Phone Number
      
      
8. Answer the additional survey questions.
   
   
9. Click the green button Request Experience in the bottom right corner of the page to complete the experience request process.
   
   

Once requested, you'll be directed to the Experiences Overview page. You'll also receive an email to your inbox confirming the request. Please note, the approval process may take up to 14 days.

Please be sure to notify your internship site supervisor that they will be receiving an email from Handshake to approve the internship. This is a necessary step in the approval process, so ensure they can make the approval.