Frequently Asked Questions
Colorado College Internship and Job Campaign
What is an internship?
Internships are relatively short professional jobs that provide real world experience to students. Internships should provide on the job training and mentorship for a student to understand and enter a particular field of work.[1]
What types of internships are needed?
Internships in the public, private and nonprofit sectors are needed. We want to provide a range of opportunities as diverse as CC students’ interests. The most important thing to consider is that the internship provides the mentorship and learning experience to help students move forward in their careers.
How long can an internship be?
The duration of internships can range from 1 block, 1 summer, 1 semester or 1 year. The length of an internship depends on the amount of work the hosting organization needs and can provide. In most cases the internship will be during the summer for 8 -12 weeks.
What should the salary be for interns?
The salary for summer interns range from $3,000 - $5,000. The salary for the summer should cover the majority of living and housing expenses. Summer interns do not receive benefits.
- A typical summer intern working on the CC campus is paid $9.50 - $10.00/hour, working 40 hours a week for 10 weeks would be $3,800 - $4,000[2]
- A Denver based event planning internship last summer paid $1,550 a month for 3 months ($4,650 for the summer)
The salary for a yearlong job will range from $22,000 - $35,000. The national average for total employee compensation costs is 70% for salary and 30% for benefits.[3]
- A fulltime yearlong research paraprof costs CC $34,837 - $26,798 for salary, and $8,039 for benefits
- One El Pomar Fellow costs the foundation approximately - $50,000, $29,000 for salary and $21,000 for benefits
How many hours a week should an intern work?
The amount of hours worked per week depends on the amount of help the organization will need. Summer internships and yearlong internship should be 40 hours a week in most cases. The minimum for a summer internship should be 20 hours a week. The most important thing to consider is that the intern has enough substantial work throughout their experience.[4]
Expectations, tips and guidelines for the internship
- The intern will respect the college’s and company’s personnel policies.
- Interns should be interviewed by the organization before placement, however the college can assist with the initial screening.
- Make sure all staff members know that the internship is a priority and that they should assist with making a positive internship experience when possible.
- Please plan to meet with the intern to regularly offer feedback about performance and the internship experience.
- Interns should have a direct supervisor that is responsible for their day-to-day responsibilities, which can be a management opportunity for experienced entry-level staff members.
- Most often the difference between a mediocre internship and outstanding internship experience is that amount of training and mentorship provided by the organization, the more invested in the experience the greater the ROI.
- “Shadowing” opportunities are often the most valued component of an internship experience (i.e., sales calls, conferences, high level meetings, networking events).
[1] InternMatch, FAQ and Guide on How to Hire Interns, http://www.internmatch.com/guides/faq-and-guide-on-how-to-hire-interns
[2] Interview with Teri Stebbins, Colorado College Employment Manager
[3] Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employer Costs for Employee Compensation,http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm
[4] Interview with Gary Butterworth, Senior VP at El Pomar Foundation and Director of El Pomar Fellowship