FAQs - Employers

What are the benefits of employing interns?

• Increase business productivity.
• Frees up professional staff to pursue higher level projects.
• Opportunity to evaluate prospective employees virtually risk free.
• Reduce recruitment and training costs.
• Access to year-round source of motivated pre-professionals.
• Brings new and innovative ideas to an employer.
• The average age of our students is 28 years old. This implies you could interview a mature intern who brings other talents and ideas to the table. Many are veterans.
• Allows the employer the opportunity to have an impact on molding the lives of student interns.
• The college provides Workers Compensation Insurance for unpaid interns.

Will you send me an intern immediately?
No. Internships are offered through an academic program, Cooperative Work Experience Education. Students earn college credit for an internship course, CWE-186 (unpaid) and CWE-188 (paid); hence an intern may begin an internship at the start of each term. The CWEE staff needs six to eight weeks to identify a student to apply and not all internships get filled at the first recruitment. If you need an intern right away, consider securing an employee through a staffing agency.

How do I go about offering an internship?
Review the Internship Requirements and Check-List, both found on this website. If you are prepared to offer the minimum hours, someone to mentor the intern, and provide a meaningful learning experience, you are a likely candidate to offer an internship.

How many hours can an intern work?
Employers will be expected to provide the intern with a minimum of 60 hours per semester for an unpaid internship, and 75 hours per semester for a paid internship. The minimum hours are set by the state and are tied directly to the number of units the intern registers for. You can work out the details at the time you interview candidates. Interns unable to complete the hours may fail their internship class, impacting their academic career. Refer to the chart below for required hours.

Minimum Hours Required

Units Enrolled	Unpaid Internships	Paid Internships
1	60 hours	75 hours
2	120 hours	150 hours
3	180 hours	225 hours
4	240 hours	300 hours

What kind of schedule can I expect an intern to work?
Since interns attend college and have other life commitments, its wise to be flexible. Most employers provide a two day schedule such as Tuesday and Thursday and a few ask for a three day schedule such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Its reasonable to ask for a 4-6 hour shift but ultimately the intern will identify a schedule they can work. If your hours are not flexible, write the schedule requirement in the job description.

 

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How do I receive applications?
The Internship Program facilitates the application process through an online database known as Career Connect by Jobspeaker. Employers create a company profile and post the internship job description. Students apply directly through Jobspeaker by submitting their resume. You will receive an email announcing a student is interested including the students resume from news@jobspeaker.com. This is a no-reply email.

How do I contact the student?
The employer contacts the student for an interview. Additionally, the employer notifies the student whether they have been selected for the internship; this includes regrets. Once you decide on a candidate, the employer must contact the Internship office with the students name and anticipated start date at 661-362-3309 or internships@canyons.edu. This will initiate an action on our end to ensure the student enrolls in the appropriate CWEE course, and, for unpaid interns, enrollment sets Workers Compensation Insurance in place.

What types of projects are best suited for interns?
Employers should provide interns with opportunities to understand important concepts, develop essential skills, and apply what they learn in the classroom to real-world problems and opportunities in the workplace. Supervisors should offer challenging projects and tasks, which would be recognized within the business/industry as a valuable experience. Whenever possible the intern should be included in meetings and organization events. Interns should be mentored and are expected to learn generally accepted business principles, standards and work ethics.

I am a home-based business, can I offer an internship?
Home-based businesses typically will not qualify to participate in the Cooperative Work Experience Program. Without at least an initial face-to-face meeting between the student and employer, true mentoring may not occur. In certain circumstances where an intern would work remotely for the home-based business, the Internship Program will allow the employer and student to meet initially or regularly at the college in a professional environment.

What do I do if an intern isn't working out?
If the intern is not working out, or a situation arises, meet with the intern directly to discuss concerns and plan to correct the situation. As a mentor, you can set goals with the intern to achieve desirable work habits. If you want to move forward with termination, notify the intern and contact the Internship Office with your decision at 661.362.3309 or internships@canyons.edu.