Alumni

If you are an alumnus/a of Wofford College and you have a specific internship or job opportunity you’d like us to promote that coincides with NACE’s definition of an internship or career opportunity, please share it below through our Guest Contributor Portal. You will be prompted to create an employer profile and then submit your opportunity for approval. Once it is approved, we will share it on our Alumni and Partner Connections page, our main homepage, and with subscribed students via email.

Also, below is Wofford’s definition of an internship, as defined by NACE.

The Career Center believes that every student should participate in hands-on work experience while they are enrolled to gain insight into a future career field. There are many ways to receive hands-on work experience; internships, externships, volunteering, and shadowing, to name a few.

Though we believe that all work experience is great work experience, not all work experience qualifies as an internship. The Career Center has adopted the NACE definition of an internship which is written out below.

Definition:
An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths, and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent. Criteria for an Experience to Be Defined as an Internship

To ensure that an experience—whether it is a traditional internship or one conducted remotely or virtually—is educational and thus eligible to be considered a legitimate internship by the NACE definition, all the following criteria must be met:

1. The experience must be an extension of the classroom: a learning experience that provides for applying the knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or be the work that a regular employee would routinely perform

2. The skills or knowledge learned must be transferable to other employment settings.

3. The experience has a defined beginning and end, and a job description with desired qualifications.

4. There are clearly defined learning objectives/goals related to the professional goals of the student’s academic coursework.

5. There is supervision by a professional with expertise and educational and/or professional background in the field of the experience.

6. There is routine feedback by the experienced supervisor.

7. There are resources, equipment, and facilities provided by the host employer that support learning objectives/goals.Internships for credit at Wofford

The Career Center is able to award up to 4 hours of academic credit through an internship course. Some majors on campus offer major-specific internship courses to assist students with receiving major credit. It is the responsibility of the student to sign up for an internship course if credit is needed and/or wanted.

Should you pay an intern?
The Career Center follows the guidelines set by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on the requirement to pay interns. You can learn more about the Department of Labor guidelines HERE.

Expected Hours from an Intern
Wofford follows a 4-1-4 academic schedule, including a four-month Fall semester, a one-month January term (Interim), and a four-month Spring semester. When discussing summer opportunities, we generally refer to the months of June, July, and August. During Fall and Spring semesters, we encourage employers to expect 8 to 10 hours per week from an intern. If students are doing an internship for Interim, then they are required to work full-time, which is a minimum of 30 hours per week. Most internships during the Summer are full-time for 8-10 weeks.

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For all other alumni questions, contact Lindsey Graham, Director of Alumni Engagement.