Internships for International Students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo

By Julia Jaitt, International student from Chile at the University of Hawaii at Hilo

Every student attending the University of Hawaii at Hilo has access to opportunities and benefits that will last them a lifetime. One of these opportunities available is participation in an internship program.

An internship at UH Hilo allows students to get work experience on campus. An intern works for a semester from 10 to 20 hours a week. Internships are important because they offer students a hands-on opportunity to work in their desired field. These experiences help you to learn how your academic coursework of study applies to the real world, and also provides valuable experience that makes you a stronger candidate for jobs after graduation. An internship is under the guidance and supervision of a mentor with expertise in the area of application. It can be an excellent way to “try out” a certain carrier because sometimes you may think you want a fast-paced job in advertising after college, but after an internship, you may find that its not for you.  That is a valuable insight that will help you choose your career path.

The internships that UH Hilo offers are courses in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resource Management, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Business and Economics. These internships also count towards course credit.

Working as an intern is a valuable part of an undergraduate education because it can give a student a head start in their career. Entering any profession can be challenging experience.

Participating in the marketing internship in my first year of college was one of the most challenging and fulfilling experiences of my college career. I gain so many benefits from participating in this internship. It allowed me to acquire experience, build my resume, and gain training in the field of marketing. This gave me a lot of different strengths as a potential job candidate.

There is a wide variety of internships available at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, spanning a wide variety of subjects and interests. From legislative internships, learning about the development of laws, to the science research internship at PIPES and environmental research with the marine science program, there is something for everyone! Many are paid, and all will give you interesting, and extremely valuable experiences, knowledge, and connections.  You can learn more at https://hilo.hawaii.edu/alex/.