Since a lot of companies are now opening high school internship programs, you can now venture and have an internship into almost any kind of field that you please while you are still in high school. Some of the common fields where you can get into a high school internship program are computer sciences, education, business, architecture, fine arts, and music.
Benefits Of High School Internships
Each of these fields can give you an internship experience that would definitely serve as a capstone to your high school education. Although most of the positions are unpaid, the experience you will gain is priceless.
Getting into a program is also one way to gain new friends, since most programs generally operate as a group internship. As a result, you will also have an opportunity to develop skills in teamwork that often get little exercise in the classroom, where you are graded on your own work alone. You can learn how to relate with other people and help one another with the tasks your team is assigned.
An internship is a great way to see what it is really like to work in a particular industry. Just as with college-level internships, you get hands-on experience in the workplace as you assist with various projects your company is doing. Generally, you are assigned to a supervisor that will be your mentor or trainer, so that you can learn the basic skills needed on the field.
Computer Sciences
If you have a particular interest on computers, then getting into an internship in this field would definitely be worthwhile. Most programs usually group you together and assign a project that your team will work on for the whole duration of the internship. Programming skills are usually preferred, however, basic word processing and emailing will often suffice for a younger high-school intern.
Education
There is a great need for teachers nowadays. Thus high school internships are fast opening in this field. As an intern, you are usually in the position of teacher aide or as an assistant teacher. Most positions are open for teaching kindergarten children, although there are some positions for helpers in grade schools. You will get experience with handling children and carrying out different activities for them.
Business
If you are planning to take a business degree, then it is important that you get a specialized internship in business. If you become an intern in this field, you will gain exposure to the culture of office work. Helping out in small projects and paper work are some of the usual tasks you are assigned here.
Architecture
Here is another specialized field where you can get an internship that will expose you to the basics of the profession. Typically, your program will consist of learning the basics of formulating ideas of building or house designs. You can also have some exposure in the outdoor workplace by visiting construction sites and seeing the actual work in progress.
Fine Arts
High school internships for fine arts typically focus on a particular medium, be it painting, sculpture, dance, theater, or the like. Sometimes they are held as a group, particularly in performance media such as theater in which success means working together to produce a program for an audience. However, you can also work with a mentor, from whom you can learn one on one. Developing your basic skills on a particular medium, such as painting, sketching, carving or pottery, would be the main focus of your program.
Music
Just as with internships in fine arts, music internship would be specialized depending on your particular instrument. Learning the basics or improving the skills that you have, is usually the focus of programs in this field.
Whatever your specialty, finding an internship in your field while still in high school will give you a leg up on the competition. You may well find that the connections you make and the experience you gain will open doors for you for the rest of your life.