Employer Benefits

Career Services at Tarleton State University believes that our Tarleton Texans make the best employees. Our goal is to help YOU succeed in finding the best possible intern for your company while setting up our students for success. The Job Location and Development Program (JLD) helps enrolled students find jobs to gain valuable work experience by connecting with employers. A few ways to connect would be through Handshake and Job Fairs. Handshake gives employers full control over how many jobs they post and who they hire. Oh…did we mention posting jobs in Handshake is FREE!

Benefits

  • No cost to use Handshake
  • Can post as many jobs as needed through Handshake
  • An excellent resource for hiring/connecting with our students for part-time, full-time, and internship positions
  • Increase student awareness of your company

JLD services are federally funded, which means we need your partnership and cooperation to ensure our services remain available to employers and students. We will occasionally ask for information regarding the students you have hired. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to working with you.

Employer Guidelines for a Successful Internship

Your company will benefit from hiring a Tarleton student in the ways listed below:

  • Mentoring a person new to your industry
  • A new perspective on organizational issues
  • Innovative ideas from the fresh perspective of an intern
  • Ease of use with technology (social media, computer programs, etc.)
  • Cost-effective networking to future employees

Characteristics of a Successful Internship Program

  • An internship is an experiential learning opportunity which helps apply academic preparation in specific work experience
  • An experience that can typically be one academic term (summer, spring, fall) or multiple academic terms in length
  • Can be part-time, full-time, paid, or unpaid. See the information about unpaid internships on the Department of Labor’s website.
  • Learning activities vary in each internship. Most common include learning objectives, goals, observations, reflection evaluations, and assessments
  • Promotes academic, career, and professional development
  • Can be part of an education program that is carefully monitored for academic credit

Design your Program

A good internship should be mutually beneficial for both parties. Survey your company to find out what skill sets and how many interns are needed. Regular ongoing meetings are best practices in order for the intern to maximize their experience through feedback. Below are questions to consider when developing an internship program.

  • What skills and experience will a student intern gain from working with you and your company?
  • Do you or someone in your department have time to supervise and train an intern?
  • How will you demonstrate a strong commitment to their goals and learning outcomes?
  • How many hours a week will you expect the intern to be onsite?

Defining the Position

As you think about the structure and foundation of your new internship program, use these questions to help form your internship program even further:

  • Would you like the intern to earn academic credit?
  • Will you pay your intern?
  • What qualifications, skills and previous experience does an intern need to have to learn best at your site?
  • Who will serve as your site supervisor for your intern?
  • What application materials do you want to collect?
  • To support you in setting up the internship structure, review Employer Resources.

Post your Internship Position

Once you’ve written your position description you can use the Handshake employment system to post your position. Instructions are attached.

Best Practices for Hired Interns

  • Provide interns with a handbook and/or website
  • Hold an orientation for all involved
  • Provide interns with real work assignments
  • Encourage team involvement
  • Invite career services staff and faculty to visit interns on site
  • Conduct exit interviews
  • Frequent supervisor meetings to assess work

Resources