Internship Program
What is an internship?
An internship provides you with the opportunity to explore the professional world and yourself. It is a time-limited professional experience with educational goals. As an intern, you either obtain school credits and/or be compensated.
Why should I do an internship?
When well-planned, an internship can be most beneficial for you. It gives you the opportunity to:
- Explore your professional interests
- Choose which classes you should take in order to get ready for the job
- Put your skills to the test
- Test different accommodations
- Develop your self-advocacy skills
- Acquire experience in your field
- Apply your theoretical knowledge to the workplace
- Increase your marketability for your future job search
- Develop a network
- Fund your education
- Develop job searching skills
Preparation
Looking for an internship and looking for a job are two similar processes. They both require planning as early as possible. Even if it is recommended to have a little theoretical knowledge before starting an internship, you can never start your search too soon for an intern position. The more you prepare and plan for the internship, the more benefits you are likely to get out of this professional experience.
Where do I start?
Self-Assessment
Acquiring knowledge about your interests and your aptitudes is a lifelong activity that will help you making decisions regarding your professional life. On a smaller scale, looking for an internship necessitates that you develop introspection skills. In order for you to find an appropriate intern position, you have to think about these aspects:
- Your professional interests
- What goals you would like to fulfill?
- What you want to learn from this experience?
- Whether you want to work for a big or small enterprise
- Where can you acquire relevant experience in your field?
- How many hours you are willing to dedicate to your internship?
Step 1: Know yourself and your disability:
As a student with a disability, you may want to think about whether or not you are going to need an accommodation. Ideally, your higher education experience will have allowed you to discover more about your disability and to develop your self-advocacy skills.
To be a self-advocate is to be able to express your needs in a clear, concise and logical manner. In order for you to become an efficient self-advocate, you will have to develop knowledge of your rights and responsibilities relative to the legislation regarding disabilities such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Just like you did when you transferred from high school to college, you will also have to understand the differences between the kinds of accommodations that you can have in a higher education setting as compared to an employment setting.
It is crucial for you to understand that employers do not have the same level of responsibilities in providing you accommodations than a college or a university. For example, you may have gotten extra time taking exams during college; this does not mean that an employer would give you extra time finishing a project at work.. You will have to figure out if an accommodation would be necessary, what compensatory strategies you can use, and most important of all, whether you can do the job with or without an accommodation. Here are some questions that can help you self advocate in the employment setting:
- What is the extent of your disability? How do you feel about your disability?
- Will you be able to perform the essential functions of the job you want with or without an accommodation?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses in regards to your disability?
- Which compensatory strategies are working for you? How do you manage your disability?
- Will you need an accommodation in the workplace and what kind?
- Is this accommodation expensive?
- What governmental programs exist to fund accommodations?
- What the law implies regarding accommodations in the workplace?
The more knowledge you acquire regarding your disability, the more comfortable you are going to be talking about it with future employers. The WorkAbility IV (WAIV) program offers a Self-Advocacy and Conflict Resolution workshop. If you are not able to attend it, you can schedule an appointment with us, and we can provide you some guidance on that matter.
Step 2: Should I talk about my disability and how?
For the majority of students, disclosing their disability may create some nervousness. You may wondering whether an employer would hire you after you mentioned the need for an accommodation. You may ask yourself, "When should I say that I will need an accommodation?" Once again the key word is PREPARATION. There are numerous resources to help you with that aspect.
First of all, you will have to get a better idea of the tasks that you will have to perform on a daily basis. To accomplish that, you can consult different web sites to find out what your chosen occupation entails. You can visit the Occupational Information Network (http://online.onetcenter.org/), where you can find job descriptions for a myriad of occupations. Job web sites or newspaper advertisements can also be valuable sources of information.
The next step would be to consult the Job Accommodation Network web site(www.jan.wvu.edu) or you can call them at 800-526-7234 (V/TTY). They will help you identify what kind of accommodation could be helpful in the workplace.
Once you have figured out the type of accommodation you would need, there are several documents and web sites that can assist you in knowing your rights and responsibilities. The ADA regulations differ depending if you are in a higher education setting or an employment setting. It is important to know the differences and implications underlying them.
When you have a better idea of what you want to disclose, how and when, you can write a script and practice with others. Ask them to give you feedback on how comfortable you seem, on whether or not you are divulging too much information, on how clear your statements sound, etc. "Practice makes perfect." WAIV can assist you in this preparation.