Employers

Employer connections are vital to the success of our students in their professional journeys. There are many ways for you to get involved, from posting your opportunities in Handshake to joining a recruiting fair to sponsoring an event. If you are interested in customizing an opportunity, please contact the Center for Career & Professional Development at careercenter@smcm.edu or 240-895-4203. We look forward to connecting you with great talent from our College!

Hire interns

Internships are an excellent way for you to support students’ growth and development while you train a future talent pool. We welcome you to hire interns at any time, and ask you to please post your opportunities in Handshake—and please report all internships to our team so that we can offer additional support to interns.

St. Mary’s College of Maryland supports standards from the National Association of College and Employers (NACE), which states that an internship should include:

1. A learning experience with a real-world opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or replace the work that a regular employee would routinely perform.
2. Learned skills and knowledge that are transferable to other employment settings.
3. A defined beginning and end that is mutually agreed upon and consistent with institutional sponsor guidelines and schedules.
4. A position description with clear responsibilities and required/desired qualifications.
5. Clearly defined learning objectives/goals supportive of the student’s academic program goals and institutional requirements.
6. Direct supervision by a professional(s) with relevant expertise and educational and/or professional experience who provides productive feedback, guidance, and the resources and equipment necessary to successfully complete the assignment.

Students are eligible to earn credit for any internship experience, as long as it meets all 6 of these NACE guidelines.

Funding for internships

St. Mary’s College of Maryland aligns with the NACE position that all internships should be paid.

If you are a nonprofit or community-based organization, our Signature Honors Internship Program (SHIP) provides opportunities for funding in a stipend format for enriching hands-on work experience that helps students prepare for the future. Requests are taken on a rolling basis, so feel free to submit any requests using the linked form at any time.

To apply for SHIP funding, please complete the following four steps:

Step 1: Request. Complete the Signature Honors Internship Program (SHIP): Internship Request Form.

• Hiring multiple interns for the same position? Fill out the form 1 time.
• Hiring for different positions? Fill out the form once for each position.

Step 2: Post. If approved by CCPD, post your opportunities in Handshake.

• Create an employer user account and join your organization, then post the position.
• Interview and select your candidates.

Step 3: Hire. Notify us at internships@smcm.edu which students you hire.

• We notify interns to complete required paperwork.
• Confirm that your hired interns complete all required paperwork before logging any paid hours. This is a legal requirement and will not be waived.

Step 4: Work & Learn. Students complete internships with your mentoring and feedback.

• Our team supports the students throughout their internship with professional development questions.
• We administer the stipends.

Provide volunteer opportunities

We are happy to share opportunities for our students to connect with nonprofit and community-based organizations for volunteer service involvement. Please post these opportunities in Handshake, and reach out to us at careercenter@smcm.edu or 240-895-4203 if you need assistance.

Each fall and spring semester, we hold an event-filled Career Week culminating in the Career & Internship Fair. This event is an excellent opportunity to not only hire interns, graduating seniors, and current students, but also to help steer exploring students to your industry by showcasing the amazing work you do.

Our Fall 2024 fair is coming up Tuesday, October 29, 10am–2pm at the Michael P. O’Brien Athletics and Recreation Center (ARC) Recreational Courts. Registration will open soon!

To raise the profile of internships and celebrate the great work that interns and employers do, we launched our first-ever Internship Film Festival during Career Week in March 2024! The event, which featured a live audience and prizes for the top video submissions, was a huge success, so we are making it an annual event. The next Internship Film Festival will be held in March 2025. Stay tuned for details!

 There are three ways employers can get involved:

1. Encourage video submissions. First, we would like to ask you to encourage your interns to submit engaging videos for the chance to be featured at the festival. While the content should be their own, you can help and support them through the process.
   1. Video Short: A 40–60 second video highlighting the intern’s growth, learning and experience during their internship.
   2. Feature Video: A 3–5 minute video highlighting the intern’s growth, learning and experience during their internship.
2. Sponsor awards. Second, we have opportunities for employers to sponsor our 10 prizes. Please contact us at careercenter@smcm.edu if you would like to sponsor this exciting event.
3. Be a booster. Finally, you can sign up as a Community Booster in increments of $25. These funds will be used to help make the Internship Film Festival a success, and to provide other great career and professional development opportunities and programming for students. Please contact us at careercenter@smcm.edu if you would like details on becoming a booster.