Undergraduate Student Internships
Is your company interested in hosting Business, Computing, and/or Engineering Interns?
The San Diego and Imperial County Economic Development Corporations, in partnership with the K-16 Collaborative Grant, are recruiting local companies to provide work-based learning opportunities for undergraduate college students at no cost to employers!
Your company has the opportunity to:
- Hire interns - paid for by us!
- Strengthen your future candidate pool for entry level positions
- Build relationships with local postsecondary educational institutions
2024 Work Site Application
The work site application is now closed.
- Chosen work sites are contacted with any questions/requests for changes. Companies must respond prior to Friday, March 15 to be included in our pool of work sites (March 15th is when the student application opens).
- Companies can review information about their job posting(s) HERE. Questions or concerns about our requests or the job posting site should come to Christine@k16talentpipeline.org.
- CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE: All companies are required to get a certificate of insurance (COI). If you do not have a COI, know that most major insurance companies (Farmers, Allstate, Geico, Progressive, etc.) sell commercial general liability insurance. We have our general liability insurance through The Hartford.
Based on the Work Site Agreement employers should have comprehensive commercial general liability, property loss, and personal injury insurance with a combined single limit of no less than one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) per occurrence; The Commercial General Liability Policy shall name the Foundation for Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges (CUSTOMER) and Foundation for California Community Colleges, its directors, officers, and employees as Additional Insureds. Please see page 21-22 of the Work Site Agreement for more details, including addresses.
- INJURY AND ILLNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM (IIPP): If the position is 100% remote, you do not need an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP). If you do not have an IIPP, here are a couple of links to help you create one:
2024 Internship Timeline
January 9 – Employer Information Session; opportunity for worksites to hear an overview of the process, review the application, and ask questions. View the presentation and listen to the recording.
March 7 – Work site applications due, Part I and Part II.
March 19 – Employer Onboarding Session; for designated supervisors at work sites. View the presentation listen to the recording.
March 15 – April 12 – Student application is open.
April 12 – April 24 (round 1) – K-16 Collaborative application review and student enrollment verification.
April 25 – April 26 (round 1) – Work site receives applications, resumes, unofficial transcripts to review and selects students to interview. These documents will be sent to the main POC and listed interviewers.
April 27 – 30 (round 1) – Students sign up for interviews based on the dates/times provided by you. Work sites will receive email notifications from meetings@k16talentpipeline.org once a student has requested their interview slot. Employers will be contacted prior to the interview period to re-verify staff availability.
May 6 – May 11 – Student interviews Round 1
May 28 – June 1 – Student interviews Round 2
June 17 – June 22 – Student interviews Round 3 (as needed)
Offer letter templates to use:
LinkedIn Offer Letter
Basic Offer Letter
Sample Internship Offer Letter
How to Write an Offer Letter
SEE CHART BELOW for job offer and acceptance/declination information.
May – June – Employers/work sites will be asked to manage most special hiring criteria requirements. Once completed, the student will be required to complete an onboarding session with the K-16 Collaborative Grant team. Student interns can begin their internship after student onboarding session has been completed.
FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION: View the employer onboarding session presentation listen to the recording.
Employer Information Session
On January 9th, employers joined us virtually to hear an overview of the internship process, review the application, and ask questions. Employers can view the presentation and listen to the 20-minute recording here.
Employer Orientation Session
On March 19th, employers who completed the Part I and Part II application process joined us virtually for an orientation/onboarding session. Employers can view the presentation and listen to recording here.
Students currently enrolled in these Verified Programs at the local community colleges, CSUSM, SDSU or UCSD are eligible to apply for an internship. What does it mean to be a Verified Program? Find out here.
Student interns can be hired in the types of roles listed below:
Business- Business Administration (includes accounting, finance, HR)
- Business Operations (includes general front/back office, customer service)
- Marketing & Communications
- IT Support Technician / Desktop Support Technician
- Network and Systems Administrator
- Software Developer / Software Engineering
- Cybersecurity Analyst / Information Systems Analyst
- Assembler
- Engineering Technician
- General Engineering
Steps to Participate
If you are interested in participating, please follow the following steps:
- Complete Part I of the application by March 7, 2024.
- Complete one or more Part II forms to identify student internship positions at your work site by March 7, 2024.
- Attend the general information session via Zoom (strongly encouraged) on January 9 at 8:30am.
- Promptly respond to any communication from K-16 Collaborative Grant team members.
- Have your designated supervisors attend the onboarding session, scheduled for March 19, 8-9am. For the Zoom link please contact Christine@k16talentpipeline.org.
- Submit your Certificate of Insurance (COI) and Injury and Illness Prevention Plan (IIPP) to Mayra (mayra@k16talentpipeline.org) by March 29, 2024.
- We are contracted with a third-party employer (employer of record): Foundation for California Community Colleges/Career Catalyst. Per their requirements, please review and sign the Work Site Agreement by March 29, 2024. Mayra will email a Work Site Agreement for your review and signature. Click HERE for a draft copy.
- Confirm or adjust date/time availability for student interviews. NOTE: VidCruiter will be used to schedule all interviews and for the virtual interviews (video interviewing).
- Interview and provide feedback about student interviewees.
- Review and sign the Work Site Agreement addendums (contains job descriptions and student details) by the end of May.
- Assist students in completing required special hiring criteria (if applicable). Heather will be in touch with your HR representative after the completion of Part II of the application to gather all special criteria requirements. NOTE: The K-16 Collaborative will only be covering the cost of background checks and drug screens. LiveScan will need to be covered by your organization.
- Abide by internship date/time rules: Student interns can work up to 240 hour within a 3-month period. They cannot work more than 8 hours a day or 30 hours a week, and are required to have at least a half hour break every 5 hours.
- Approve student timecards
Questions about the application process and required forms?
Contact: Christine Jensen, Director K-16 Collaborative
Questions about how to get involved in employer-led collaboratives?
Contact: Olivia Jones at the San Diego Regional EDC or Sean Wilcock at the Imperial Valley EDC
Additional Resources
Employer Handbook created by SDREDC/Advancing San Diego
Work site agreement (draft only – final version will be sent directly to the contract signer by Mayra via Eversign)
Summary of the Summer 2023 Internship Program
The K-16 Collaborative ran a pilot internship program this past year.
- 22 Companies participated: 13 in San Diego and 9 in Imperial
- College student applications opened in April 2023
- 349 Students applied
- 141 Students interviewed during May, June, and July
- 27% of the internship positions were in engineering, 63% were in computing, and 10% were in an “other” category, primarily related to the business sector
- Paid internships occurred throughout the summer, averaging 219 hour of the 240 hours permitted
- 48 students were hired by an employer of record and internships were covered by grant funds at $22/hour
- At least 7 students received offers of employment
Student Quotes
“The internship program has been a wonderful experience. I have been able to acquire hands on IT skills that I do not believe I would have learned in class. I believe the knowledge that I am learning on the job will help me reach my goals of starting a new career in IT. Having a paid internship has allowed me to fully dedicate my time to learning the skills needed to enter this field. For that I am very grateful. Thank you to everyone involved in the K-16 Collaborative program for giving us the opportunity to be part of this internship.”
“As a rising fourth-year college student, I can’t help but acknowledge how much I’ve learned during my first internship. It’s been quite the journey, especially considering the smaller scale of the company. But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I got to work on meaningful projects with real impact.
The best part is the level of autonomy I’ve been given. I’ve had to figure out a lot on my own, using the knowledge I’ve gained in my studies. It’s been challenging, but it’s incredibly rewarding to see myself grow and overcome obstacles in a professional setting.
Moreover, this internship has offered more than just work experience. We’ve had some fantastic bonding moments, like watching a Padres game with fellow interns. It’s been a great way to make new friends and create lasting memories.
All in all, this internship has exceeded my expectations in both professional and personal aspects, making it an unforgettable part of my college journey. I can’t wait to see how much more I’ll learn and grow in the future.”
Industry Quotes
“Our interns not only met expectations but exceeded them, infusing fresh energy and innovative ideas into our projects. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.”
“Such a great resource! Looking forward to many more cohorts.”
“I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the interns referred. It was difficult to select, which is not so common in our line of business.”
“We enjoyed participating in the program and look forward to hosting new interns in 2024!”
