Student Internships & Career Exploration
Partners in Education and its programs are administered by the Santa Barbara County Education Office.
"It was rewarding to play a small role in assisting our student intern with her career goals with some real-world experience. She was of great help, not only to me, but she assisted two other departments as well. This partnership was truly a win-win for her and our organization." -CenCal Health
Partners has recently launched a comprehensive internship program that provides paid, experiential learning opportunities to disadvantaged students. Through partnerships with local businesses we can address the lack of real world experiential learning opportunities that are often necessary for students to remain engaged in school and motivated in achieving their future goals. The goal of this program is to address the following specific needs:
- The need for adequate training and preparation for student before entering the professional world
- The need for students in this income bracket to be compensated for their work
- The need for local businesses and community members to play a significant and unique role in educating and developing the future workforce
The Selection Process: Screening
Prior to being accepted to the Internship Program, all students must successfully complete our application process. This includes several in-depth essay questions, a recommendation from a teacher or other school staff member, and an interview. In addition, all students must have at least 2.0 GPA to be considered. It is ideal for an intern to have first taken a Career Technical Education course.
The Internship Training
Students who are accepted then complete six weeks of job readiness training on the following topics:
-Resumes and Covers letters
-Interview Skills
-Workplace Attire
-Customer Service
-Business Etiquette
-Budgeting & Time/ Money Management
Training is regarded as part of the internship experience. All 6 sessions must be completed for the students to receive a $100 stipend.
The Internship
After completing the training, a student is placed with a local business or community member to begin working.
Internship Host Sites:
Interviews with hosts will often take place during the training or just after the training ends, to allow students to learn of their employers’ expectations and more about the field they will be working in. The interns are placed with host sites after much consideration of their career interests and personal skills.
Interns will receive $8 an hour for 80 hours of work over the 8 week period, paid monthly. We ask employers to match the interns’ wages by paying $4 for each hour the intern works. The remaining amount ($4 per hour) is being paid by generous contributions from the Orfalea Foundations, the AT&T Foundation and Yardi Systems, Inc.
We are eager to hear from businesses who are interested in being involved in our current efforts to place interns, and also from those who want to support our efforts to expand our services in this area. Please contact Chelsea Pacino at (805) 964-4710 x4421 or email cpacino@sbceo.org.