CCM’s Cooperative Education / Internship Program combines academic studies with practical, on-the-job experience enabling students to apply theories and skills learned in the classroom to real work situations.

These experiences are valuable to students not only by providing real-world work experience in their major, but also by helping them develop the soft skills necessary for employment success such as work ethic, confidence, and an understanding of culture and etiquette in the workplace.  Internships can be non-credit or credit-bearing, based on the student’s major and needs, as well as the quality of the opportunity (see the definition of an internship below).

You have a student interested in pursuing an internship:

  • The student is looking for an internship.  Ask the student to stop into our office, call or email for an appointment, or complete the form requesting contact.   You can also refer them to the Internship Program for Students page.
  • The student secured an internship on their own.  Ask the student to stop in, call or email Career Services so the experience can be recorded as a complement to their academic transcript.

You have learned of a position that might provide an internship opportunity:

  • Contact us with any information you may have.  We will follow up with the employer.
  • Ask the employer to contact us directly, or post the internship opportunity to JobConnect, our online job posting platform.

 

Career Services
Student Community Center, room 118
973-328-5245
career-services@ccm.edu

 


 

Definition of an Internship
from the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS)

What distinguishes internships from other forms of active learning is that there is a degree of supervision and self-study that allows students to “learn by doing” and to reflect upon that learning in a way that achieves certain learning goals and objectives. Feedback for improvement and the development or refinement of learning goals is also essential. What distinguishes an intern from a volunteer is the deliberative form of learning that takes place. There must be a balance between learning and contributing, and the student, the student’s institution, and the internship placement site must share in the responsibility to ensure that the balance is appropriate and that the learning is of sufficiently high quality to warrant the effort, which might include academic credit.

In 2018 the Department of Labor released an updated statement about unpaid internships and the “primary beneficiary test” used by the courts.