Amid restrictions in mobility, Novella Prep is seeking to support student enrichment and enhancement as well as to raise awareness of businesses in our community. Together, we can support each other and benefit from the following opportunities.
– Updated April 22, 2020
Digital Internships
Although universities will be understanding of student limitations during this time, we feel if there is a way to help students gain valuable internship experience that has the added benefit of supporting local business, it is a win win. We want to create a listing of local businesses who have agreed to participate in this program. For any students enrolled in a Novella Prep program, we will work with you directly to facilitate and help manage this experience directly. For families not yet in a program, we still want you to benefit from this idea by offering the listing.
Students and businesses interested in accepting or offering digital internships can contact us at [email protected].
Tips for Interested Businesses:
- How to write an internship program description
- When writing an internship position description, it is important to include a number of essential points of information to clearly represent the experience to interested students. Descriptions should include a specific position title, an introduction to your business/organization, a detailed description of the role and particular responsibilities required, and a summary of the learning benefits afforded to the intern. For inspiration, please refer to these internship position description sample formats which cover a variety of common internship roles.
- How to create a successful internship program
- Creating an internship program may seem daunting for some small, local businesses. However, by focusing on a few simple key aspects, such as providing consistent feedback to interns and developing clear goals to benefit both the intern’s ideal learning experience and your business’s development, impactful internship programs can be cultivated. Check out this article for some easy tips for building a successful internship program.
- Understanding the legality of internship programs
- Unpaid internship experiences should be crafted in a way that the student is the primary beneficiary of the experience, provided with educational training and skills that are valuable to their academic and professional development.
- For more information on the federal internship program “primary beneficiary test” guidelines, please visit the following DOL webpage.
- Benefits for Businesses
- Increased productivity/efficiency
- Whether your business needs assistance expanding its social media marketing outreach, or revamping its website, interns can make valuable contributions to the efficiency and success of your business.
- New perspectives
- In addition to assigned tasks and projects, interns bring a whole new set of interests, specialized skills, and worldviews that can inspire your business initiatives and direction in new, exciting ways.
- Impact on the local community
- Partnering with local students in this way can help bolster your business’s visibility and allow you to give back to the community in a meaningful way, providing important learning opportunities to the workers of tomorrow.
- Increased productivity/efficiency
Tips for Interested Students:
- Do’s and Don’ts of Interning
- Taking on an internship experience is an exciting step for students’ personal, academic, and professional development. This is their opportunity to ask questions, learn new skills, and explore possible career interests. As this is a professional opportunity, students should look to set measurable learning goals for themselves, show enthusiasm and interest in their role, and demonstrate appropriate and professional methods of communication. Check out the following article for some more expert tips for internships.
- Benefits for Students
- Career Exploration & Cultivation
- Students will gain insight into what it is really like to communicate, collaborate, and work in a professional setting. Students will be able to explore the industries and career fields that they may wish to pursue in the future, gaining a first-hand understanding of the skills and experiences involved while additionally making connections with relevant professionals.
- Bolster College Applications
- This unique, digital intern experience offers students a marketable, resume-building opportunity that can strengthen students’ demonstrated engagement and extracurricular involvement in the eyes of admissions officers.
- Learn Something New
- Whether it’s a computer program, or research and data analysis, engaging in a digital internship can help students learn new hard and soft skills, leading to novel interests, passions, and future opportunities. Plus, let’s be honest, students could all use a new learning opportunity to engage with besides online learning.
- Engage in the Local Community
- Interning with a local business is an exciting way for students to give back and be an integral part of their community. Particularly in this uncertain time, supporting local businesses in a way that adds value to students’ own learning, growth and development is an exciting way to come together.
- Career Exploration & Cultivation
Digital Volunteering
To allow for students to get meaningful service hours and experiences, we are providing access to a variety of digital volunteering opportunities. We hope to provide students with exciting existing online opportunities across the country and the world, as well as the freedom to explore and develop their own ways to make an impact. We feel this idea can allow for meaningful engagement and experiences that will help not only the students, but communities big and small, too!
- Novella Prep Volunteering
- Students can pre-record content that we would be happy to host at novellaprep.wpengine.com that could be watched and appreciated by younger students. We would be happy to vouch for the volunteering time for that student so it can be a contribution and also part of a resume, depending on the time commitment. Please email [email protected] for more details to participate or to show support!
- For inspiration on creative digital volunteering and online extra-curricular ideas students can work on at home, and how this digital shift may impact how student involvement is evaluated on college applications, check out this article!
- Students can pre-record content that we would be happy to host at novellaprep.wpengine.com that could be watched and appreciated by younger students. We would be happy to vouch for the volunteering time for that student so it can be a contribution and also part of a resume, depending on the time commitment. Please email [email protected] for more details to participate or to show support!
- Smithsonian Digital Volunteers
- The Smithsonian Museum’s Digital Volunteers assist with transcribing and reviewing drafts of written transcriptions of historical documents and images.This is a unique opportunity for students to help make historical records and documents more easily and widely accessible, whether they’re history buffs or not.
- UN Volunteers
- UN Volunteers webpage provides a list of global volunteering opportunities relating to a number of important causes and skill sets. Students can support organizations and make a unique impact on people around the world.
- LibriVox
- LibriVox volunteers record audio readings of books in the public domain, making them free to access for everyone. Interested volunteers do not need to apply or have previous experience. Students interested in literature and reading can enjoy this fun, exciting opportunity to contribute to the accessibility of classic literary works across the globe.
- Volunteer Search Engines
- Volunteer Match and Idealist are valuable tools students can use to search for virtual volunteer opportunities. These websites allow students to filter opportunities by criteria such as relevant skills and causes. Whether it’s sewing masks for essential employees, or recording a creative video of yourself reading your favorite story, there are hundreds of different projects students can support.
*Note: The purpose of this site is to facilitate in student enrichment. Novella Prep and staff are seeking to identify participating businesses and organizations but are not responsible for the actual internship or business and actions thereof but rather as trying to provide leadership to support business, organizations, and families through a portal that encourages connection and sharing.