Appalachian State University

RM 3315: Career Development


Finding an Internship Site

This guide provides brief information on what you will need to identify a potential internship site and/or find more information on a site that you've already decided on.  This is a starting point for research and not intended to be comprehensive. For more information and assistance, please contact Glenn Ellen, come by the Reference Desk, or try our Ask a Librarian service.

Prospecting

http://www.oaoa.netMany of the directories and Web sites listed on this page will help you with Prospecting,
which is identifying a place where you'd like to do an internship and then contacting someone
who works there to see if it's possible to create an internship for you. You'll see this icon
beside each source that should be used for prospecting.
The Prospecting sources do not list actual internships that are already in existence.

Reference books on internships

These sources list internships which have already been established

. Peterson's Internships . 2003. Ref L 901 .I66 (See especially the section on Environmental Organizations and Parks)

. The Best . . . Internships . Compiled by Princeton Review. 2000. Ref LC 1072 .I58 A54

. Yale Daily News Guide to Internships . 2000. Ref LC 1072 .I58 Y35

. Directory of International Internships . 4th ed. 1998. Ref LC 1072 .I58 D57

. Sports Internship Book . 2004. Ref GV583 .S66

. Resort internship and seasonal employment guide . 2004. Ref TX 911.3 .V65 R47

. History intership book . 2004. Ref D 16.3 .H57
Includes interships with historical sites, museums, historic preservation groups, and living history programs nationwide.

. Big green intership book . 2004. Ref GE 80 .B53
Includes internship opportunities with over 300 environmental organizations nationwide.

. Complete guide to seasonal state park employment . 2004. Ref GV 160 .C65 2004
In the section describing each state's Park and Recreation Division, there is information on whether internships can be worked out on an individual basis.

Directories and related sources

Use these sources to identify agencies or businesses to which you might want to propose an internship, even though they may not have an internship program set up.

http://www.oaoa.net All the sources in this section should be used for Prospecting.

American golfer's guide . 1992. Ref GV 981 .P43

American Camping Association . http://www.acacamps.org ["Find a Camp"]

Christian camp & conference journal . Bimonthly. Periodicals floor.

Conservation directory . Annual. Ref S 920 .C64

50 fabulous planned retirement communities for active adults: a comprehensive directory of outstanding master-planned residential developments . 1998. Ref HQ 1063.2 .U6 G74 1998

Gene Kilgore's ranch vacations: the complete guide to guest and resort, fly-fishing, and cross-country skiing ranches . 4th ed. 1996. Ref TX 907.2 .K55 1996

Guide to ACA-accredited camps . 2003. American Camping Assoc. Ref GV 193 .G78

The guide to unique meeting & event facilities. 2002. Ref TX 907.2 .G853
Directory of convention facilities. Searchable Web version also available.

Guide to summer camps and summer schools . 2002-2003. Ref GV 193 .G8

ISS directory of overseas schools . 1999/2000. Ref L 900 .I83 1992

MDR's school directory. North Carolina . 2001-2002 edition. Reference Desk L 903.98 .M37

National Geographic's guide to the state parks of the United States . 1997. Main Stacks E 160 .N2442 1997

National Park Service. Volunteers in Parks. [An alphabetical list of parks needing volunteers. Some of the volunteer openings are internships. Use the "find in page" feature on your browser's Edit menu to search for the word intern]
http://data2.itc.nps.gov/volunteer/bypark.cfm

North Carolina directory, parks and recreation agencies . 1998-99. Microforms Room C12 115: P23

North Carolina resident and sports camp directory . 1997. Ref GV 194 .N8 N6
(latest edition on microfiche: Microforms Room G50 415:R43 1999)

Official hotel guide . 2002 edition. 4 vols. Ref TX 907 .O46

Official museum directory . Annual. Ref AM 10 .A2 O4

Parks directory of the United States . 2001. 3rd ed. Ref E 160 .S65 [Includes national & state parks, recreation areas, historic sites, battlefields, monuments, forests, preserves, seashores, trails, urban parks, wildlife refuges, and other designated recreation areas.]

Patterson's American education . 2001 edition. Reference Desk L 901 .P3 [Directory of schools.]

Sports market place directory . 2001. Ref HD 9992 .U5 S667 [Lists teams as well as equipment suppliers and other related businesses and associations.]

Search a directory of over twelve million American businesses

ReferenceUSA

http://www.oaoa.net This database can be invaluable for "prospecting"--identifying a certain type of establishment in a certain geographic area, so that you can ask that business to establish an internship for you. Below is a brief summary of the search steps you'll need to use:

Searching periodical databases

http://www.oaoa.netOne possible way to find potential sites is to search for periodical articles on the type of internship site you want (for instance, adventure travel, guide services, corporate recreation, retirement communities). Or--once you've picked a place where you'd like to do an internship, search periodical databases to get more information on that place. The additional information would enhance the letter you write to request an internship.

If you want guidance on which database(s) to search and how to type in your search, talk to Glenn Ellen or ask at the Reference Desk.

Example 1: If you've decided to request an internship at Del Webb's Sun City Hilton Head (retirement community), you might search LexisNexis Academic , go into the News--United States area, and search the South Carolina section for Sun City Hilton Head.

Example 2: If you're looking for information, and names of companies, related to adventure travel/tourism, you might search the ABI/Inform Complete database. Search for adventure travel in text or adventure tourism in text. Search both the current database and the backfile.



Web Sites

Scan the list of Web sites below. Check out any that sound relevant to the type of internship you want to do.

* The sites in the first grouping are general. Some of them, however, have only small numbers of recreation internships listed.

Appalachian State University. Career Development Center .
http://careers.appstate.edu
On the left side of the page, click on the Internships link.

InternshipPrograms.com : The Internship Search Engine.
http://internships.wetfeet.com/home.asp
Lists over 2,400 internship programs and 200,000 positions. Registration is not required for searching. Under the heading Candidates on the left, click on Find Internships. Skip the Candidate Profile form. Click on the brown Search tab. Start by looking at Sports and Leisure.

Yahoo!
Beside the search blank at the top, click on "Advanced Web Search." In the blank beside " "all of these words" type in: internships. In the blank beside "any of these words" type in: recreation park parks leisure camp camps resort resorts golf Or, if you're interested in only one type of internshp (for instance, golf courses), just type in words and phrases about that type of internship. Change the search to look for the word in the Title of the page. At Updated: select within a year

Browse through the links that come up in this search.

Rising Star Internships
http://www.rsinternships.com/

City of Raleigh (North Carolina) Parks & Recreation Department. Internship Program
http://www.raleighnc.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_306_205_0_43/http;/pt03/dig_web_content/employment/public/Recruitment_Information/JOB-Recruit-ParksnRec.html

Club Managers Association of America. ClubCareers
http://www.clubcareers.org
1. On the left, under My JobSite, click on: Search Jobs.
2. In the My Job Search box, at the bottom, check off: "I want to view Intership listings". This ensures that when you complete your search you'll get just the internship listings and not the job ads.
3. Choose a club type from the pull-down list.
4. Click in the circle beside States/Provinces or Countries if you want to, and make selections.
5. Click on: Search

http://www.oaoa.netCruise lines . [very brief information]
http://www.und.nodak.edu/dept/rls/intern/int-cruise.htm

Directory of Therapeutic Recreation Internship Sites .
http://www.recreationtherapy.com/internship/index.html
Click on "Students: Search the database for internship sites."

Golfcourse-Jobs.com
http://www.golfcourse-jobs.com
Registration is required. The jobs database includes internships.

Internsearch.com. Resort/Recreation/Sports Management Internships.
http://www.internsearch.com/directory_recres.htm

Internships in Great Places from Coolworks
http://www.coolworks.com/internships.htm

National Forest Service
http://www.fs.fed.us
Type the word "internship" in the Search blank and submit.

National Park Service
http://www.nps.gov/
Type the word "internship" in the Search blank and submit.

National Park Service. Historic Preservation Internship Training Program.
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/hpit_p.htm

http://www.oaoa.netNorth Carolina Cities and Towns
http://ncinfo.iog.unc.edu/library/cities.html
Links to a city information site as well as to the county Web site. You might find information about the city's parks and recreation department under either. Try the county site first, except for large cities.

http://www.oaoa.netN. C. Dept. of Environmental and Natural Resources. Division of Parks and Recreation .
http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/main/contact.html
Use the pull-down menu to get contact information for a particular park in North Carolina.

NOLS Internships (National Outdoor Leadership School)
http://www.nols.edu/alumni/employment/internships.shtml

North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation. Seasonal Employment Opportunities .
http://ils.unc.edu/parkproject/explore/employseas.html

North Carolina State University. Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department. Current list of prospective internship opportunities.
http://legacy.ncsu.edu/classes/prt475/agencies.htm

Orion Grassroots Network
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/ogn/ics.cfm

This site posts internship and job openings from grassroot organizations in the environmental movement.

To find internships, use any one of these methods:

A) Under the heading "New Postings," click on the Advanced Search link (it's under the search blank). *Don't type anything in the search blank. This will give you a search form to fill out. Be sure to look at the "Type" pull-down menu. It lets you search JUST for internships. If you leave this tab set to "Any Type," you'll get both job openings and internship openings.

B) In the middle of the page, scroll down to "New Postings!" Under the heading "Internships are posted in the following categories," click on one of the links (for example, Conservation,
Education, Advocacy, Outreach, etc.).

C) On the left border of the page, in green, you'll notice a list of links to the states for which
there are currently jobs or internships listed. Click a state that interests you. If a state is not listed, that means there are currently no openings in that state.

The Outdoor Network
http://www.outdoornetwork.com/jobnetdb/default.html

To find internships:
1) In the middle of the page, under the heading "The Outdoor JobNet," then under "For Job Seekers," click on: View Job Listings.
2) On the Detailed Search page, scrool down to: "Please select the type of positions that you are seeking." Check the box for Internships.
3) Scroll down a little further. Click on the button that says Submit Detailed Search.

This is the easiest method. It lets you browse through the list of all the internships on the
site. Usually, the number won't be large.

OutdoorEd.Com
http://outdoored.com/
. At the bottom of the page, click on: Search for Jobs
. In the Advanced Search form, under "Restrict Search by Type of Job," select Internship--Paid, Internship--Unpaid, or both

http://www.oaoa.netOutfitters Associaton of America
http://www.oaoa.net

This site might be useful for "prospecting"--identifying an outfitter and asking if the business could set up an internship for you. At the top of the page, click on: Directory. From the pull-down menu, choose the type of outfitter you're interested in. You'll be shown an alphabetical list of outfitters of that type, each with a detailed description of the business, owners' names, address, telephone number, and sometimes e-mail address and URL. This site provides, for the businesses it lists, more detailed information than most other sites do.

Resort Intern Connections [very few listings]
http://www.resortinternconnection.com

http://www.oaoa.netRetirement community Web sites (Yahoo's listings)

South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association. SCRPA Job Service Bulletin.
http://www.coastal.edu/physicaled/Jobs.html
. Scroll down the page to the section listing internships. A few listings, some outside South Carolina

http://www.oaoa.netSports arena Web sites (Yahoo's listings)
http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Sports/Stadiums_and_Venues/

Student Conservation Association, Inc. Conservation internships.
http://www.thesca.org/ ci_select.cfm

http://www.oaoa.netUS Army Community and Family Support Center
http://www.armymwr.com/
For background information only; a search of the site doesn't retrieve any information specifically on internships.

http://www.oaoa.netwww.ymca.net
Use the form at the top labelled "Find the Y nearest you".


Search Engines


Google Advanced Search page
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

Although this search will return lots of pages that are not what you need, there's always a chance that you'll find an internship listing that didn't turn up in any of the other Web sites or books you tried. Here are some tips to help you design a more efficient search:

. In "All the words" type: internship*
. In "at least one" of the words type: parks recreation recreational
OR
. In "exact phrase" type a phrase that describes the kind of internship you'd like.
Examples:
- whitewater rafting
- golf course
- therapeutic recreation
- adventure education
. Language: Select pages written in English
. Date: Select pages updated in the past year

North Carolina internships

The Huntersville, North Carolina Parks and Recreation Department has started an internship program. For more information, contact David White at dwhite@huntersville.org or (704)766-2229.


Compiled by Glenn Ellen Starr Stilling
stillngges@appstate.edu

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Last update of this page April 11, 2006 1:59 pm