Over the past 3.5 years I’ve worked at General Assembly, I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve been asked whether or not we offer an internship program. Students want to dive into the working world before committing to a permanent role for a variety of reasons—from experiencing the day-to-day work environment of a particular role to exploring company culture to beefing up the implied credentials on their resume, to building tangible skills, to making money, to simply understanding what an office environment is like. Internships are often seen as a safe space to make mistakes. The actual definition of an internship is “a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than merely employment.”
For many centuries, apprenticeships—and more recently–internships, have been the primary way people test the waters in an industry while getting trained in skills needed for a particular role.
When we created immersive programs at GA a little over 3 years ago, we not only helped employers stem a short supply of talent, we also solved several student needs. Building tangible skills, experiencing the day-to-day environment of a role, adding credentials to a resume—all needs served by our immersive (or accelerated bootcamp) programs.
Despite the widespread success of such programs, there are some things we are are not solving for that internships do solve for. Namely, understanding what an office environment or a particular company’s culture is like.
So this summer, we’re adding to our portfolio of educational offerings by launching a new kind of internship program—one that combines a short skills-based bootcamp with a personalized internship placement. The program is designed for undergraduates without much work experience and serves a different purpose than our immersive programs. Rather than immediate full-time placement readiness, this program allows students who are returning to school or who have recently graduated, and have little work experience, to maximize their skill-building, professional office etiquette, and industry connections, all while coming out with a portfolio of their work.
Here’s to getting a jump start on your career even earlier.
At a price of $5,000 – $6,500 without housing, this program sits in its own tier.