Internships

Thank you for expressing an interest in the Management (MGT494/794) or Entrepreneurship (ENT494) Internship course. This course may be a program requirement or an elective that counts toward your program requirements.

The information below is intended to answer most of your initial questions; please read this information carefully.

Internship Provider Requirements

It is your responsibility to find a company for your internship, and you have broad discretion when picking your company. While we have no strict rules on what kind of company you work for, we do have strict requirements for the kinds of work you will complete during your internship.

Your chosen company may or may not have a formal internship program. If they have a formal internship program, they likely have requirements for applications, the work you will perform, and whether it is a paid or unpaid internship. If they do not have a formal internship program, it still might be worth connecting with someone at the company to see if an internship is possible.

In either case, your job must include work that directly relates to one or more of the following: planning, organizing, leading, and/or controlling, and must relate to material learned in one or more of your required classes. In other words, your internship is not a regular job (i.e., you cannot be a host or a server in a local restaurant, nor can you be a receptionist for a local company) but instead should give you helpful and meaningful insights into your intended career field.

Internships not meeting these requirements will not be approved.

Internship Academic Requirements

  1. You must work a minimum of 100 hours over a minimum of 10 weeks (i.e., no less than 10 hours per week).
  2. You must submit a journal entry every other week detailing what you worked on and your overall experience.
  3. Submit a list of professional/career- and personal-focused goals (2 goals for each type) that your internship will help you accomplish.
  4. You must write a 5–7-page reflection paper where you describe:
    1. Specific job-related experiences – regular tasks, assignments, special projects.
    2. Specific job-related team dynamics – org. culture, climate.
    3. Relate your experiences to your required courses.
    4. Explain how your internship helped you achieve your goals (in Item 3, above).
  5. Your internship supervisor must complete an evaluation of your performance during your internship. The internship coordinator will connect with your supervisor for this evaluation.

Additional instructions for composing your journals and writing your reflection paper will be made available on Brightspace after enrolling in the course (refer to Steps 3 & 4 below).

Students not completing all of Internship Academic Requirements 1-5 will receive an F for their internship grade.

Next steps: Complete the form and email us

  1. After you have made arrangements with your preferred Internship Provider, submit all required information in our internship approval form.
    1. COMPLETE INTERNSHIP APPROVAL FORM (MICROSOFT FORMS)
  2. After completing the internship approval form, send an email to management administrative assistant Janeen Michalak (JaneenMichalak@MissouriState.edu), who will give the completed form to the management department head for review and approval.
  3. If the management department head needs additional information or needs you to adjust your internship plans, you will receive an e-mail with more information.
  4. After the management department head approves your internship, you will receive an email with instructions to enroll in the course (MGT494, MGT794, or ENT494).

Notes

  • Not all internships follow the semester calendar. You may start an internship after the usual registration period, though this will not reduce the Internship Academic Requirements. For example, if your internship is in Block 2, you will still be required to complete 100 hours of work in the 7-week period (i.e., a minimum of 15 hours per week).
  • Except in highly unusual situations, we expect you to complete all Internship Academic Requirements no later than the end of finals week.
  • All Management and Entrepreneurship Internships are graded using a standard grading policy.

Additional information

If you have other questions about your potential internship not answered above, visit the management department office (Glass 414) or email Management@MissouriState.edu to schedule a meeting with the department head to discuss your internship plans and answer your questions.