“Graduates who had an internship during college were more than twice as likely to have a good job waiting for them upon graduation (42%) compared to graduates who didn’t have an internship (20%).”
Internships are a great opportunity to find out more about your chosen field while building your work experience and a portfolio. CDS majors can take COMM 499: Internship for credit and to satisfy the Experiential Learning (EL) graduation requirement. If taken for 3 credits, then the internship can count as an upper-level elective in the major. To complete an internship for credit you are required to have registered for the internship credits before the start of the internship and that you complete your internship hours within the timeframe specified on your internship contract.
If you are interested in pursuing an internship, please do the following:
1) Find an internship – make sure that it is appropriate for the major, and that the work you will do meets the university requirements for internships. You can find the university guidelines and policies on the Career Center’s internship webpage. Once you have a worksite for your internship, talk to a faculty member in the major about serving as the faculty advisor.
2) Complete the Academic Internship Contract – if you are taking the internship for credit then you need to make sure that you are able to work the minimum number of hours and meet the other criteria. Then complete the Academic Internship Contract on the Career Center’s webpage. Share this with the faculty advisor for your internship.
3) Submit the completed Academic Internship Contract by Wednesday of the first week of classes. Make sure that the contract includes all relevant signatures (student, work supervisor, faculty sponsor), and is fully filled out. Send the completed contract via email to the department chair, Anand Rao, and copy your faculty sponsor. The department chair will contact you and your faculty sponsor with any questions, and will then process the internship contract.
The deadline for Spring 2023 internships is Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 5pm – email completed internship contracts, with all required signatures (including student, faculty sponsor, and internship supervisor) to Anand Rao (arao at umw.edu).
Spring and Summer 2023 Internship and Work Study Opportunities:
- Washington Nationals Philanthropies – $18/hour while working at home games. the charitable arm of the Washington Nationals is hiring students to work as 5050 Raffle Sellers for the 2023 season. This is a great way to learn more about the sports industry. You can find more information here.
- Oral History Project – 2nd 8-weeks internship – The Oral Histories Project with the City of Fredericksburg began in July 2020 when Chris Williams, assistant director of the James Farmer Multicultural Center and Victoria Matthews, tourism sales manager of the city of Fredericksburg’s Economic Development and Tourism Department, joined forces to develop and implement a civil rights trail here. There were a series of 11 interviews conducted with African-American elders who played prominent roles during the civil rights movement in the city and on UMW’s campus. From these interviews, they were able to locate and pinpoint places throughout the city of Fredericksburg to map out the civil rights trail. Overview and Duties – We are looking for one UMW student who is passionate about civil rights history and has experience with editing audio/visual content. This student will be selected for a 42-hour, 8-week internship during the second half of the 2023 spring semester (March 6 – April 24). The student will be under the supervision of Dr. Anand Rao, Department Chair of Communication and Digital Studies. The duties of this internship will be reviewing and listening to the audio content of the interviews and editing the content by reading the civil rights history narrative that has been written and published online. Within the narrative, there are pull quotes from the interviews for the selected stops on the trail. The student will need to extract the exact quotes that are in the narrative from the audio interviews, put them in the appropriate listening format, and transfer them into audio clips. These audio clips will become integrated within the online narrative and the Traps phone app, while tourists are walking the civil rights trail. Contact Anand (arao at umw.edu) for more information.
- Communications and Marketing Intern – paid for Spring 2023. Apply in November. VA Department of Rail and Public Transportation for approx 15hrs/week. Find more information here including how to apply.
- BRG Communications – a paid opportunity, not intended for credit. CDS alum Mandy Byrd is currently working there and is happy to talk to any interested students. You can find more information here. To apply, send a resume to here. opportunity@brgcommunications.com and you can apply online
- Journalism Internships with the Virginia Pilot – internships are 12 weeks long and pay $15/hour. They will be available throughout the year. See this document for more information.
- UMW Admissions Social Media Influencer – ZeeMee is a social media platform geared towards students who are going through the college search and enrollment process. As a ZeeMee Influencer, students create content about their daily lives and give prospective students an inside look at UMW. Students would also engage with prospects and answer questions via chat channel. Influencers are paid a stipend of $300 for the semester. For more information, contact Amanda Hart (ahart3@umw.edu).
- FBI Honors Internship for Summer 2023 – The FBI Honors Internship Program is a full-time, 10-week paid summer internship starting June 5, 2023. This program is for undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral college students and offers exposure to the world’s premiere law enforcement and intelligence agency while also serving as a pipeline for entry-level positions after graduation. While exploring the FBI’s exciting career options, students will work side-by-side with FBI employees at one of our FBI offices nationwide. This internship offers students an unmatched opportunity to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States. At the end of their summer, Honors Interns who receive a positive evaluation may continue in the program throughout the school year as interns on a part-time basis. For more information see: Students and Interns | FBIJOBS.
- Communications Intern – 15-20 hours/week paid internship ($18/hour). Shannon Strategies is looking for a Communications Intern to assist with social and digital media, public relations and general communications efforts for an array of clients in the nonprofit sector. Go to https://shannonstrategies.com/communications-intern for more information.
- Public Relations and Communications – 15-25 hours/week paid internship ($20/hour) with the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative. See this document for more information.
- UMW Modern Languages Social Media Intern – contact Jennifer Buist (jbuist at umw.edu) for more information.
- UMW Chemistry & Physics Social Media Intern – contact Dr. Janet Asper (jasper at umw.edu) for more information.
- Key Media & Research – provides internships for students in their publications (https://keymediaresearch.com/publications/) and Digital Media Services (https://keymediaresearch.com/events/) divisions. Contact Anand for contact info and more info.
- Virginia Youth Soccer Association Marketing Internship – great marketing internship opportunity in Fredericksburg working with a UMW alum. See this document for more information. VYSA also has internships in accounting and program administration- contact Anand Rao for information about those internships.
- Social and Outreach Internship with the UMW Office of Sustainability – UMW’s Office of Sustainability is looking for 3 Student Interns who are passionate about sustainability and looking to inspire change. These positions will help to support the needs of the Office of Sustainability throughout the 2022-2023 Academic Year. Find more information on this document. Here is a link where students can submit an “interest form”, or they are welcome to email the office at sustainability@umw.edu.
- Fredericksburg Regional Alliance Paid Internship – The FRA is looking for an undergraduate student from the University of Mary Washington who is majoring in Communications, Marketing, Business Administration or a related field. This person should have excellent verbal, written communication, and organizational skills. Experience with PowerPoint, Excel, Canva, and other graphic design software is desirable. This internship is for the fall 2022 semester but could continue into the spring if the candidate is interested. The FRA will also work with UMW to coordinate academic credit. Interested students should apply on Handshake or send their resume to Rose Maddox at rmaddox@fredregion.com More information can be found in this flyer.
- Campus Rec Fall Internships – The Department of Campus Recreation is looking for interns for the Fall 2022 semester and invites you to apply. These internships qualify for academic credit and positions include Graphic Design, Communications, and Photography/Videography. Role descriptions can be found on this website.
Applications can be emailed to campusrec@umw.edu and should include a resume, indication of what position you are applying for, and one or two examples of your recent work.
- Fraser Wood Elements – a local wood working company that crafts tables, wood islands, and other wood items. They are looking for help with their social media presence. Contact Anand for more information.
- Commonwealth Consultants – a Top PR firm located in Tysons, Virginia. Commonwealth Consultants is pleased to provide paid and credited internship opportunities to enthusiastic individuals interested in Public Relations. Paid internships are available for Summer and Fall 2022. See this document for the summer internship position, and this document to apply.
- Digital Content Specialist Job for a recent grad – Digital Content Specialist with Oasis Systems in Rockville, MD. Excellent opportunity for a 2022 (or earlier) CDS grad. This position was shared by a CDS alum- contact Anand if interested and he can put you in touch with the alum. More details and application on this page.
- Digital Content Internship for Oasis Systems with opportunities in DC, VA, MD, and MA. This internship was shared by a CDS alum- contact Anand if interested and he can put you in touch with the alum. More details and application on this internship page.
- Spotsylvania Education Foundation Communications Internship: available for spring, summer, and fall semesters. 10-15 hours/week. Not compensated but can complete for academic credit. More information, including how to apply, can be found on this document.