For Students

Interested in internships? We encourage all students to participate in internships at Coastal Carolina University. You can complete paid or unpaid internships in the fall, spring or summer semesters and earn a grade by enrolling in an internship course in your field of study.

CCU Career Services offers free resources and individual assistance to help you with every step of the internship process. Get started by reviewing our resources and information below!

Getting an internship

	For help with a resume, Sample Cover Letter, Sample Interview Questions or internship search, make an appointment with the Career Services Center on CCU Handshake.
	Consider attending one of our Career Services workshops: see our workshops and events at www.coastal.edu/career or CCU Handshake!
	Check out International Internship options, Local and National Internships, and On-campus Internships
	Apply, interview and secure an internship position. Then, go to “Get the Credit” section of this page.

Looking to get credit for your internship? Here’s how you start. Once you’ve been accepted to an internship, make sure to begin the experience request as soon as possible. Our request process is through Handshake and requires you to complete online forms regarding your internship, so that you can be approved for academic credit.

If you'd like to download these instructions as a pdf, you can do so here.

Before submitting your request

	Review the Internship Learning Contract Worksheet link with your employer to gather important information. This is important because you can’t save and return in Handshake, so its good to have all the information written down beforehand.
	Talk with your academic advisor to see how it fits into your academic program. To get to the academic advisor, log-in to your MyCCU account and check underneath the “Advisors” panel.
	Talk with the faculty internship coordinator for your major (or minor) department to make sure you are eligible to be enrolled in the internship course. (Don’t know who this is? Check Here)
	If your internship is international, you must contact the Center for Global Engagement and submit approval forms via Handshake (International Internship experience request).
	Always feel free to schedule an appointment with the University Internship Director on CCU Handshake for assistance and any questions with this process!

Navigate to coastal.joinhandshake.com and sign in with your CCU log in/password
Click “Career Center” in the upper right
Select Experiences
Click “Request an Experience” (This will begin the experience process in Handshake.)
Complete the first page and input information under each heading titled “Details, Employer, Job, Approvers, and General.” Once the forms have been filled out, click “Next Page.”
Complete the second page and input information into the Student Questions. Once the forms have been filled out, click “Next Page.”
Complete the third page and input information into the Job Description Questions. Once the forms have been filled out, click “Next Page.”
Complete the fourth page and initial your agreement regarding expecations for your internship. Once the forms have been completed, click “Next Page.”
This last step allows you to review the information you’ve inputted. Once you have verified everything is correct check the two boxes at the bottom of the page and click “Request Experience.”
You have now submitted your experience request!

Handshake experience request instructions

After submitting your request

	Notify your employer that you submitted a request in Handshake, and let them know they will be receiving an email from Handshake regarding your internship approval (also remind them the email may appear in their spam/junk folder).
	Check your email for final approval in 1-2 weeks. Also, be sure to check your spam or junk email folder—the email notification comes from Handshake.
	Double check your MyCCU account to verify that you have been enrolled in the Internship course.
	Remember that your faculty internship coordinator will have additional required assignments during your internship, including a final evaluation form for you and your employer to complete as well as a work hours log to verify your working hours for the internship.
	Have a great experience, and be sure to share your success story with the CCU Career Services Office!

For more information, contact:

Karen Arnie
Director of Internships, Service Learning, and Employer Engagement
Career Services Center
Lib Jackson Student Union A203
843-349-2559
karnie@coastal.edu