Arts Career Toolkit – For Employers and Recruiters

We encourage organizations to post internship opportunities throughout the year as students have different timelines for their searches.

Academic Year Internships (September-June)

Stanford's academic year follows the quarter system. Fall Quarter typically begins in late September, and classes end/graduation typically takes place mid-June. The Registrar lists all of the current and upcoming dates. We ask that potential host organizations keep these dates in mind as they will impact when students can participate in internships.

Students participating in academic year internship programs typically begin their internship search one quarter (10 weeks) in advance of their program start date.

Given students' academic obligations during the year, students typically are only able to commit to part-time opportunities. Additionally, given the physical location of Stanford's campus and student class schedules, hybrid and remote options tend to be preferred over fully in-person internships during the academic year.

Most students who are interested in full-time internships during the academic year are participating in one of Stanford's off-campus program (such as Stanford in New York or Stanford in Washington) which have internship requirements.

Summer Internships (June-August)

The peak season for summer internship recruitment at Stanford is November-March. Stanford students prefer to have their internships in place by March so they can spend the next few months (which is also our Spring Quarter) handling internship logistics (housing, travel, orientation) and taking and relevant preparatory courses.

Stanford students may be eligible for stipends from the University to help defray living and transportation costs.These stipends are offered through the Cardinal Quarter program, Stanford Career Education, and some individual departments. Each program has different expectations, application requirements, and timelines. Most programs require host organizations to complete part of a student's application. In general, students can receive these stipends in addition to any wages offered by the internship host organization.

Students are not required to participate in a Stanford stipend program in order to undertake a summer internship.

Additionally, host organizations cannot make receipt of a Stanford stipend a condition of participating in an internship.

Stanford does not normally offer academic credit for summer internships. If students are interested in receiving credit for an internship experience they must contact their major department to discuss feasibility and requirements. Each academic department sets their own policies. In general, though, students are only able to receive internship credit through their major department.

Some things to keep in mind regarding academic credit for summer internships:

• Students who are doing unpaid summer internships for academic credit are actually paying for the experience. This may impose additional barriers for participation for students with limited financial means.
  • In order to receive academic credit, students must enroll in summer quarter. This quarter is not part of the standard academic year.
  • Students are responsible for covering the entirety of their summer room & board expenses.
• A student may be choosing to participate in an internship instead of another paid part-/full-time job.
• At Stanford it is common for students to be active in the arts through extracurriculars but major in a different subject. If a student is doing an internship outside of their major department's focus, the student may not be eligible for academic credit. (Examples could include a biology major who is interning with a dance company, a sociology student apprenticing with a dramaturg, etc.)

• Include details in your listing about the application review timeline (e.g. first date of review, decision timeline, etc.) 
• If your organization requires that students receive academic credit and/or financial support from their institution as a condition of participation, make sure to call out these requirements in your listing.
• Interns are not "free labor." Students are applying to intern with your organization as part of their education. Frame your listing from a place of learning. In addition to listing specific projects and tasks that the student will take on as part of their internship, also include some of the skills that they can expect to learn (e.g. grant writing, database management, community organizing, graphic design, etc.) 
• When referencing an industry-specific software application include a few details to provide context (e.g. Tessitura, a ticketing and donor management system.) 
• If you advertise your internship as a paid opportunity this means that your organization is directly providing an intern with a stipend/wage throughout the duration of their internship.
• Any opportunity posted to Handshake must be able to take place regardless of whether the student receives a stipend through Stanford.