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The
Florida Tech Career Services Office assists employers
in finding eligible students for internship and cooperative
education (co-op) opportunities. Internships and
co-op positions provide students with the opportunity
to gain major-related work experience that prepares
them for full-time professional employment. Participating
in Florida Tech’s internship and co-op program
provides employers with low cost, motivated personnel
for temporary assignments and gives them the opportunity
to try out prospective professional employees. We
strive to be flexible in our internship and co-op
program to best meet the needs of both the student
and the employer.
Internships
• An
internship is basically any major-related work
experience. It can paid or unpaid, full-time or
part-time, and may or may not be for academic credit.
Internships can occur at any time in the academic
year but students prefer to work in the summer.
• Some
academic departments require that students complete
an internship and provide an internship course
that students must register for. These academic
internships typically require carefully monitored
supervision by the employer and the student will
be required to complete a term paper and presentation
at the end of their experience. Please contact
the Career Services Office about formal academic
internships and we will refer you to the appropriate
academic department.
• Students
in other academic departments can register for
co-op credit for their internship experience if
they desire or need to register for an academic
course in order to participate in an internship.
Students must meet eligibility requirements set
forth by both the university and the employer in
order to register for co-op credit.
• Employers
interested in hiring interns from Florida Tech
can post their internship listing online by going
to College Central Network,
request resumes from the Career Services Office,
set up on-campus interviews, and are encouraged
to attend our bi-annual career fairs.
• Please contact the Career Services Office if you have any questions about hiring Florida Tech interns at 321-674-7575 or email efarney@fit.edu.
Cooperative
Education
• The
co-op program at Florida Tech is structured in
a flexible way to meet the diverse needs of students
and employers. Students who need or desire credit
for an internship are encouraged to register for
co-op credit although we can accommodate structured
multi-term work arrangements that are typical of
co-op programs.
• The
parallel co-op program accommodates a part-time
work schedule with a full-time class schedule.
Students may work from 10-25 hours per week in
a job related to their major and will receive from
1-2 academic credits depending on the number of
hours worked in the academic semester.
• The
full-time co-op program accommodates a full-time
work schedule of 40 hours per week and students
receive 3 hours of academic credit. Students can
either alternate full-time periods of work with
full-time periods of study; work two semesters
back-to-back; work two or more summer semesters,
or work for one semester. Employers can specify
the type of work schedule that best meets their
needs.
• In
order to participate in the Florida Techs co-op
program employers are required to complete a Cooperative
Education Employer Agreement and provide a position
description. The Cooperative Education Employer
Agreement states that the employer will provide
meaningful and increasingly responsible work assignments
related to the student’s major field of study,
provide adequate professional supervision, and
provide a written evaluation at the end of the
work period to the Career Services Office.
Please
contact the Career Services Office if you have
any questions about hiring Florida Tech co-ops at 321-674-8102 or email dgaynor@fit.edu.
Hiring International Students
International
students on F-1 visas may be eligible to work
full-time or part-time off campus in positions
that are directly related to their major and
for which they will receive academic credit.
Students must be approved by the University to
participate in a co-op or internship and international
students will receive work authorization through
Curricular Practical Training from the Office
of International Students and Scholars. Employers
will typically need to provide a written job
offer and may need to fill out other forms depending
on the nature of the co-op or internship. The
student must not begin working before they receive
proper work authorization and can only work during
the time that is specified on their authorization
form. Employers who wish to hire an international
student for an internship or co-op need to plan
well in advance of the hiring date to ensure
all paperwork is completed in time for the student
to begin working at the appropriate time.
Questions
about work authorization status should be directed
to the Office of International Students and Scholars
at 321-674-8053.
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