Career Guide

Once you have chosen a major, completed pre-requisite courses in your major, or at the very least, identified a career field of interest in which you desire doing an internship to gain experience, you will want to create your search plan. You may also make an appointment to discuss internships by emailing careerservices@hacc.edu and request to meet with Kathleen. For details on the workshop How to Create an Internship Search Action Plan offered every semester visit HACC’s Career Services Events webpage here. In the meantime, you may try these helpful resources to get you started.

International Students who want to apply for an internship

F-1 international students may only work off campus with permission from the Department of Homeland Security. Curricular practical training (CPT) is defined as employment that is "an integral part of an established curriculum.” This includes internships, health career clinical work, cooperative education programs, or any other type of required practicum. Employment may be paid or unpaid.

Eligibility Requirements 

1. Students must be in legal F-1 status and must have completed one academic year of full-time study in order to be eligible for any form of CPT.
2. Employment must be a required part of the degree program listed on the student’s I-20 document OR the employment must be a credit-bearing optional part of the degree program.

Please Note: 

• CPT may be part-time (less than 20 hours per week) or full-time (more than 20 hours per week.)
• Students who accumulate 12 months or more of full-time CPT will not be eligible for post-completion Optional Practical Training (OPT). Participation in part-time CPT does not affect eligibility for OPT.
• Students in health career fields will be approved for CPT by a Designated School Official (DSO) when they register for clinical classes.

To apply: 

1. Request your academic advisor to complete the attached recommendation form.
2. Obtain a letter from your proposed employer indicating the job title, dates of employment, number of hours of work per week, place of employment, and brief description of work.
3. Submit above documents to the International Student Coordinator or campus DSO. If all eligibility requirements are met a new I-20 will be prepared for you showing the approval on page 2.

Each semester of an internship, even if it is at the same location requires a new CPT to be filled out. 

For further information regarding any aspect of Immigration and how to request CPT approval, please email HACC’s International Students Office at internationalstudents@hacc.edu. 

Special Note about Internships at HACC:

An internship course must be completed within the semester for which you are enrolled in that course and all internships MUST be approved by the Faculty Lead teaching that internship course before you can even enroll.  Also, each internship course has different hour(s), content coursework and evaluation requirements.  Please consult the HACC Student’s Guide to Internship Planning Supplemental Workbook so you can connect with the correct Faculty Lead for the program in which you would like to complete an internship.

Once you have nailed the internship interview, been offered the internship, accepted the internship offer and have had the internship approved by your Program’s Faculty Lead, join me for the How to Succeed on YOUR Internship! workshop offered every semester.