Center for Career Development : Discovery Externships

Alumni: Sponsor an Externship

We are very excited about the success of the Discovery Externship and we need you to be a part of it! We are looking to "K" alumni, like you, to assist current students in getting a "taste of the industry." We need your assistance in providing a "K" student with a 1-4 week externship work experience with you at your place of employment.

Sponsors engage in many ways. Some anchor the experience to observation, or "shadowing." Others construct mini job descriptions. Some design short-term projects. A few have arranged information interviews with colleagues whose work is "similar but different." Lean on your College family. Veteran sponsors will help you customize your externship. Alumni surprise us in describing the value they find in hosting externs; many discover that their work is more interesting and important than they realized.

The sponsors involvement will provide "K" students with an opportunity to gain experience in a chosen field of interest and set learning goals for themselves to help them in the career exploration process. Students will be approaching the externship for the value of the experience and not as a source of income. However, if your organization customarily provides wages, stipends, etc., for interns, the student externs would welcome compensation.

Another aspect of the externship that is often appealing to both alumni and students is the homestay. This is an opportunity to host the student extern in your home during the experience. The homestay provides you and the student with "porch time"- a time to connect outside of the normal work environment. Alumni are strongly encouraged to take part in the homestay in order to make the most of the experience, as this is often where the "real connection" with students occurs. If you value mentoring, the homestay enhances the opportunity for building that special kind of professional relationship.

We urge you as a valued Kalamazoo alum or friend of the college to sponsor an externship and homestay for a "K" student this summer! This experience can enrich the professional and personal lives of both the student participants and the alumni who sponsor them.