Study + Intern
Gain international work experience, develop business connections, and broaden your industry skills through a part-time internship while studying abroad for a trimester.
Intern in a New Zealand-based organisation while studying abroad for a trimester at the University of Waikato. Through hands-on experience, you will increase your knowledge while enhancing your business acumen and developing invaluable industry connections. Spend your time in an organisation applying your knowledge to solve a real-world problem or contributing to a live project. Completing an internship alongside your academic studies will give you practical skills and enhance your employability, both at home and in New Zealand.
The Study + Intern programme is open to all majors offered at the University of Waikato, and you can earn academic credit for your internship!
Our internship placements include opportunities in a variety of organisations, including non-profit, corporate, and government sectors. Our placement process is professional and comprehensive. We work hard to find exciting and suitable placements for all our students.
Internship Details – two key components
- Time per week: 15 hours, spread over 2-3 days (the days will depend on your scheduled academic class times)
- Total time at internship: 180 hours
- Workload: You will be enrolled in your academic courses while also interning part-time in a local organisation, please note that this will mean a higher workload overall.
Note: This is an unpaid internship.
The Study + Intern Programme includes:
- Internship placement at a locally based organisation
- Video interview before arriving in New Zealand
- Pre-internship toolkit
- Orientation briefing
- Official role description for your placement
- A dedicated supervisor at the organisation
- End of placement evaluation
Fee: This program involves a placement process that incurs a fee.
Please note: You may be liable for a $500 (New Zealand Dollars) withdrawal fee from the internship programme if you withdraw your application after the final application closing date or if work has already commenced to place you in an organisation
You have the option to earn academic credit for your internship experience. This will be officially presented on your Waikato transcript.
There isn’t a fee associated with gaining academic credit – however, you will need to leave space for one (1) of your papers to be your subject-specific internship paper.
Your internship course won't have scheduled classes but will have required academic components.
- Credit: 15 points at 300 level
(3-4 US credits or 7.5 ECTS)
Your International Office representative will work to place you in the Work-Integrated Learning paper that best fits your degree, after you have been placed at an organisation and have your role description.
Application and Placement Process
- Download and fill out an application form.
- Send a copy of the application form, your resume/CV, and a Cover Letter to studyabroad@waikato.ac.nz
- Wait to hear from your internship placement manager.
- Have a video call with your internship placement manager. This will help them understand your interests and background.
- Be matched with a potential organisation and complete an interview via video call.
- If you and the internship site are happy to proceed, then you will be presented with an internship offer. We work hard to ensure our students are happy with their first offer.
- Once you have accepted an offer, you will be given:
- Role description
- Pre-internship toolkit
- Confirmation paperwork
- Internship site details
- Internship supervisor details
- A copy of the agreed-upon dates and times
- University of Waikato internship paper enrolment details
Applications Close
|
A Trimester February - June |
B Trimester July - November |
| 15 November | 1 May |
Examples of previous internships
An internship with the Animal Behaviour and Welfare Team gives insight into how a Crown Research Institute is operating. During the internship, they participate in team/science meetings and daily research activities, such as organising trial gear, unloading, and setting up equipment, recording animal behaviour data from video recordings, and attending any animal work that the team is undertaking as an observer.
Students have the chance to assist a local business with business analysis. Tasks may include:
- Helping design and build Microsoft templates
- Business process and systems documentation, analysis and mapping
- Website and web application development
- Aiding the project manager in change management
- Researching best practices for various areas of the business.
Finance internships may involve the following tasks:
- Integrating data into quarterly and annual reports.
- Process mapping: working to understand and evaluate existing processes, providing recommendations, and presenting this in a visual format.
- Management reporting and analysis – primarily Microsoft Excel-based, including tables, charts, data linking and formulas.
- Detailed data extraction and analysis (SAS, MS Access), including setting up report/query formats.
Students work on various ecotechnologies, such as constructed wetlands and algal nutrient scrubbers for the treatment of wastewaters and sludges, and diffuse run-off from farms. Students may also assist with their range of mesocosm systems set up on local farms and at wastewater treatment plants.