The Formula for Successful High School Internships = Project + Person + Preparedness

The traditional model of internships is broken. In conversations with high school students and counselors, I repeatedly hear that it has become harder than ever to land an internship. Even undergrads at top colleges find that “fewer students are getting internships than want them." If high school students do manage to find an internship through cold outreach or personal relationships, they often discover that their managers do not pay attention to them or they are given tasks that do not help them grow.

But internships can be a whole lot more. For high schoolers, internships can help them discover what working in an industry is like, and whether that is something they want to pursue or not. Working in a real-life setting can help develop technical and soft skills, such as communication, critical thinking, professionalism and teamwork. Internships provide experience that students can point to as evidence of their interests and expertise when applying to university or other programs in the future.

We've seen this firsthand. In the last two years, we've placed over five hundred amazing high school students at startups for hands-on internships as part of the Ladder Internships program. Some internships were technical: like a high school junior from Dubai, who interned with Billion Dollar Startup Ideas and built a subscription-based AI start-up idea. Others were more business-oriented, like a senior who interned with Divercity.io and created a Go-To-Market strategy for a personal finance app.

What we've discovered is that the formula for a successful internship is project + person + preparedness. Project: a company needs to think about what sorts of tasks are appropriate and useful for a high schooler to work on, and structure it out in the form of a project. Dropping a student into the middle of a highly complicated, context-heavy workday will not help the student or the employer. Person: the intern needs to have a specific manager, who is invested in the growth and success of the student. Preparedness: the high schooler needs to know what they are getting themselves into. Internships are work, and that means setting aside time and energy to show up effectively.

If through this formula the student does meaningful work in an internship, it can play an important role in the college application process. Students can mention it on their activities list or resume as evidence of their effort and investment in high school. During an internship, students might encounter challenges or obstacles; these are stories that they can describe in their CommonApp or supplemental essays to demonstrate their qualities and values. If the student has developed a good relationship with their internship manager, they can ask their supervisor for an additional recommendation letter that they can send to universities.

And once they get to university, their high school internship experience can continue to open doors. Knowing how to manage their time and work with others makes them more prepared for college-level courses and clubs. Having work experience on their CV makes it easier for them to find on-campus jobs and summer internships, which can help offset the rising cost of college. The best part of running Ladder Internships is hearing back from alumni not just about their amazing college admission results, but from during their time at university reflecting on how a meaningful, challenging high school internship experience can shape them for years to come.