How are students learning new skills during a year-long internship program?

Context

The Next Move Internship Program has supported students in Pierce County with career awareness, exploration, and preparation since 2005. Each school year, Next Move engages over 500 students in career awareness and exploration through their Intro to Internship course where students research career pathways, build resumes, write cover letters, and practice professional networking and communication skills.

Upon completing Intro to Internship, students are placed in unpaid, credit-bearing internship experiences in the community. With over 250 different community partners, Next Move gives students first-hand experience in a career field that they hope to pursue in the future. Internship experiences also allow students to build their resumes, connect with career mentors, and ensure that they make informed decisions about their post-high education.

(Learn about the program at nextmoveinternships.com)

Research

Next Move wanted to understand how their curriculum supports student growth. Which program components impact students most? How are students changed after participating in an internship? Do students learn skills that lead to professional behaviors like networking and sending out a resume?

To answer these questions, we worked with Next Move to design a survey measuring their skills, attitudes, and behaviors. Students took the pilot survey in the Spring of 2022. They’re taking the survey at the beginning, middle, and end of the 2022-2023 school year so we can compare how students grow over the course of the year.

Deliverable

In the pilot survey, we found that the program positively impacts student’s skills and makes them more like to complete professional behaviors. The Next Move receives a report after each survey that they use to improve program effectiveness, advertise the program benefits to students, and share program outcomes with funders.