Summer internships for college students upended amid pandemic, but opportunities remain

For Sonoma County college students, June normally marks the beginning of the summer internship season, a time to gain valuable experience in the workplace and jump-start their careers. With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on the economy, many students’ internship plans have been dashed or thrown into uncertainty.

As businesses reduce expenses, work mainly remotely and require employees who are in the office to adhere to prudent social distancing, many have canceled or postponed summer internships. For organizations still hiring interns, most have their college apprentices working online. While that counts as professional experience, these entry-level workers are missing out, for now, on valuable face-to-face interaction with veteran colleagues and managers.

“Given social distancing, everything has been turned upside down,” said Stan Moroz, who recently finished his fourth year at Santa Rosa Junior College and is an intern this summer at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato. He plans to transfer to UC Davis in the fall and study chemistry.

Roughly a third of more than 100 SRJC students who secured internships - many that began in the spring - said the professional work experience was being scaled back or paused as a result of the?pandemic, according to an April survey by the school’s career center. Another 18% reported their internship programs had been canceled altogether.

That’s left many college students scouring virtual job boards for remaining intern opportunities or waiting in limbo to hear if their internships will eventually resume. At the same time, many students are adjusting to remote internships, while others are seeking creative ways to attain professional experience during their summer at home.

Lauralyn Larsen, SRJC internship coordinator, said that while there are fewer internships available this summer, industries deemed essential under the county’s public health emergency orders such as agriculture and social services still are actively seeking college interns.

Many students who have worked as interns with local companies or nonprofits previously have been able to return to the organizations and work remotely, she said. It’s students applying to intern positions for the first time who are at a disadvantage this unusual summer when the business community has its hands full with virus-related challenges.

“Employers are not feeling real confident having students work remotely when they haven’t worked with (those students) before,” Larsen said.

Moroz, who is working in an ongoing medical research internship with the Buck Institute, has been able to continue working remotely since the nonprofit temporarily closed its site in March during the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak. Instead of conducting experiments in the lab, he now completes data analysis assignments from his apartment in Rohnert Park.

While the situation isn’t ideal, Moroz views it as an opportunity to practice working from home, a skill employers may come to value from new full-time hires even after the pandemic is eventually under control.

“This sort of independence has been thrust upon us, so I think it’s important to use it to find your own way,” he said.

Kaitlyn Wong, of Petaluma, who will be a sophomore at UC Davis in the fall, hasn’t had the same luxury. Her sports medicine internship with the school’s athletic department is on hold at least until the campus reopens - hopefully in the fall. Still, Wong is unsure when she’ll be allowed to practice any hands-on treatment.

“Right now, I’m just waiting to hear back for when we start,” she said.

Amy’s Kitchen in Santa Rosa is moving ahead with its summer internship program. At least three of the 11 positions offered will be on site at the food company’s manufacturing plant, while the remaining marketing, sales, procurement and engineering internships will be working online.

Cindy Gillespie, a vice president of human resources, said Amy’s is interviewing applicants via video conferencing calls. Since the pandemic hit, the business has been recruiting interns on LinkedIn and attending virtual career fairs held by colleges including Sonoma State University.

“We’ve already been doing extensive video conference interviews for the past year, and now we’re getting even better at it,” she said.

Audra Verrier, career center coordinator at Sonoma State, said the school held its first online job fair in May, hosting over 120 students and 37 mostly local and regional companies. Student job applicants submitted resumes online beforehand and interviewed with employers via Zoom.

“Some students had a great conversation, and employers went on to hire them,” Verrier said.

Both SSU and SRJC intend to continue holding virtual career fairs and plan to expand online career resources for students, including job boards, video workshops and email updates listing available work experience opportunities.

Verrier said even if students aren’t able to find full-time internships this summer, there are still ways to bolster their resumes while stuck at home. She pointed to online skill-building courses and short-term professional projects offered by some companies and colleges.

“What is really valuable work experience, doesn’t have to happen through traditional internships the way we thought about them even two months ago,” she said.

Anwen Lin, who is entering her second year of a medical program at Brown University in Rhode Island, is back home in Santa Rosa after her clinical research internship this summer was canceled. But after reaching out to the school’s alumni network, she landed a remote data analytics assignment with a medical researcher to help improve coursework for geriatric medical education.

Lin also enrolled in free online classes offered by Harvard University and is taking part in a mentoring program for students from Zimbabwe.

“Practicing working with data will be helpful, and I’m also learning to code,” she said. “I think this time will be useful in the future.”

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412