15 Business Internships for High Schoolers in 2023
What’s Covered:
- 15 Business Internships for High School Students
- How Much Do Internships Impact Your College Chances?
Internships are critical experiences to help future professionals get a taste of their prospective fields, all while impressing colleges and possibly earning money. If you’re a high school student interested in business, there are plenty of opportunities to gain experience in a wide variety of niches, including marketing, finance, leadership, and more, all across the country—even, in some cases, virtually.
Below you’ll find a list of business-related internship opportunities for high school students. Keep in mind that internships directly related to business are hard to come by in high school, so some of them are in relevant fields. Regardless, you’ll build valuable and relevant skills for a future career in business.
15 Business Internships for High School Students
1. The Bella Abzug Leadership Institute (BALI)
Application Deadline: Varies
Duration: Varies
BALI, named after New York Congresswoman Bella Abzug, was founded in 2005 with the purpose of helping young women develop leadership skills and confidence. Today, the institute continues to give female-identified youth, ages 13-21, who reside in or are from the NYC metropolitan area, opportunities through a number of programs throughout the school year and summer. The program includes workshops, seminars, speakers, networking, and debate labs.
2. DOROT Summer Teen Internship
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Four weeks
DOROT, a nonprofit that serves older adults, seeks high school and college interns interested in learning about the world of nonprofit management. Students participate in and play a role in preparing meaningful programs and activities for older adults, all while developing leadership skills and earning community service hours. The program is open to rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors in New York City.
3. building-U High School Internship
Application Deadline: Rolling
Duration: Three months and longer
This three-month or longer program is currently operating online, so students in grades 9-12 can apply for and complete the internship from anywhere in the world. The mission of the nonprofit is to help students prepare for life after high school. As an intern, you’ll perform a range of duties, including administrative work, research, and developing programming and marketing materials, as well as assisting with social media. Specifically, as an R & D intern, you’ll get experience and guidance writing within a compressed time frame, and practice and hone your research and oral communication skills.
4. Youthbridge
Application Deadline: March 17
Duration: Two years
Youthbridge is a two-year Fellowship program in New York that welcomes high school juniors and seniors from diverse backgrounds to engage in intensive trainings on leadership and diversity. In addition to their work, fellows participate in team-building games, activities, and workshops, while receiving mentoring from successful professionals and taking part in experiential learning opportunities. This opportunity is ideal for students near New York City since participants are required to travel there for every meeting.
5. Jimerson Birr High School Internship Program
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Four to six weeks
A Florida-based business law firm, Jimerson Birr offers a High School Summer Internship Program for seniors to gain real-world experience and develop professional skills. Interns have the opportunity to work in areas like accounting, communications and marketing, legal services, and information technology over the course of four to six weeks. Students have the opportunity to learn applicable skills for future careers from industry leaders.
6. Ladders for Leaders
Application Deadline: February 25
Duration: At least six weeks (July through August)
Ladders for Leaders, a nationally-recognized program, places high school and college students in paid summer internships with corporations, nonprofits, and government agencies in New York City. The program itself is an initiative of the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD). To be eligible for this opportunity, you must be between games 16-21, enrolled in high school or college, have a minimum 3.0 GPA, and be a resident of one of New York City’s five boroughs.
7. Bank of America Student Leaders
Application Deadline: January 13
Duration: Eight weeks
Established in 2004, the Bank of America Student Leaders program provides opportunities for high school juniors and seniors to develop leadership and job-related skills. 300 students from diverse communities are selected each year to work in paid internships with nonprofits like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. The internships are for eight weeks over the summer. As part of the experience, students participate in a week‐long Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. Interns also receive lessons in Better Money Habits to help prepare them for success in the workforce.
8. Interns4Good Internships
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: N/A
Interns4Good offers a wide range of positions for high school students in grades 9-12 looking to intern at nonprofit organizations, including marketing and outreach positions. Some are in-house, while others are with partner organizations. Interns4Good adds new positions every week.
9. Forage Virtual Work Experience Programs
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Five to six hours
Forage provides high school students with bite-sized virtual work experiences at some of the world’s top companies. Experiences are self-paced, free, and allow participants to learn about the skills needed to be successful workforce members.
10. Department of Education Internship Opportunities
Application Deadline:
- Fall: July 31
- Winter/Spring: November 31
- Summer: 31
Duration: Eight weeks to a year
The Department of Education offers a variety of internships across a broad spectrum of fields, including business-friendly areas like Human Resources Management, Project Management, and Training and Development. Positions are intended to provide participants with real-world experience, develop personal and professional skills, and provide insight into potential career paths. Internships are available in three sessions—fall, winter/spring, and summer—throughout the year to students 16 and older attending accredited institutions, such as high schools.
11. Work! As Learning
Application Deadline: Varies
Duration: Varies
The Work! As Learning program is the result of a partnership between the New Hampshire Department of Education and the state’s businesses and aims to connect up to 1,000 New Hampshire students with paid internships by 2024. Students benefit from gaining work experience and building valuable skills like critical thinking. To participate, you’ll need to complete a career assessment which is used to pair you with a local paid internship.
12. PNNL High School Business Intern
Application Deadline: Varies
Duration: Academic year
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory provides internships to students interested in pursuing careers in business. Internships occur during the academic year, with participants spending a half-day in high school and a three- to four-hour shift at PNNL working with a mentor in a specific field of business. The opportunity is available to sophomores, juniors, and seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA enrolled full-time in a public or private high school.
13. Meta Summer Academy
Application Deadline: March 1
Duration: Six weeks (June through July)
Meta Summer Academy provides high school sophomores from East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City with the chance to gain firsthand experience with the day-to-day operations of one of the world’s most recognized social media companies. Participants work closely with mentors to build job skills and explore careers in the tech industry. Meta hires 150 students annually for this program and a minimum 2.5 GPA is required for consideration.
14. Port of Seattle High School Internships
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Eight and ten weeks
The Port of Seattle has a variety of internships working on real projects—no coffee runs—at incredibly interesting locations like the SEA Airport and along the Seattle waterfront. All internships are paid and participants will gain real-world experience in project management, networking, public speaking, and leadership while completing a work-based project. You need to be 16 years of age or older, currently enrolled in (or recently graduated from) high school, and preferably have a record of participating in extracurricular activities.
15. KP LAUNCH
Application Deadline: December 23
Duration: Seven weeks (June through August)
Kaiser Permanente’s KP launch program provides internships—both at their Oakland headquarters and throughout northern California—to students from backgrounds underrepresented in the healthcare industry. Through the program, interns explore non-medical careers in fields such as accounting and finance, project management, and sales and marketing. Interns are paid anywhere from $15 to $17 an hour. Applicants must be at least 16 years of age, a current high school student, and available to work full-time Monday through Friday. Priority is given to high school juniors and seniors.
How Much Do Internships Impact Your College Chances?
Internships count as extracurricular activities and are an important factor in college admissions. Extracurriculars are divided into four tiers, with tier 1 representing the most exceptional extracurriculars and tier 4 representing the most common activities. A competitive internship could count as tier 1!
How does your internship stack up? Will it help you land a spot at your dream college? Find out with CollegeVine’s chancing engine. This free tool will estimate your chances of acceptance to hundreds of colleges and universities all over the country, based on your real information, including extracurricular activities.
