16 High School Internships in New Jersey in 2023
What’s Covered:
- 16 High School Internships in New Jersey
- How to Find More Local Internships
- How Much Do Internships Impact Your College Chances?
Internships are an excellent addition to your college profile since they can serve as work experience, community service, and extracurricular engagement all in one! Internships can also help you network, explore different career paths, and develop important job and leadership skills.
If you’re a high schooler who lives in New Jersey, check out some of these great internship opportunities.
16 High School Internships in New Jersey
1. New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Application Deadline: April 30
Duration: Six weeks (June through August)
This is a great opportunity for high school students looking to bolster their resumes and build career skills. A wide variety of positions are available in departments such as IT, marketing, and communications. Interns are expected to work 30 hours per week and are paid $15 an hour. Positions are available at the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s headquarters in Trenton as well as its field locations.
2. Rutgers SMART Summer Academy
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Five weeks (August to May)
The SMART program is aimed at minority students in grades seven through 12 who are interested in the health or medical fields. The program provides students access to healthcare professionals and includes programming such as hands-on activities via applied science, math, and technology, oral and written presentations, career exploration, and more.
3. Ladder Internship Program
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort. Main summer deadlines are March 15, April 15, and May 15
Duration: 8 weeks for the startup internship
Ladder Internships is a selective start-up internship program for ambitious high school students! In the program, you work with a high-growth start-up on an internship. Start-ups that offer internships range across a variety of industries from tech/deep tech, AI/ML to health tech, marketing, journalism, consulting, and more. Ladder’s start-ups are all high-growth companies raising over a million dollars, on average.
Past founders have included YCombinator alums, founders raising over 30 million dollars, or founders who previously worked at Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. In the program, students closely with their managers and a Ladder Coach on real-world projects and present their work to the company.
This program is designed to accommodate your schedule—internships are available throughout the year, and you can also do your work fully remotely. Students can expect to work 10-20 hours per week, for 8-12 weeks. Gap year students are also eligible to participate! Here is the application form.
4. Bergen County Sheriff’s Office Student Internship
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: N/A
This internship is open to students who live in Bergen County or go to school there. To earn high school credit, students must contact the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office as well as their school counselor. Interns get hands-on experience working in law enforcement departments.
5. NewBridge Services Free Summer Youth Employment Program
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: One month
The New Bridge Services offers a free summer youth employment program for Morris County high school students between ages 14 and 18. Interns will learn interviewing, job search skills, resume writing, financial literacy, and stress-management techniques. The program includes weekly community service experiences with organizations like the NJ Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity. The program is held both in-person and virtually.
6. Middlesex County E.L.I.T.E. Youth One-Stop Center Internships
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Three months minimum
This program is open to Middlesex County residents between the ages of 16 and 24 and offers free training for youth not enrolled in another youth or educational training program. The goal of this program is to provide a pathway to full-time employment, with paid training provided and a guaranteed three-month internship.
7. Newark Museum of Art Explorers Teen Program
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Three to four years
Since the inception of the Newark Museum of Art’s Explorers Teen Program 25 years ago, more than 300 students have graduated from the program. Open to Newark-area high schoolers, the program builds valuable skills like communication, leadership, and research through a curriculum that draws upon the Museum’s unique collections, resources, and staff. Participants are paid and expected to commit six after-school hours per week during the school year, 25 hours per week in the summer, and perform 30 hours of community service per year.
8. Ocean County Historical Society High School Community Service Program
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: N/A
High school students in grades nine through 12 with an interest in history will want to check out this opportunity to assist the Ocean County Historical Society. Participants work with staff and other volunteers in the day-to-day operation of the museum and its research center, helping with projects like inventorying and record keeping, exhibit research and display, and grounds beautification.
9. New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell Internship
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: N/A
The New Jersey Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell Internship—an organization within the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness—offers internships to high school students during the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Internships are unpaid, however, students can earn credit and gain valuable work experience while learning about the evolving field of cybersecurity.
10. M.I.N.D.S. (Medical Internship Navigating Diversity and Science)
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Six weeks (July through August)
This internship hosted by the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine is open to high school juniors and seniors from underrepresented backgrounds and financially disadvantaged students interested in pursuing a career in medicine. Over the course of the program, participants explore a variety of pathways in medicine, learn about the social determinants of health, and create a research project about health disparities in New Jersey. Participants also receive a $1,200 stipend, one year of SAT preparation, and CPR/BLS and Narcan certification.
11. Cory Booker Internship
Application Deadline:
- Summer: April 7
- Fall: August 4
Duration:
- Spring: January to mid-May.
- Summer Session One: Mid-May through June.
- Summer Session Two: July to mid-August.
- Fall: September through December
Cory Booker, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, has internship opportunities available to high schoolers in his Newark and Camden offices, as well as his Washington, D.C. office. Interns will assist with a variety of tasks, including answering phones, processing emails, and conducting research while gaining firsthand experience with the inner working of Congress.
12. Mercer County Student Internship Program
Application Deadline: May 6
Duration: June through Labor Day
This program provides students 15 years of age and older who either live or attend school in Mercer County with hands-on, real-world work experience. The program offers a variety of activities designed to teach new skills, enhance existing knowledge, and explore potential career paths in public administration. High school interns work up to 35 hours a week and are paid $13 an hour.
13. Bank of America Student Leaders
Application Deadline: January 13
Duration: Eight weeks
The Bank of America Student Leaders program connects community-minded students with local non-profits to participate in paid internships in more than 100 communities, including New Jersey. Participants gain firsthand experience with how nonprofits, governments, and businesses collaborate to meet local needs while serving their local community. The program culminates with a week‐long Student Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C. The program is open to high school juniors and seniors and interns should anticipate working 35 hours a week.
14. Rutgers New Jersey Medical School High School Interns
Application Deadline: Varies
Duration: Varies
A number of excellent high school internships are hosted by Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. High school students are responsible for independently arranging positions with Rutgers NJMS faculty members. You must be at least 16 years old to take advantage of this awesome opportunity.
15. The Governor’s School of New Jersey Program in Engineering & Technology
Application Deadline: January 14
Duration: Four weeks
This super-competitive, free, residential summer program brings together some of New Jersey’s most talented and motivated rising juniors at Rutgers University School of Engineering. Participants will take academic courses, conduct research projects, participate in workshops, visit local corporations, and engage in networking opportunities. Applicants must be nominated by their high schools and fewer than a quarter of nominees are accepted to the program.
16. Governor’s School of New Jersey Program in the Sciences
Application Deadline: N/A
Duration: Three weeks (July through August)
This three-week residential program immerses rising seniors in intense college-level research on the campus of Drew University. The program is tuition-free and seeks to introduce talented students to a range of scientific topics through academic courses, labs, projects, lectures, and math- and science-centered activities. This program is extremely competitive and applicants must be nominated by their high schools.
How to Find More Local Internships
If you’re struggling to find local internships online, try using your network. This means reaching out to friends or family and working with your school counselors to try and find a local internship.
Another option is to cold call or email local businesses in your area and ask about internships for high school students. Chances are there are more opportunities than you may think!
If you live in New Jersey but are also close to the New York City area, check out this list of high school internships in NYC.
How Much Do Internships Impact Your College Chances?
When creating your college profile, your extracurricular activities can be divided into four tiers. Tier 1 includes highly selective or rare extracurriculars, like the Governor’s School programs, while tier 4 encompasses common activities that are seen frequently by admissions committees, such as volunteering at your local historical society.
Depending on their selectivity and rigor, different internships can be categorized into different tiers. While prestigious, tier 1 internships are ideal, other less selective internships are still valuable to your extracurricular profile and personal growth.
If you’re curious about how your extracurriculars, including internships, will impact your odds of acceptance check out CollegeVine’s free chancing engine. This useful tool factors in your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and more to calculate your chances of admission at hundreds of schools across the U.S. You’ll also receive tips to help you improve and strengthen your profile.
Disclaimer: This post includes content sponsored by Lumiere Education.
