Script for a telephone call

Hello

My name is _______________. I am a __________ (senior, junior) at Western Oregon University. Our school has a program where I can earn academic credit by doing an internship. I am calling to see if your organization would be willing to sponsor one. The way our internships operate is I would work 3 hours per week for each credit hour earned over a 10 week academic term.

Sponsoring an internship would benefit your organization by having an additional person working in your organization and benefit me by providing practical experience.

I would like to schedule a time to visit with someone from your organization to discuss a possible internship. Would that be possible?

Note:

They will want to know if you are willing to do an unpaid internship or not at some point.

They may also want to know what type of internship you want. If it is a specific type, like accounting, then you will need to say so. If you are more flexible, then say something like ‘I am interested in gaining practical experience in as many facets of business operations as possible so I am very flexible’.

They will also want to know how many hours a week you want to work. In general, it is 3 hours per credit hour so 3 credit hours would be about 9 hours per week.

If they appear to be open to talking with you, suggest a meeting time and date. It will make it easier for them; all they need to do is check their calendar for that specific date and time. If they can’t meet at your suggested time and date then ask what a good time would be for them.

Whether or not you want to ask for a paid internship is up to you. More businesses are willing to support unpaid internships than paid ones. However, you could ask for a weekly travel stipend to cover commuting expenses, which would be a ‘middle’ ground’.