2024 update
The Otago Internship Programme is not running in 2024.
How will you stand out as a graduate?
Are you an undergraduate business student with good grades?
Do you have at least one year of study left to complete following this year?
Would you like to increase your future career opportunities by working with a successful business in New Zealand next year?
An Otago Business School paid internship will:
- Prepare you for work through real-life experience
- Give you the chance to apply knowledge you have learnt
- Increase your confidence and grow your communication skills in a business setting.
- Expose you to great networking opportunities – the foundation of your future job search.
- Enable you to earn 18 points towards your degree.
Email internships@otago.ac.nz to register your interest.
Student internship experiences
Sanne Deen
Tim Varsanyi
Anna Weidling
Downloads for prospective students
See what students are saying about the Otago Business School's unique and exclusive Internship Programme.
"I spent the year out of University, working with a Marketing firm full-time for the whole year. I learnt a lot about myself, how a business runs and also about what you get up to when you work in Marketing … take the opportunity, I really recommend it.”Tom Kitchin
What's involved with the Internship Programme?
Our programme is unique in New Zealand. It is designed to give Otago students who've completed their second year of study towards their BCom and are averaging a 'B' or better academic grade, valuable and meaningful first hand workplace experience.
As an intern you will be involved in real business activities - you are not a "broom boy" or "tea lady", and you won't be running mindless errands. Our interns genuinely add value to businesses they work for.
How do you benefit?
- Enhance your CV, interview and networking skills, and meet businesses through our “Employability Programme” before starting your internship
- Opportunities to apply for positions advertised through the Otago Business School Internship Office
- Full-time paid employment for six months to one year
- Complete 1 x 18-point academic distance learning paper (BSNS 301) that counts towards your degree
- Valuable experience to add to your CV and business mentors to provide advice and support
- Real-world experience and examples to bring to potential job interviews - making you stand out above other applicants
- Many interns are offered full-time employment once they complete their degree
- At the end of your internship you return to the University of Otago to complete the final year of your BCom degree.
Other important information
- Am I eligible?
- Why do an internship?
- Preparing and applying
- Requirements and support
- Employability Programme
- Information for Employers
- FAQs for students
- Download the Internship Programme information card (PDF)
Contact the Internship Manager
If you'd like to find out more about the Otago Internship Programme please contact the Internship Office:
Internship Manager
Dean's Office, Otago Business School
Email internships@otago.ac.nz
Tel +64 3 479 4280
“In my final year I realised I had to start making decisions……….decided to join the Otago Business School's Employability Programme……. It showed me all these options available and really helped prepare me in terms of my CV, interview skills and showed me what students who had done internships were doing….it really opened my eyes”
Jess Adam (View my video clip)
“I had the opportunity to travel to clients in Palmerston North and Australia. The connections it gives you talking to CEOs and CFOs and people you wouldn't normally have exposure to, is a great opportunity for me. Coming back here it's given me a renewed study ethic …”
Rebecca Hunt (View my video clip)
“It's been fantastic applying what I learnt in the University and feeling really valued in the workplace. I can take what I learnt from the internship and apply it to my degree.”
Michael Bayly (View my video clip)
“So once you've completed the internship training programme, you apply for actual internships, so it's not like you just get placed in a firm, you have to apply”
Alana Harvey (View my video clip)
“The Internship Programme is really beneficial because it gives you the experience and you have your degree so you've got that excellence above whoever else is applying for the job …
… Studying at University you think that's what you really want to do and it's not really until you apply it in a real world situation that you know that that's exactly what you want to do.”
Monique Brown (View my video clip)
