The best internship option is for the student to be given the opportunity to temporarily become part of the existing staff of an agency or organization.
This allows the student to truly be exposed to the work environment and to function as he/she would be expected to, if the job were a full-time position. (In many instances, students will learn that a job's requirements will vary from day-to-day and that most work is not glamorous or exciting.) It also allows the student the opportunity to experience what it feels like to be responsible for meeting the personal scheduling requirements of a job, completing assignments on-time and interacting as a professional with other employees and agency clientele.
Internships which offer the above atmosphere are those that recognize the value of the student intern and are anxious to accept interns on a continuing basis. Being able to identify an internship site which will meet the needs outlined above requires that the student's approach to seeking an internship be much like that he/she would use to seek a full-time job in his/her area of interest. It will take careful thought, hard work and interaction by the student, the internship coordinator and prospective host agency personnel to successfully secure a quality internship opportunity.