History Internships
Internships are professional work experiences that allow you to explore a career before graduation. They are opportunities that present you with the chance to apply the knowledge that you have gained in your classes and to further gather information that will help you chart your path after WVU. As History coursework prepares students for a broad range of careers, our students have pursued internships in many different spaces, from law offices to historic battlefields. Our faculty support our students through the academic structure of HIST 491—Professional Field Experience, which ensures discipline-specific learning outcomes are met as they pursue these experiences.
Internship Opportunities and Career Examples
History majors pursue careers across the private and public sectors, including: lawyer, archivist, museum curator, teacher, intelligence and security analyst, corporate sales, retail specialist, administrator, development specialist, manager, program analyst, marketing specialist, advising specialist, journalist, and more. Internship opportunities are as broad a range as the careers open to our majors. Learn more from the American Historical Associations article on What Can You Do with That History Degree?
-
U.S. Government Jobs
The federal government has a website catering to students who are eligible for entry-level federal jobs. -
Public History Employment
This website provides links to careers in public history. -
U.S. State Department
The State Department offers civil service programs for students and recent graduates. -
The ASPIRE Office at WVU
The ASPIRE office supports WVU students as they apply for nationally competitive scholarships to engage in service learning and education abroad. -
International Jobs Guide
This file provides information for students interested in international jobs in the government. -
Careers with the United States government for history majors
The following files provide a summary of how history majors can position themselves to get internships and jobs with the U.S. government. -
Internship Guide
This guide was prepared by the School of Public Administration. -
The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars
The Washington Center is the largest internship program in Washington. It provides paid and unpaid internships for academic credit to undergraduates and graduate students. Program Listing -
Presidential Management Fellow Program
Designed for graduates students (master’s or doctoral) who would like to pursue a career with the federal government. The Program puts them on the fast track. After completing the program in two years, students will have risen from a GS-9 level to a GS-12 level.
Internship Spotlight:
Billy Mays
Each of my internships required different skills, skills that I initially didn’t have. These differing internships taught me how to be flexible and how to adopt new ideas to perform better at these positions.
Q&A with Billy
-
What internships did you complete while a History major at WVU?
- I was able to complete three internships while getting my BA in History at WVU. I worked as a Historic Preservationist at Gulf Islands National Seashore in 2021, a Park Guide at Russell Cave National Monument in the summer of 2022, and as a Social Media Intern for the Pittsburgh portion of the Lewis and Clark Trial in the fall of 2022.
-
What did a typical day look like at one of your internship sites?
- Most days at my internships consisted of public education, whether that be through a direct manner with guided tours on park resources or by creating articles about the history that can be founded in said parks.
-
What skills did you hone through these opportunities?
- One major skill that I was able to gain from these experiences was being able to communicate well with large groups of folks and keep them engaged with the topic I was presenting. Another was being able to take in new ideas and methods. Each of my internships required different skills, skills that I initially didn’t have. These differing internships taught me how to be flexible and how to adopt new ideas to perform better at these positions.
-
In what ways did you find completing an internship useful for understanding or realizing your professional goals?
- I found doing these internships useful because they allowed me to build up my experience on my resume to gain eyes of future employers and to also build good connections with places I wanted to work. I have been working for the National Park Service since I graduated from WVU, and I genuinely can say if weren’t for those internships I wouldn’t be where I am now.
-
How did the internship complement your coursework in the major?
- My internships complimented my major in the manner that they were involved with ensuring the education of the public on its resources and cultures. I believe that is the key point of a History degree, learning about the past and bringing it to the present so it can be used to prepare for the future.