Human Resources

Internship Program

Program Overview

The City of Long Beach values the contributions made by students of all ages and backgrounds and is seeking bright innovative, results-oriented individuals to join our Paid Internship Program. This program has been developed to provide college, university or graduate students with the opportunity to gain both academic and practical experience working in local government. The internships are paid and designed to provide the participants with the opportunity to apply academic skills to various “real world” assignments with the City. Students will have the opportunity to learn about the City of Long Beach and the exceptional services it provides to the community.

The Value of the Internships

Internships provide the following benefits for students:

• A full and realistic view of the world-at-work and integrates academic preparation with practical application and skill development in the workplace;
• An opportunity to network with professionals in one's field of interest and a chance to explore career options and develop transferable skills;
• The opportunity to earn a reasonable wage while obtaining valuable work experience.

Qualifications for Internship

In order to qualify for an internship the candidate must be 18 years old, a student currently enrolled in college, university or graduate program, or a recent college graduate within the past year, with a GPA of 2.0 or higher, interested in learning about careers in local government while obtaining related work experience. Candidates must also meet any course requirements for the specific internship program, as outlined in the internship announcement. Certain rules and exceptions apply to Veterans. Please contact the Internship Coordinator for specific details.

The selected candidate must be able to pass a background investigation and pre-employment physical examination.

Internship Program Operational Titles & Salary Ranges:

The City is currently using the "Administrative Intern-NC" title for all interns. Salary ranges vary according to the interns education and current school enrollment. Departments are encouraged to use the following operational titles and salary ranges in order to differentiate between the different assignment levels (Paid Internship Program Requirements).

• Administrative Interns - (Administrative Intern–NC H36 to H38) students currently enrolled in an Associates of Arts program or are college/university students in their freshmen or sophomore year. Includes recent high school graduates who are enrolled in college for the fall semester.
• Senior Administrative Interns - (Administrative Intern-NC H38 to H41) students currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program in a junior or senior standing or enrolled in a graduate level courses with a focus/emphasis on business administration, management, public administration, or human resources.
• Management Interns - Administrative Intern-NC H39 to H42) students currently enrolled in a Master's degree program from an accredited college or university with six (6) months of experience paid or volunteer.
• Engineering Interns - (Administrative Intern-NC H38 to H43) students currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree program with a focus/emphasis in civil engineering or computer science, in a junior, senior standing or enrolled in a graduate level program.

Student Level Definitions:

For consistency purposes, the City uses the California Postsecondary Education Commission definitions of student levels:

• Freshman - Refers to a first-year undergraduate student. At the California State University, freshman refer to students who have completed fewer than 30 semester or 45 quarter hours. At the University of California, freshmen refer to students who have completed between 0 and 44.9 quarter units (0 to 29.9 semester units).
• Sophomore - At the California State University, student level sophomore refers to students who have completed 30 to fewer than 60 semester or 45 to fewer than 90 quarter credit hours. At the University of California, sophomore refers to students who have completed at least 45 but not more than 89.9 quarter units (30-59.9 semester units).
• Junior - At the California State University, student level junior refers to students who have completed 60 to fewer than 90 semester or 90 to fewer than 135 quarter credit hours. At the University of California, junior refers to students who have completed at least 90 but not more than 134.9 quarter units (60-89.9 semester units).
• Senior - Refers to students who have completed 90 or more semester or 135 or more quarter credit hours.
• Graduate - Student who has completed the requirements for a bachelor's degree and who is enrolled in a master's or higher degree program in a postsecondary institution.
• Recent Graduates - Student must have graduated within 1 year of submitting their application. College graduates cannot work as an intern for beyond 2 years.

Recruitment and Selection of Interns

The Internship Program runs year-round. Human Resources will recruit interns based on several factors which include, but are not limited to funding availability, staff availability, available office space for interns, and available projects for interns.

Annual Intern Audit

Interns participating in the program will be required to submit copies of their official transcripts and current class schedule every Spring Semester (April) to their departments for eligibility verification.

Use of City Vehicles or Personal Vehicles during City Business

If the intern is required to drive a City car during the course of their assignment, they are required to submit a DMV printout to be reviewed by the Risk Management Bureau in Human Resources prior to the hiring process.

Benefits

Interns are considered part-time employees, and are not eligible for medical or dental benefits or paid leave such as vacation, personal leave, or holidays. In accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), part-time employees that are not initially eligible to enroll in medical or dental benefits may become eligible at a later date dependent upon the duration and number of hours worked during their internship.

Effective July 1, 2015, in accordance with the Health Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, part-time and nonpermanent full-time employees will be eligible to accrue up to 48 hours or 6 day of sick leave in each year of employment of which 24 hours or 3 days of sick leave can be used in each year of employment (effective 90 days after employment).

Interns that are not eligible for enrollment into the CalPERS retirement plan will be enrolled in the City of Long Beach Alternate Retirement System (ARS), which is a defined benefit plan administered by Public Agency Retirement Services (PARS). Eligible employees enrolled into PARS contribute 3.0% of their compensation to the plan.

Unpaid Leaves

Federal and state mandated leaves (e.g. FMLA, PDL, CFRA, USSERA, etc.) are available to interns that meet the established guidelines and/or requirements for the applicable leave. This leave is unpaid and the intern is required to notify the assigned department of any anticipated leave within a reasonable time period (as early as possible). The intern may return to their internship as long as they continue to meet the requirements of the Internship Program (i.e. GPA, enrolled in school, etc.).

Intern Working Hours, Assignments and Wages

These positions are unclassified part-time at-will assignments and are not subject to the rules and regulations of Civil Service employment. Interns are typically limited to work an average of 20 hours or less per week (at the hiring manager's discretion) but must not work more than 1,600 hours in a year (from their hire date)(Per Civil Service Rules & Regulations Section 49 and Civil Service Policy Section 2.32). Please note once interns reach the 1,000 hours threshold in any CalPERS fiscal year (July 1st - June 30th), the intern must be enrolled into CalPERS.

All internships are at-will assignments and may be terminated at any time and have no appeal rights. Interns are limited to a 3 year internship with the City of Long Beach.

If an intern works more than 40 hours in any workweek, they will be paid overtime (hourly rate of one time and a half). Please note that any overtime hours count toward the 1600 hour maximum limit per fiscal year.

Salary determinations will be based on experience, education, and recruitment needs among other factors.

Intern Code of Ethics

Interns are expected to follow the standard of conduct below and will be terminated from the Program for the following reasons:

• Unexcused or frequent absences or tardiness.
• Violation of City policy, procedures or work rules.
• Unprofessional or inappropriate conduct in the workplace.
• Failure to maintain status as a student.
• Failure to perform after reasonable training.
• End of assignment.
• Failure to maintain 2.0 minimum GPA.
• Budget reasons.

City Sponsored Training

Interns may attend City-sponsored training with the approval of the assigned department. For training opportunities that have a waiting list, full-time employees have first priority and interns will be considered for any remaining spots. The department will be charged the expense of the training class/program for the intern.

Intern Network Meetings

The Department of Human Resources organizes regular Intern Network Meetings. The aim is to give interns the opportunity to learn more about careers in local government. Supervisors are welcome to participate in the meetings and help us guide and educate our Interns about the goals, objectives, and operations of your unit or agency.

We hope the information provided in these guidelines will be helpful as you explore potential internship opportunities with the City of Long Beach.