Maximize Your Break: A Guide to Winter Internships for College Students

Winter internships, sometimes called "winternships," offer college students a unique opportunity to leverage their winter break for professional development. Instead of simply relaxing, students can gain hands-on experience, expand their professional network, and challenge themselves in a real-world setting. This commitment to career growth can significantly enhance a student's resume and make them stand out to future employers.

The Appeal of Winter Internships

Employers highly value candidates who demonstrate initiative and a commitment to professional development. A winter internship showcases precisely these qualities. Moreover, the winter season often sees less competition for internships, making it an ideal time to gain valuable experience.

Flexibility and Accessibility: Remote Winter Internships

Remote winter internships provide a flexible option for students with various commitments. With options to work 10, 20, 30, or 40 hours per week, students can tailor their internship experience to fit their individual schedules. A remote winter internship is a convenient way to boost your career from wherever you are.

Global Opportunities: Exploring Winter Internships Around the World

Winter internships are available in various locations worldwide, each offering unique cultural and professional experiences.

Europe: A Festive and Professional Experience

Visiting Europe in the winter offers ambitious applicants the chance to benefit from professional development and magical travel experiences. Interns can experience some of the world’s most popular Christmas markets and festive activities alongside their customized placement. Popular programs are offered in London, Dublin, and Madrid.

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North America: A Winter Wonderland of Opportunity

Winter is a wonderful season to explore North America. In NYC, you can marvel at the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center and ice skate in Central Park. There are endless reasons that winter is a great season to intern abroad in North America.

Latin America: Escape to the Sun

Medellin, Colombia, known as the "City of Eternal Spring," boasts mild and pleasant weather year-round, making it an attractive winter destination. December through February are the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere, so interns will enjoy very warm weather.

Australia: Embrace the Summer Down Under

A winter internship in Melbourne allows applicants to escape their colder climes and benefit from the Southern Hemisphere’s summer. A winter internship in Melbourne is the perfect way to make the most of winter break.

Asia: Culture and Business

Winter internships in Asia allow young professionals to avoid the heat that takes over many of the region’s top cities in the spring and summer, while still taking in all of the benefits. Winter internships in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok offer a unique opportunity to learn more about culture, language, and business. Given that fewer interns tend to dedicate their winter break to internships, this is an ideal time to create a close-knit network with other interns on the program and your host organization’s team.

Building a Global Network and Community

One of the most incredible benefits of interning abroad is being immersed in a diverse and inspiring community. The Intern Group’s international community is made up of the world’s most passionate and talented students and professionals, who come from over 150 countries around the globe. In all of our global cities, interns will truly be immersed in a global setting and will have the chance to make both local and international connections.

Support and Cultural Immersion

Our teams in all of our destinations know their cities inside out and will show you the best of them. Our winter internships include a series of cultural events specific to the destination. In-person winter interns get to experience all that their global city has to offer while still enjoying the comforts of home, with a private bedroom in a fully-furnished apartment. Interns live in their city’s safest neighborhoods, alongside other interns or international students. Every apartment has all the necessities, including lockable bedrooms, cooking utensils and of course, WiFi. While interning abroad, interns will commute the way locals do - via public transportation.

Career Advancement and Guidance

Interns benefit from career advancement tools before, during, and following their Winter internship program. Upon completing your internship in Winter, you'll have the opportunity to get guidance on your next career step from experienced career coaches.

Diverse Internship Opportunities

A wide range of internship opportunities are available across various fields, catering to diverse interests and academic backgrounds.

Arts Internships

Explore programs that support internships in the arts and are open to current Stanford students in any major. View the Arts Job and Internship Toolkit.

Research and Environmental Programs

The Bill Lane Center for the American West offers both research assistantships and internships for students. Both programs are open to students from all years and all disciplines. Research assistantships, with faculty mentorship, are available on pre-arranged projects and for self-designed projects part-time during the academic year and full-time in the summer. The internships program includes Schultz Fellowships and West internships during the summer to work with organizations throughout the West. Through these paid internships, students can explore careers in natural history, conservation, ecology, land use, museum curation, resource management, water, energy, literature, policy, politics, and more. The Bill Lane Center also offers Environmental Journalism internships for credit.

Sustainability Internships

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Summer Internship Program offers paid internship opportunities for students to explore the growing field of sustainability, gaining new skills, and expanding your professional network. These off-campus internships-available locally, nationally, and internationally-are open to students of all levels and disciplines across the university.

Global Policy and Field Research

The Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) offers Global Policy internships and Field Research internships each summer. FSI provides placement, mentorship and a stipend to students engaging in off-campus internships at international policy and international affairs organizations. The internships are open to students at all levels and from all departments, with a preference for undergraduates entering their junior and senior years.

Public Service Fellowships and Internships

An online searchable database containing approximately 500 fellowships, internships and other established service programs collected from Internet and print resources.

Science and Engineering Internships

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a world-renowned laboratory with research opportunities in physics, chemistry, materials and environmental sciences, scientific computing, and many engineering fields. In our 10-week internship programs, you’re paid to dig into challenging projects with real business impact.

Capital One Internships: A Case Study

Capital One offers diverse internship opportunities across various business areas. The best part? Earning a bachelor’s degree by August 2027? Level up your skills in business and problem solving. Identify, build and test strategies that help us change banking for good. Accelerate your career as a data analyst. You’ll work on hypothesis-driven strategy analysis and build valuation models or data products on AWS infrastructure using SQL, Python and Spark. Join a team of internal consultants who make some of our most important business decisions. Develop your critical-thinking, problem-solving and leadership skills while gaining world-class consulting experience. Launch your career as you own key finance projects from start to finish. Get the project experience and tools you need to dive into commercial banking. Immerse yourself in meaningful projects while gaining insight into investment banking best practices. You’ll intern with one of Capital One’s line of business: Derivatives, Financing, M&A, KippsDeSanto or TripleTree. Learn how to deliver complex, cross-functional initiatives that drive business forward through roles in Project, Process or Risk Management.

Preferred Majors

Economics, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Information, Finance, Supply Chain, Accounting or Marketing. All majors welcome. Grow as a software engineer as you develop world-class technical skills and a comprehensive understanding of our tech and business. Preferred Majors: Computer Science, Computer Engineering. You’ll be at the heart of new product launches and innovations that improve the customer experience. Technical major preferred: Computer Science, Management Information Systems. Learn from best-in-class cyber security professionals.

A Student's Perspective

"My Capital One internship experience was phenomenal. I now have a better understanding of how to collaborate with colleagues and use Capital One's tech stack."

The Application Process

Here’s what you can expect after applying. Keep in mind-there may be different requirements based on the program.

Leveraging University Resources

Stanford Career Education supports you early and often through a network of career communities that help you explore opportunities and make meaningful connections. By providing customized support based on academic communities, the specialized staff helps you discover your career interests, interact with mentors, employers and alumni, and find opportunities, research, and on-campus jobs.

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