Employers
Rural Works! welcomes private, public, government, and non-profit organizations in rural communities to host an intern for Summer 2025. The Rural Works! program coordinator is available to assist employers throughout the process. Please let us know if you have any questions about the program.
Employer Requirements
To qualify for the Rural Works! program, employers must:
- Be located in or work with a rural community in North Carolina
- Compensate the intern a minimum of $15.00 per hour for 40 hours per week for 10-12 weeks
- Help the intern identify temporary housing within the community (employers are not required to provide housing, just to help students find housing if needed)
- Provide the intern with interim and post internship feedback (a template will be provided)
- Complete a post internship evaluation survey
- Provide each intern eight hours of compensated time to conduct or participate in a community engagement activity outside of their job to deepen their understanding of the community.
Process
- Submit the Employer Interest Form. (Does not need to be done if a returning employer)
- Submit the Internship Description Form
- Rural Works! will promote the internship opportunity to NC State students November 2024- March 2025
- Employers will review applications, conduct interviews, and hire an intern by April 10, 2025. Please read the Hiring Process Information.
- Employers should complete the Employer Hiring Form once they have selected an intern (no later than April 10, 2025)
- Employers may begin their hiring process in November 2024. All hiring must be complete by April 10, 2025.
- Contact Sam Sanger – swsanger@ncsu.edu with any questions about deadlines.
Engineering Participation Stipend Award
The College of Engineering Summer Internship Participation Stipend award is provided to cover a 12-week internship experience over Summer 2024 for engineering students. The exact award amount may vary depending on the hourly rate paid by the employer (employers must pay a minimum of $15 per hour) but will ensure the intern’s total compensation is equivalent to approximately $25 per hour. The College of Engineering Summer Internship Participation Stipend award will not pay stipends above wages of $25 per hour. The intern will be paid a participation stipend at the beginning of the internship. If the internship is less than 12 weeks the stipend will be adjusted, however the internship must be a minimum of 10 weeks. The stipend will not be increased for internships for longer than 12 weeks. Learn more about eligibility for the participation stipend award here. The student must be a College of Engineering major and be an undergraduate student. Please be sure to verify the interns’ eligibility before extending an offer.
Hiring Process
- Read the Hiring Process Information
- Log into ePACK to review applications
- Verify student eligibility
- Conduct interviews
- Extend offer
- Complete the Employer Hiring Form
- Complete hiring by April 10, 2025
Support from Rural Works!
The Rural Works! coordinator is available to assist employers throughout the entire process. If you need help creating an internship description, developing interview questions or onboarding the intern, we can help. If you would like to hold interviews on campus, we can reserve space for you.
Important Dates
- October 2024 – March 2024: Internship Description Form due
- April 10, 2025: Deadline for hiring to be complete. Hiring decisions made after this date will not be eligible for the College of Engineering participation stipend award.
- April 10, 2025: Deadline to submit the Employer Hiring Form
- Mid-April 2025: Conference call for employers with Rural Works! Coordinator
- April 2025: Students attend Rural Works! orientation
- May 2025: Internships begin
