Internships by field: the titles to search for each one
Search your field's own title with intern, then the other titles employers use for the same work. Business analyst internships are often posted as strategy, operations or consulting internships; electrical engineering ones as hardware, firmware or test internships; finance ones as summer analyst roles. Keep to the last week or two, and confirm each posting on the employer's own careers page.
What to search, field by field
Start with the first search, then try the others. Each is a title employers use for internships in that field; read the requirements to see whether a posting asks for what you study.
| Field | Search first | Also search |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | marketing intern | social media intern, communications intern, content intern, brand intern |
| Sales | sales intern | business development intern, sales development intern, account management intern |
| Software engineering | software engineer intern | software developer intern, backend intern, frontend intern, mobile intern |
| Design | design intern | UX design intern, product design intern, graphic design intern |
| Research | research intern plus your area | research intern biology, research intern machine learning, user research intern |
| Finance | finance intern | financial analyst intern, summer analyst, investment banking summer analyst |
| Data science | data science intern | machine learning intern, data scientist intern, AI intern |
| Data analysis | data analyst intern | business intelligence intern, analytics intern, reporting intern |
| Product management | product manager intern | associate product manager intern, product intern, product operations intern |
| Mechanical engineering | mechanical engineer intern | manufacturing engineering intern, design engineering intern, test engineering intern |
| Human resources | human resources intern | people operations intern, recruiting intern, talent acquisition intern |
| Accounting | accounting intern | audit intern, tax intern, assurance intern |
| Business analysis | business analyst intern | strategy intern, operations intern, consulting intern |
| Electrical engineering | electrical engineer intern | hardware engineering intern, firmware intern, test engineering intern |
Why one search is not enough
Employers name the same internship in different ways. A strategy team's intern does business analysis; a hardware team's intern does electrical engineering; a bank's summer analyst is a finance intern. A search for one title finds only the postings that use it, so a field can look empty when its internships are simply posted under another name.
Research internships are spread across very different work, from laboratory science to user research, so add the area to the search. And a short list is not a small program: a large employer can post one listing for its whole summer class.
How Carir keeps an internship search to internships
On Carir's job board, intern in a search is a must: a search for product manager intern returns internships only, meaning titles that say intern, internship, co-op or working student, or postings the source marks as internships, and never internal or international roles. When a search comes back short, the near misses are listed apart with what differs, such as another city or hybrid instead of remote.
Before you apply
- Confirm the posting on the employer's own careers page. If the link falls back to a general page, treat the role as closed.
- Read the requirements, not just the title: some internships ask for a particular major or year of study.
- Check the timing: many summer internships recruit months ahead and read applications as they arrive.
- In the US, an unpaid internship at a for-profit employer is lawful only when the intern is the primary beneficiary, under the Department of Labor's test.
- Never pay to apply. See how to spot student job scams.
Sources
- US Department of Labor — Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under the FLSA: The primary-beneficiary test that decides whether an unpaid internship at a for-profit employer is lawful.
- Federal Trade Commission — Job Scams: How fake job offers work, the payment requests that give them away, and where to report one.
Questions people ask
What should I search to find internships in my field?
Your field's own title plus intern, such as marketing intern or mechanical engineer intern, then the other titles employers use for the same work, such as strategy intern for business analysis.
Why can't I find business analyst internships?
Partly naming: many are posted as strategy, operations or consulting internships. Search those titles too and read what each posting asks for.
What is a summer analyst?
A title many banks and finance firms use for their undergraduate summer internships. Search summer analyst alongside finance intern.
Does one internship posting mean one internship?
Not necessarily. A large employer can post one listing for a whole class of interns, so a short list of postings is not a small program.
Try it on your own search
Carir finds the roles employers posted today, scores each one against your resume with the lines that earned it, and tailors without inventing experience. The free plan includes the job board and the tracker.