How old do you typically have to be to take an internship?

Question

I'm only a soph. in highschool but a lot of adults i know and my school are encouraging me to try and find places that take internships over the summer so we can get a better idea of what we want to be when we're older. I didn't even think internships to sophmores were given. I really wanted an internship at Rolling Stone Magazine in nyc but i'm not sure if they're offered to people my age...does anyone know?

Answer 1

The youngest I've heard of went to people who were 16, but many companies won't hire anyone but juniors or seniors in college. I'm responsible for internships within my college, and my experience has been that most students can't just say that they want to work at a particular company and get that job - they have to apply to many jobs in the hopes of getting one of them. Do you live in NYC? I don't think most companies would hire a high school student who isn't local for most internships - it is a legal thing. They don't want to take on liability for the student. Sorry, I don't know about Rolling Stone specifically, but if you are interested in publishing, and you live in NYC, there are a lot of possibilities. As I keep explaining to students, you may be starting out at Fly-Fishing Monthly, but you are still getting a sense of what the publishing industry is like.

Answer 2

If your parents have connections, you can get them in high school--I worked at HBO my sophomore year because my dad is friends with an important guy there. But official internship programs usually do not start until college--specifically the summer before your senior year. I haven't really seen any that start earlier. Rolling Stone, however, seems to accept people earlier (though not high school students) (see link below).