General Information

To prepare our students with the knowledge and skills required for success in business and to encourage the interaction of faculty and students with the business community, we promote internship opportunities that are designed to provide professional training in areas or topics that are not available through classroom instruction. Internships are out-of-the-classroom learning experiences to aid in developing skills, gaining relevant work experience, and becoming acquainted with business professionals.

The program matches qualified students with employers that can provide professional training. Once an employer provides us with a job description for an internship opportunity that we feel will be beneficial to the professional growth of our students, we will email this opportunity directly to our student base.

Why Hire an Intern?

Employers who provide UNLV students with internships gain energetic and well-educated employees who bring new ideas and enthusiasm for challenges. Employers often use the internship as an extended interview process to better assess how an intern handles work situations. Ultimately, this assists in making a more informed decision about offering an intern a permanent job. In addition, student interns can be very effective with seasonal projects like meeting tax return deadlines, internal audit projects, preparing schedules for the auditors, documentation of internal control processes and many other projects. Employing interns is an excellent way to efficiently manage busy work conditions in an accounting department. When internships are structured properly, they are truly a win-win scenario for both the employer and the student intern. If your company has not used accounting interns before and you are presently considering it, please email the Internship Coordinator, Danny Siciliano, at danny.siciliano@unlv.edu. The Internship Coordinator can send you a manual of best practices for using interns.

Internship Qualifications for Academic Credit

In order for a student to receive academic credit for an accounting internship, the student must meet certain prerequisites, such as a minimum grade point average and minimum number of completed upper division accounting credits. The employer must offer a position that is normally assigned to professional accountants holding an undergraduate degree in accounting. Clerical positions solely involving bookkeeping, accounts payable, payroll, etc. are not eligible for internship credit. While these positions provide a student with useful experience in the mechanics of an accounting information system, they do not provide the professional challenges and experiences necessary for internship credit.

Employer's Role and Responsibilities

The employer of a student intern has many roles and responsibilities for the internship to be mutually beneficial for both the student and the employer:

  • Appropriately supervise and evaluate the intern to maximize skills development and learning opportunities that join academic education and practical experience.
  • Provide the intern with a level of responsibility requiring professional accounting competence; extensive clerical work is an unacceptable substitute for professional accounting experience.
  • Assign and supervise the completion of tasks and responsibilities that are consistent with the intern's role in the company. Interns should be supervised by a professionally trained accountant.
  • Understand and respect academic demands. For example, during midterm and final exam weeks, the intern may need to reduce work hours for intensive studying purposes. Generally speaking, internships during the fall and spring semesters should be limited to 24 hours per week if the student is a full-time student. In the summer, internships can be more of a full-time arrangement.
  • At the end of the internship perform an evaluation with the student, using the same format or procedures used for professional staff.
  • At the end of the internship complete the Certificate of Completion verifying that the student satisfactorily completed the internship and the Internship Evaluation. The student intern will be responsible for providing information to the employer about when to complete the Certificate of Completion and the Internship Evaluation.

Procedure for Recruiting and Hiring Interns

The process for hiring an intern is a very streamlined and simple process.

  1. Complete the online Request for Intern form and include information for students to contact you directly.
  2. Employers are in complete control of the requirements placed on the intern and the job description (included within the Request for Intern form), which should specify the pay level, hours and schedule, and length of the internship. In addition, the employer can specify further requirements like a minimum grade point average or the completion of certain classes.
  3. The Department of Accounting will disseminate your internship information by email to accounting students.

  4. Review resumes from students who apply, conduct interviews, select the intern, and extend an offer.

  5. Once the student has accepted the internship offer, send the name of the intern selected to Internship Coordinator Danny Siciliano at danny.siciliano@unlv.edu.