How To Become A Policy Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a policy internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Carolyn Arcand

The policy intern will contribute to the development and implementation of the company's policy program and also support priority work as required. You will support responses to consultations in collaboration with other staff and external partners while also supporting the senior policy officer. You will also engage with the stakeholders to support the objectives with particular references. Similarly, you will maintain and develop administrative systems and procedures necessary to support communication across the stakeholders and partners. You will also ensure reports are written and given to the senior policy officer.

Enthusiasm and commitment to the aims and objectives of the policy are important. You must be able to understand how to generate public interest through communicating complex issues with clarity. You must be able to maintain a good working relationship with contacts in organizations and have the ability to manage networks of organizations and individuals. Lastly, you must be able to quickly acquire knowledge and produce work within a short timescale. You will be paid an average of $71,057 a year.

What general advice would you give to a Policy Internship?

Carolyn Arcand

Senior Lecturer and Program Director, Master in Public Policy & Master of Public Administration, University of New Hampshire

Working to maximize your early-career salary potential can begin when you're a student. Pursue opportunities to obtain as much relevant work experience as possible. This could involve completing an internship or fellowship, having a job on campus, working with a faculty member on writing a research study up for publication, etc. Having a bank of prior experience to draw from when applying for a job will put you in a better position to negotiate for more than an entry-level salary.

ScorePolicy InternshipUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $64,641

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

7.3

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.33%

Black or African American 10.24%

Hispanic or Latino 12.12%

Unknown 5.11%

White 66.62%

Gender

female 58.32%

male 41.68%

Age - 40

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 40

Stress Level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

8.8

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

3.8

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a policy internship

Explore policy internship education requirements

Most common policy internship degrees

Bachelor's

76.2 %

Master's

16.3 %

Doctorate

3.3 %

Start to develop specific policy internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Policy Research	6.85%
Public Policy	6.48%
Policy Issues	6.15%
Climate	4.45%
PowerPoint	4.36%

Complete relevant policy internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New policy interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a policy internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real policy internship resumes.

Research policy internship duties and responsibilities

Manage all issues relate to high quality survey administration including training and approval/certification, performance oversight and data collection.
Create PowerPoint presentation and deliver HIV/AIDS message to high school students and other parallel groups.
Produce clear and concise briefing material for senior management including information notes and PowerPoint presentations.
Provide technical analyses concerning Medicaid wavier contracts, including policy, management, fiscal and client eligibility requirements.

Prepare your policy internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your policy internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a policy internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Policy Internship Resume templates

Build a professional Policy Internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Policy Internship resume.

Apply for policy internship jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a policy internship job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do policy interns rate their job?