Professional Internship Experience Certificate
Check out this interest video to learn more about Professional Internship Experience (PIE) Certificate!
All undergraduate and graduate students in any School Year at UNC currently holding part-time jobs who are interested in enhancing their personal and professional development are eligible to participate in the UCS Professional Internship Experience Certificate. Upon completion, students receive a digital badge and certificate of completion. This program is primarily for students who want to enhance the relevance of their pre-professional college/graduate work experience to align with their academic major/degree and/or career goal. Note: Certificate requirements must be completed within two semesters.
For questions, contact the External Relations Team at [email protected].
Who is Eligible to Complete the Certificate?
This program is primarily for any undergraduate or graduate students in any School Year at UNC currently holding part-time jobs who are interested in enhancing their personal and professional development are eligible. This includes, but is not limited to Interdisciplinary majors, international students, master's, doctoral, and PhD students (except MBA, Law or Dental).
Note: Certificate requirements can be completed in one semester. However, additional time can be approved up to three semesters if necessary.
Getting Started
1. Complete the Professional Internship Experience Certificate Interest Form to express interest in signing up.
2. You will receive a welcome email from the External Relations Team with next step instructions. You will also receive an email from Canvas notifying you that you were added to the certificate program.
3. Login to the Canvas course and view the assignments listed under the "Home" tab. Click one of the assignments and read the instructions to complete it.
Certificate Requirements
This Certificate allows you to customize your part-time work experience by building out your career goals based on nationally recognized competencies. You will complete a variety of activities including career coaching appointments, career workshops and events, and getting an employer-involved work experience.
The requirements are non-linear and can be completed in any order:
Schedule one (1) Resume Review appointment with a UCS Career Peer
Career Peers are students who provide peer-to-peer career preparation services in University Career Services. Appointments made through Handshake
Complete NACE Career Readiness Competencies Reflection
(Worksheet available for download under the Canvas assignment)
Pick one (1) activity to complete between the following career preparation and awareness resources
- Focus 2 assessment
- What Can I Do With This Major
- CareerOneStop Interest Assessment
- Firsthand Industry and Job Function Research
Pick one (1) Career Preparation Activity*
- Complete 1-2 SEED Program certificate(s)
- Attend an additional Career Exploration or Recruitment Fair
- Attend an event organized by a student organization that involves a company recruiter or a career preparation component
- Attend a Mock Interview with a company recruiter, alumni, or a career coach
- Attend a faculty/department led career preparation event (contact your department’s director of undergraduate studies)
- Attend a professional development or networking activity hosted by UNC alumni
- Attend a company information session or event on site
*Career Prep Activities are defined as employer-involved or professional development activities that provide career or job function exposure or networking to students. They can be facilitated by UCS, faculty/staff/departments, Student Affairs, industry professionals or recruiters, alumni, or student organizations
Complete one (1) LinkedIn Learning course on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership in the workplace
Use Handshake Experiences to submit the following assignments:
- Work and Project Goals with Expected Deliverables
- Learning Outcomes aligned with NACE Career Readiness Competencies
- Training Plan Outline
(Detailed Instructions on what these look like will be available in Canvas)
Complete a Performance Appraisal with your Supervisor
(Supervisor will approve this on Handshake Experiences)
Attend one (1) Career Exploration and Recruitment Fair
Discover upcoming career fairs on the Career, Graduate Education, and Networking Events page
Job Function Virtual Work Experience using Forage
Step 1: Create a free account with your school email.
Step 2: Select one (1) of the following virtual work experiences to complete: Note: You can use filters to narrow down your search to best match these categories.
- Project Management
- Business Analysts and Consulting
- IT and Data Science
- Sales & Marketing
- Other (choose an experience aligned with your post-graduate career goals)
Need help? For assistance in choosing a virtual work experience or using Forage, the External Relations Team at [email protected] for support.
Attend UCS workshop: How to Find A Part-Time Job To Align With Majors and Career Goals
Note: If there are no upcoming workshop dates, you can find a recording of the presentation on the UCS YouTube page.
Deliverable: Career & Life Plan
Your final assignment: Write a 3 paragraph essay wrapping up all your assignments and deliverables. Finish the essay by explaining how this certificate program has leveraged your on/off part-time job experiences as professional internships to help in obtaining future summer internships, fulltime jobs, entrepreneurship, or graduate school.
Once you complete this step, you will have completed the certificate. You will receive an email from the External Relations Team with instructions on how to receive your digital badge and certificate of completion
Frequently Asked Questions
How many activities are required?
The Professional Internship Experience Certificate is designed to be self-directed. You must complete all of the required activities plus one of the options in order to be eligible to receive your certificate that covers the three categories (i.e., Develop, Perform, and Position).
How is attendance tracked?
Log in to all University Career Services activities using your UNC credentials on Handshake and Heel Life. For upcoming fairs, follow registration instructions through Handshake. For events and activities, register on Handshake or Heel Life and check-in using the available kiosks (when applicable).
What if I’m not interested in the designated virtual Job Function Work Experiences?
These activities will take place using the Forage Virtual Work Experiences Platform. A minimum of one of the listed virtual Job Function Work Experiences must be completed in order to be eligible to obtain the certificate. However, students are welcome to identify and complete additional virtual work experiences listed on the platform based on their professional interests.
Does completion of the Certificate guarantee me a job at the companies that recruit at UNC Chapel Hill?
No. However, it will significantly improve your employability skills and help you to differentiate yourself on job applications and interviews with this credential.