Internship Program

The program is designed to provide students with meaningful exposure to careers in municipal government administration and operations. The program increases awareness of the wide range of professional pathways available within the City of Charlotte and across local government.

Human Resources and City department representatives actively sponsor, host, and participate in internship and career fairs to promote opportunities and engage emerging talent. Program coordination is centralized under the Talent Acquisition Division, ensuring a structured, consistent, and strategic approach to student recruitment and development.

Internships

Program Experience

Vision, Mission and Values

Interns participate in the City of Charlotte’s City View Orientation Day, where they are formally welcomed by the City Manager or a senior executive leader.

During this experience, interns are introduced to the City’s Vision, Mission, and Values and gain an understanding of the Council-Manager form of government. This foundational session connects their internship work to the broader purpose and impact of municipal service.

Cohort Engagement

In addition, Human Resources facilitates cohort engagement opportunities, bringing interns together across departments to network, collaborate, and participate in shared learning experiences. These connections foster professional growth and a sense of community within the internship class.

Internship Reflection & Capstone Presentation

Many larger departments host a dedicated capstone experience at the conclusion of the internship. During this session, interns gather to reflect on their learning and present key projects, insights, and accomplishments.

Department leaders and staff attend, creating a celebratory environment where interns can showcase their work and professional growth. In some cases, interns are featured in videos or deliver formal presentations that capture and highlight their overall experience.

Departments such as Aviation, CMPD, and Charlotte Water have demonstrated exceptional commitment to hosting impactful capstone experiences.

Mentoring

Departments intentionally create opportunities for interns to meet with, shadow, and learn from senior-level leaders.

This structured exposure provides meaningful mentoring experiences and allows interns to better understand leadership pathways within local government.

What Interns Gain

Critical Thinking

Apply classroom knowledge to real municipal challenges.

Collaboration

Work alongside diverse, cross-functional teams.

Professional Confidence

Present projects and participate in capstone experiences.

Mentorship Access

Learn directly from experienced public sector professionals.

Career Path Awareness

Explore multiple career pathways within local government.

Professional Development & Learning Outcomes

Internship opportunities are designed to strengthen students’ analytical capabilities while engaging them in real-world problem solving. Interns develop critical thinking skills, participate in collaborative team environments, and enhance their interpersonal and cultural awareness competencies.

Through meaningful project assignments and cross-departmental exposure, students gain practical experience that prepares them for careers in public service and beyond.

Our Academic Partners

Our interns represent colleges and universities across North Carolina and nationally, including but not limited to UNC Charlotte, NC State, North Carolina A&T, CPCC, Johnson C. Smith University, Appalachian State, and other regional and national institutions.

Internship Career Initiative: Interns to Employees - Transcript

0:16
My name is Chelsea Hilton. I'm emergency preparedness program manager at Charlotte Douglas Airport.

0:21
My name is Monae Rouseer. I work for C DOT in the engineering and operations section.

0:26
Hey, I'm Delshan Thompson and I work in general services at in-house design. The biggest thing is just how much the city's willing to help interns and how much they're willing to give. You can really do anything.

0:33
Even with fire department, I got to work with CMPD. I got to work with medic county.

0:39
I applied here. It was my very first internship here at the city of Charlotte. Um and I started working up with uh the in-house design group.

0:46
We were HR interns and we were working with talent acquisition. Um we helped with the recruitment process.

0:52
Being an intern, you do a little bit of everything. You work with everybody. So I got to really pick up a lot of people's jobs.

0:59
College definitely prepared me for what I would be coming into. But what I'm grateful for is everything that I do I learned here with the city.

1:04
I think my internship taught me a lot of transferable skills. They helped me transition into the real world and um to me my first real job.

1:13
The city has done a great job on their job postings and advertising that they have internships.

1:17
Don't be afraid to step into those rooms and sell yourself, you know, um even if you don't feel like you're ready for the position.

1:25
I won't say I was scared, but it was it was definitely an experience and I had thoughts at the time like I don't know is this something that I can do? Is this really something that I can handle?

1:33
My mindset shifted from being intimidated to let me ask as many questions as I need or um talk to the right people, network because they're teaching me things that I can't find on the internet.

1:47
Meet the managers that are hiring people. That's one of the biggest things. I'm actually hiring an intern right now.

1:55
That's how I met one of the applicants actually is I went to um a community meeting and we talked about it. She remembered me, emailed me and I was like, "Oh, hey, yeah, we have a application open right now. Please apply."

2:02
I basically learned the entire job within my very first internship and I'm grateful that the city provided that opportunity.