Why do an internship?
Interested in a life science or STEM career? Develop and produce cutting edge biopharmaceuticals, improve food safety, advance green manufacturing, and ensure the safety and potency of cannabis products. These sectors all use biotechnology skills.
There really ARE plenty of great jobs! Over 5000 so far in 2021, with great salaries! (Check out the job posting blog and follow @katiebio on Twitter for regular updates)
What will give you the edge and get you hired? A degree helps for sure. About half of the jobs require a bachelor’s degree. Another 10% need at least an associate’s degree. Your high school degree qualifies you for 15% of the jobs!
A degree or certificate isn’t enough, though. It’s more important that you can show your skills. What’s wanted? Well, there are a LOT of desired skills, even for one job. The good news is that you can get them all in CCC’s biotech program! (Check out our courses to see what you’ll learn to do in each class) With an internship, you have real work experience to put on your resume.
How can a biotech course help me get an internship?
You can start right now with a fun, hands-on class. Be part of something bigger and do science with purpose in our community.
Get professional science experience as part of the Soil Microbiome Project with Urban Tilth. The opportunity starts with BIOSC188 or BIOSC157. You can start in either fall or spring semester.
Continue on and complete the Laboratory Professional I certificate. With both lab and communications training, you’ll rock a summer internship.
A $250 stipend is awarded upon completion of a science communications product in BIOSC876N. Your professional work in sharing our community science project is worth real money!
Next step, paid internships! We have collaborations with UC Berkeley, The USDA, and a number of local companies.
In fact, i-Cultiver employs CCC students right here on campus in the new biotech lab. You can be paid to do biologic sample analysis, DNA sequencing work, or manufacturing a bio-product to be used in greenhouses. This is a year-round opportunity for students who do a great job in Biotech operations, Foundations in biotech, and science communication.
Start now and make sure you are prepared to enter the life science job market when you want to get that job!
I can only take one biotech course at CCC, which is the best to help me get an internship?
Let’s take a look at the individual courses:
In Biotechnology Operations (BIOSC188) you work in cross-functional teams, practicing your communication and collaboration skills. To accomplish the goals you set, you’ll build comfort with being flexible in a fast-paced environment. (movie coming soon!)
In Foundations in Biotechnology (BIOSC157/159), you’ll receive training and practice in a wide range of lab processes and procedures and learn to follow protocols exactly. These include polymerase chain reaction and a number of bioassays. As part of the continuous improvement aspect of the course, you’ll be involved in method development, too! (movie coming soon!)
Put it all together for our customer and the community in the Science Communication Course (BIOSC876N). With a focus on data analysis and interpretation, your team will choose one of three projects: A scientific report to our customer, Urban Tilth – which is a great preparation for a job interview. You could also plan and deliver a workshop about the project for high school students or a community event. The third project type is making social media to let the world know about what we do here at CCC. When you deliver a professional-quality communications product, you earn a $250 stipend.
With the training and practice gained in those courses, you will be ready to do big things during a summer internship, doing real science, making professional connections, and building that resume!
Internships students have done in the past
Take a look at past student internships