Topics We Cover:
Why Do Internships in High School?
How to Find Marketing Internships for High School Students
10 Marketing Internships for High School Students
Cold Outreach Strategy for Marketing High School Internships
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
Why do internships in high school?
Before we jump into a long list of marketing internships for high school students, it is important to understand why these opportunities could matter for your future. According to PRISM, a consultancy, 70% of students attending a US News top 50 University have completed at least one internship while in high school. These opportunities serve as a way to distinguish yourself in the admissions process by showing that you have gone out and verified your future goals through experience. Doing internships will help you enter college with a clearer idea of the professional environments you enjoy or don’t enjoy, which will make it easier for you to recruit into a job you love after graduation. Students who have done at least one internship in high school also typically have an easier time recruiting into college internships and pre-professional organizations such as finance or pre-law clubs.
How to Find Marketing Internships for High School Students
The best way to find official programs to apply to is through online search tools and lists. The StandOutSearch database provides the largest free resource that lists almost every internship program for the high school age group and allows you to search by interest area. MIT Admissions also provides a helpful list of High School Internships, as does the Collegevine blog.
However, official programs tend to be very competitive, and few are offered remotely, so if you are serious about finding a marketing internship in high school, you should also prepare a cold outreach strategy. You can read more about how to form a cold outreach strategy to find a marketing high school internship at the end of this article. We also include email templates to make finding an internship through cold outreach less daunting.
10 Marketing Internships for High School Students
Most of the high school internship opportunities below have an acceptance rate of 20% or lower, given that there are many more high school students looking for internships relative to official programs that provide them. We recommend choosing at least five opportunities to apply to. If you see an opportunity that excites you, take a moment to write the deadline on your calendar!
Ages: 15-19
Location: Virtual
Timeline: Summer, Spring, Fall, or Winter
Deadline: Various Deadlines
StandOut Connect is a program created thanks to investment from The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Innovation that matches high school students with internships. Students interview with potential mentors who are leaders and innovators within their area of interest until they are hired for a two-month internship. Many students then receive optional return offers to continue with their internship for as long as they would like.
Ages: 16-18
Location: Remote
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Rolling
The PHC Group Summer Program offers talented high school rising/seniors an opportunity to go beyond the classroom to develop leadership skills and gain meaningful and tangible experience as part of a global team in a paid internship. Interns will participate in scheduled activities throughout the summer, engaging in team projects with senior leadership and exploring independent interests that support PHC Group’s mission. Under the guidance of the Public Health Director, Interns will actively assist the team via social media-related projects, online community interaction, and technical support.
Ages: 17-18
Location: Locations Across the US
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 2025
Whether you’re interested in being a producer, a journalist, a web developer, an engineer, a business executive, a PR agent, a sales representative, or any other career in media or tech, the EBF Internship is here to help you get your start. If selected, you will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in these organizations so you can learn, grow, and put yourself on the fast-track to career success.
Ages: 15-17
Location: New York
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: March 2025
This internship experience is not limited to young people who have a passion for art! The High School Internship Program allows you to connect one-on-one and in small cohorts with Museum professionals in a number of related fields, including editorial, marketing, social media, education, and more. During your time at The Met, you have the chance to find the intersection of your interests as you gain insights from peers and professionals.
Ages: 14-18
Location: New York
Timeline: Summer, School Year
Deadline: Contact for Deadline
The Poetry Society of New York has a simple mission: to redefine and reestablish poetry’s essential position in the culture-at-large. Internship tasks can be tailored around your interests whether those interests are in event production, marketing or PR, fundraising and development, editorial work, or elsewhere. As a small non-profit, they empower interns with a lot more responsibility than most organizations.
Ages: 16-18
Location: New York
Timeline: Summer, School Year
Deadline: Rolling
CITYarts engages youth with professional artists in the creation of public art, including murals and mosaics. CITYarts welcomes talented individuals to apply for internships that provide resources for arts training, real-world experience with projects and artists, school credit, and stipends. Positions include Bookkeeping Internship, Design Internship, Development Internship, Photo/Video Internship, Pieces for Peace Internship, PR/Marketing Internship, Projects Internship, and Social Media Internship.
Ages: 16-18
Location: Connecticut
Timeline: Summer, School Year
Deadline: Rolling
The Center offers engaging paid internship opportunities available across all departments — engineering, operations, workforce, and marketing/communications. Their summer internship program includes firsthand industry experience, professional development, networking opportunities, and personal growth.
Ages: 14-18
Location: Virginia
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: April 2025
Youth Congress is an organization that allows teenagers to experience and gain independence and leadership through paid internships. These internships range from office work to assistance in camp programs to assisting someone who works in a highly ranked job such as marketing. The program is a summer-long commitment of 60 hours. Teens will have the option to set their own hours with their mentor.
Ages: 14-19
Location: Illinois
Timeline: School Year
Deadline: Various Deadlines
In the 12-week session, 9th and 10th-grade youth will do hands-on group activities, meet STEM professionals, and learn presentation and career-based skills. The session ends with a STEM-focused small-scale exhibit, developed as a team, that teens will present to friends, family, and guests. Participants will each build on skills and learn something new by self-assigning into a museum “department” that will be responsible for a unique role in the exhibit development—including areas like marketing, facilitation, and artifact collections.
Ages: 14-18
Location: Illinois
Timeline: Summer
Deadline: Contact For Deadline
The Chicago Philharmonic’s Community Engagement Programs aim to make classical music accessible to all Chicagoans by bridging the gap between the musicians in their orchestra and the local community. The Chicago Philharmonic Paid Summer Internship is offered to four high school students each summer and includes mentorship and training in areas of arts administration such as marketing, development, operations, and community engagement, as well as a musical performance element guided by Chicago Philharmonic musicians.
Cold Outreach Strategy for Marketing High School Internships
If the opportunities listed above don’t turn out to be a fit, the next step to finding a high school internship in marketing is to launch a cold outreach strategy. This may seem intimidating at first, but the guide below should make it much more simple. As an added note, please exercise caution when reaching out to professionals you don’t know. It is always safest to interview or meet virtually.
How to Find Companies to Reach Out to for a High School Internship
Use LinkedIn to find small companies where you can help with skills such as social media, graphic design, content writing, and marketing analytics. Smaller companies that need more hands on deck will be the most likely to hire high-school-aged students. Try to find personal connections with the professionals you reach out to, such as being from the same state originally or liking the same sports team.
How to Structure and Send Outreach Emails
For a successful cold-outreach strategy, aim to send at least 50 emails to potential internship providers. Be sure to include a link to your resume, which should be no more than one page while you are in high school. UChicago provides a helpful free resume template and guide. We recommend including your resume as a Google Drive link because including it as a PDF will sometimes negatively impact the deliverability of your email. However, be sure to check that the sharing settings on the document allow anyone with the link to view its contents. It can also be a good idea to include work samples in your resume, such as the link to a social media page you manage or a poster you designed in Canva.
Email Template for Finding a High School Internship
If you are unsure how to structure your outreach emails to potential internship providers, here is a basic template you can customize to your needs.
Template for Finding an Internship
Subject: Student Reaching Out
Dear Mr./Ms.____,
I hope you are having a great day! My name is [your name], and I am a rising [grade] at [your school]. I read about your company on LinkedIn and found the concept quite interesting. For context, [briefly state how the company relates to your interests or experience].
I was wondering if you might be looking for marketing interns. I know I would have a great deal to learn from working with you, and I would love to contribute in any way I can. I have included my resume here. Thanks so much!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Conclusion
Whether you are applying to established programs or launching a cold outreach strategy, the name of the game when looking for a high school internship is perseverance. These opportunities can be extremely difficult to secure, but most high school students find it worth it in the end to get a head start on building their careers. If you found this article helpful, don’t forget to save it for later or share it with a friend. Good luck on your internship search journey!