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What is a recruiting internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted Expert
Dr. James Lampley

Undergoing a recruiting internship can help you become a more effective human resources professional. That said, it may be a good idea to work as a recruitment intern first before applying to companies as a fresh graduate. Aside from helping increase your chances of job placement, an internship can also make you a more competent employee in the future and help you climb the career ladder faster.

As a recruitment intern, your duties will revolve around accomplishing tasks for the human resources department. These tasks can include screening applicants, updating employee information, arranging interview schedules, organizing employment documents, and creating job postings on online job boards.

To qualify for a recruiting internship, you must be a graduate of a four-year course, ideally majoring in business, human resource management, or psychology. Moreover, you must show your potential employer that you are highly communicative, organized, and very willing to learn.

If you get a paid internship, you can expect your annual earnings to be around $14 an hour or roughly $29,000 per year.

What general advice would you give to a Recruiting Internship?

Dr. James LampleyDr. James Lampley LinkedIn Profile

Professor, East Tennessee State University

Be willing to go where the jobs are. Many of our graduates are "place-bound". Their family obligations or spouses make it difficult to relocate.
ScoreRecruiting InternshipUS Average
Salary
2.8

Avg. Salary $35,951

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
8.0

Growth Rate 8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.5
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.63%

Asian 8.57%

Black or African American 9.60%

Hispanic or Latino 18.54%

Unknown 5.25%

White 57.41%

Gender

female 63.72%

male 36.28%

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
8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
8.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
7.0

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Recruiting Internship career paths

Key steps to become a recruiting internship

  1. Explore recruiting internship education requirements

    Most common recruiting internship degrees

    Bachelor's

    81.7 %

    Master's

    8.3 %

    Associate

    6.8 %
  2. Start to develop specific recruiting internship skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Java17.17%
    Excellent Interpersonal13.67%
    Internship Program7.94%
    Human Resources6.50%
    Open Positions4.83%
  3. Complete relevant recruiting internship training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New recruiting 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 recruiting internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real recruiting internship resumes.
  4. Research recruiting internship duties and responsibilities

    • Manage applicants as they move through the applicant tracking system (PeopleSoft) to HRIS.
    • Lead the recruiting and staffing efforts for a small team of recruiters to acquire top talent for the healthcare industry.
    • Manage external relationships with employment and professional associations to ensure compliance with EEO.
    • Search and contact potential candidates via online social networking such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Monster.com, and Indeed.com.
  5. Prepare your recruiting internship resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your recruiting 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 recruiting 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 Recruiting Internship Resume templates

    Build a professional Recruiting 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 Recruiting Internship resume.
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    Recruiting Internship Resume
    Recruiting Internship Resume
    Recruiting Internship Resume
    Recruiting Internship Resume
  6. Apply for recruiting internship jobs

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

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

How Did You Land Your First Recruiting Internship Job

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Are you a Recruiting Internship?

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Average recruiting internship salary

The average Recruiting Internship salary in the United States is $35,951 per year or $17 per hour. Recruiting internship salaries range between $25,000 and $51,000 per year.

Average Recruiting Internship Salary
$35,951 Yearly
$17.28 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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How do recruiting interns rate their job?

-/5

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Recruiting Internship reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

I like Bonus and helping people. Sometimes our company cover expanse for networking and meeting. More we do networking more we can earn.

Cons

too much pressure. to hire 1 executive vacancy we have to make connections with 100s of people. We work with people and people are sometimes really hard even we are doing our best. After weeks of hard work right before the placement, some firms reject them without any answers


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

Communicating with people, interview applicants.

Cons

I don't have anything I don't like.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2019
Cons

Nothing.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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