• Internship Program
• Current Internship Opportunities
• Our Interns

Energize your career at Black Hills Corporation

Imagine an internship where you can:

• Bring your diverse background and ideas to work and make a difference with your contributions.
• Develop skills necessary to enhance your career growth.
• Work in a team environment designed to reward excellent performance and results.
• Learn about one of the top industries in the nation.
• Gain hands-on experience while working on various projects and work assignments.
• Earn a competitive salary and work in a supportive professional work environment.

Our goal is to create career opportunities for students seeking the best work experience and professional growth that will in turn promote value to our organization and career-long success for the students. 

• To fulfill its strategic goal of attracting, developing and retaining a skilled diverse workforce.
• To provide high school, technical institute and university students with the resources, knowledge, training and experience they will need in a business environment.
• To create a path for regular full-time employment.
• To assist educational institutions in preparing students to meet the challenges that they will face in the 21st century.

Black Hills Corporation's internship program involves an agreement between the organization and student that consists of a carefully monitored work experience in which the student has learning goals relevant to his/her career interests and skill development needs.

The student upholds his/her commitment by applying his/her best efforts to help the organization achieve stated objectives.

The organization upholds its commitment by creating the needed structure and dedicating the proper resources to effectively manage the program, provide the interns with meaningful work, practical application, and foster professional growth through formal training and experiential education.

The internship is designed to be a temporary position involving planned and supervised career-related professional and technical training that is paid by the Company and may provide the opportunity to earn academic credit. The internship program is designed to benefit the student interns and further their educational goals. The student intern will be considered for regular employment should a position be available after completion of the internship and upon interest and application by the student intern for such a position.

Our internships may involve work for specified periods of time including:

1. Full-time summer internship: (typically 40 hours per week, and the duration typically is about three months between academic school years)
   
2. Part-time internship during the academic school year: (Less than 20 hours per week and the duration may be from one month to as long as two years)
   
3. Co-op Program: Students work full-time for nine months to fulfill their college program (40 hours per week for nine months)
   • Co-op Program: The terms co-op and internship are often used interchangeably. However, post-secondary schools using the term co-op often do so with specific parameters. These may include duration and activity requirements. To ensure consistency, we need to align respective expectations to fulfill the schools' and students' requirements.

An internship experience generally involves a one-time commitment with no breaks in the term of the internship. Some internships may involve different internship terms including student interns returning for shorter durations including Christmas or spring breaks.

We provide internships in various fields of study and opportunities vary from year to year.

Important elements that distinguish an internship from a short-term temporary job:

• Learning activities common to most internships include learning objectives, observation, evaluation and assessment.
  
• An effort is made to establish a reasonable balance between the intern’s learning goals and the specific work the company needs to accomplish.
  
• Internships promote academic, career and/or personal development.
  

Black Hills Corporation will:

• Ensure that our needs are consistent with the academic program objectives.
• Uphold Equal Employment and Affirmative Action policies for recruiting, hiring and employment.
• Provide quality work assignments related to the students' academic studies or career goals where they can learn and be productive. 
• Provide progressive and diversified experience to prepare students for occupations in which they are qualified. 
• Offer a well-managed and worthwhile position that will provide growth opportunities for the student while fulfilling the work requirements of the internship. 
• Offer learning by doing and not by observation only.
• Orient the student intern to the Company’s structure and operations.
• Orient the student intern to the Company’s policies, procedures and work practices.
• Mutually develop learning objectives and performance plans with the student intern.
• Conduct performance reviews and counsel students regarding their performance and complete necessary forms to provide feedback to fulfill the student’s academic requirements.

The student will:

• Adhere to Company work hours, policies, procedures, work practices and the Black Hills Corporation’s Code of Business Conduct, including professional ethics governing confidential information. 
• Assume personal and professional responsibility for his/her actions and activities.
• Maintain professional relationships with Company employees, customers, vendors and others.
• Apply knowledge acquired in the classroom to real-world business situations.
• Mutually develop learning objectives and performance plans with his/her supervisor.
• Develop a self-awareness of attitudes, values and behavior patterns that influence the work environment.
• Adhere to safety policies and rules.
• Prepare for and use learning opportunities provided by the company, such as training, meetings, and conferences.
• Complete work assignments in a thorough, consistent and timely manner.
• Provide the school with evaluations from the work experience.

The school will: 

• Define the parameters of the program and its relationship to the curriculum. 
• Determine whether academic credit will be given for participation, the fields of study that will qualify for internships, and the academic requirements for the students to qualify.
• Furnish the Company with requested information related to the student’s field of study and academic standing.

An intern candidate:

• Must be a high school, undergraduate or graduate student, or have graduated from an accredited post-secondary institution within 12 months of beginning an internship.
• If a current student, must be enrolled full time or part time in a high school or accredited post-secondary institution.
• If a post-secondary student, must maintain a minimum of a 2.5 out of 4.0 overall grade point average, or equivalent if other grading systems are used.

1)   Integrity: Black Hills Corporation interns exhibit the highest standards of professional and personal behavior. Integrity involves a commitment to be honest, trustworthy and respectful.

2)   Accountability: Black Hills Corporation interns hold themselves accountable for the duties they perform on our behalf. They assume personal responsibility for the highest standards of work quality and in seeking professional self-development. This involves a commitment to actively seek and be receptive to constructive feedback, respect for and adherence to deadlines, and fostering self and team productivity through sound organization and attention to detail.

3)   Commitment: Black Hills Corporation interns are committed to achieving superior work and demonstrating professionalism. They realize that their work represents not just their own efforts, but the reputation of the organization as a whole. Beyond striving to do their best work, interns are expected to demonstrate a high energy level, display pride, and have an overall sense of purpose. They also seek to impart these traits to coworkers and business affiliates.

4)   Teamwork: Black Hills Corporation interns recognize that the success of our organization is reliant on the way we interact and cooperate with one another. Our interns demonstrate a positive “can do” attitude. They recognize that a collaborative effort is better than an individual one and actively search for ways to involve the expertise of others to solve challenges. We maintain a friendly, courteous approach while demonstrating fairness and compassion in all our dealings.

5)   Proactivity: Black Hills Corporation interns always ask themselves: “What can I be doing to help my company, my colleagues and myself?” Taking such initiative involves actively looking for opportunities to cultivate business, assist coworkers and affiliates, and manage one’s own career with a goal-oriented approach. Black Hills Corporation interns are encouraged to develop decision-making experience and judgment to think and act independently.

6)   Creativity: Black Hills Corporation interns are eager to participate and share their thoughts to add value to group creativity. They are willing to challenge conformity and identify the best solutions to make active contributions in business planning and other collaborative settings.

7)   Fiscal responsibility: Black Hills Corporation interns conserve the organization’s resources with the same mindfulness they would use to conserve their own. They take pride in delivering quality work and bear in mind that time is a currency that generates money.

Black Hills Corporation is firmly committed to seeking qualified candidates for all job openings, to offer equal employment opportunity to all persons, and to take affirmative action to ensure that such opportunities are provided.

It is the policy of Black Hills Corporation to be fair and impartial in all of its relations with its employees and applicants for employment, and to make all employment-related decisions without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

We invite disabled applicants to identify any necessary accommodations needed in the application process.