Paid Transportation Internships for High School Students Available

OAKLAND, CA — A High School Internship Program, sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), is seeking student applicants for paid summer internship slots in transportation agencies throughout the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Students must be at least 16 years old by the start of the program this June. The deadline for submissions is March 8, 2012. Students graduating in 2012 are also eligible to apply for the internships. “The program’s purpose is to introduce students to potential careers in transportation,” noted MTC Executive Director Steve Heminger.

Students will be employed, either full-time or part-time, for up to ten weeks between June 26 and August 31 with public agencies in a department related to transportation planning or engineering, public works or public transit. Hourly pay is $10.25. Thirty-five paid internships are available throughout the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area ( Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Jose, San Mateo, Solano and Sonoma counties). A list of internship opportunities and the online application are available at:http://jobs.mtc.ca.gov/InternshipOpportunities/jobinternship.html. Program requirements can be found at:http://www.mtc.ca.gov/jobs/high_school. MTC’s high school internship coordinator, Michelle Tan, can be contacted at 510.817.5807 for further information. Students applying must have a minimum unweighted grade-point average of 2.8 and a letter of recommendation. Applications from students with grade-point averages below an unweighted 2.8 will be considered if accompanied by two letters of recommendation instead of one.

“This is an opportunity for students throughout the entire region,” commented Ann Macaulay, program manager. “We especially need student applications for positions in Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.”

Applications will be accepted online only. To apply, submit the completed application, including an attached one-page document that describes, in the applicant’s own words, a transportation problem in their community and what the applicant thinks could be done to resolve it. A letter or letters of recommendation from a teacher, principal, counselor, religious leader or employer must also be included. The application must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time, March 8, 2012. In some counties, the deadline may be extended until the internship positions are filled.

MTC is the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency.

Contact:

Michelle Tan, 510.817.5807

Ann Macaulay, 510.817.5741