OFFICE OF UNIVERSITY INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR

GUIDELINES FOR WRITING AN INTERNSHIP REPORT

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING AN INTERNSHIP REPORT
These Guidelines provide a minimum standard for preparing and writing a good internship
report.

Text Formatting
The entire Internship report, save for the Cover page, will be written in Times New Romans Font
type; Font size 12; and a Line spacing of 1.5”

The cover page will be written in Times New Romans Font type; Font size 12; and a Line
spacing of 1.15”. ALL THE WORDS WILL BE IN BOLD INK

All Sections/headings/Titles of different Sections and Chapters of the Internship Report will be
written in an UPPER-CASE format and Centred i.e., ALL WORDS IN CAPITAL LETTERS
AND BOLD INK

Every new Section or Chapter should be presented on its own fresh and new page.

All Subsections/Subheadings/Subtitles within the different Sections and Chapters of the

Internship Report will be written in a Title-casing format, i.e., Capitalizing each word and in
BOLD INK

COVER PAGE
The cover page should begin with the university Logo at the top centre of the page

This should be followed by a statement describing what the entire project is all about. This
should be presented in an inverted pyramid form, centred and in BOLD INK.

This is later followed by the name of the Author of the report (who definitely should be the
intern), the student ID below the Author, followed by the e-mail address and phone number of
the intern. All these should be centred, in BOLD INK and proportionately be positioned in the
middle of the page

The next statement should show where the report is to be submitted and the purpose of the
report. This should also come in an inverted pyramid form, centred and in BOLD INK.

Lastly at the very bottom of the page there should be the month and the year in which the
internship was accomplished indicated in capital letters, centred and in BOLD INK.

Here is the simple illustration of the appearance of a cover page

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
 A REPORT FOR FIELDWORK PLACEMENT CARRIED OUT AT REDCROSS
UGANDA KAMPALA NORTH BRANCH FROM JULY 2016 TO
SEPTEMBER 2016

BY
MANYANG MANYOK
STUDENT ID: 002-012
e-mail: [email protected]
Mobile Phone No: +211706…………

PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT OF

CAVENDISH UNIVERSITY UGANDA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELORS DEGREE IN
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (GENERIC)

SEPTEMBER 2016

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
PRELIMINARY PAGES
The preliminary pages should be composed of the following sections and should be numbered
chronologically using Roman numerals.

Declaration Page (i)

A statement where you declare that the internship report is your original piece of work which has never
been presented in any other institution of higher learning for the award of any Certificate

Approval (Field based supervisor) Page (ii)

A statement from your field based/WorkSite supervisor acknowledging that you carried out and
completed the internship exercise in his/her organisation under his/her direct supervision and guidance

Approval (Faculty/University supervisor) Page (iii)

A statement from your faculty based supervisor acknowledging that you carried out and completed the
internship exercise in the stated organisation under his/her direct supervision and guidance

Dedication (iv)
This section is could be optional

Acknowledgement Page (v)

Here, the intern will recognize those he/she thinks were pivotal or critical to the accomplishment of this
task

Table of Contents Page (vi)

The table of contents should indicate a list of all major Sections, headings, and Subsections and the
specific pages where they are found.

List of Abbreviations and Acronyms (vii)

An acronym is different from an abbreviation in such a way that the abbreviation in case of an acronym
forms a word, eg. UNESCO or WHO while AfDB African Development Bank is an abbreviation proper.

Executive summary Page (viii)

An executive summary will be understood and written as a summary of the longer report in such a way
that the reader of your report can rapidly or quickly become acquainted with your entire report without
having to read it all. It will be written to fit onto one page.

The main Text:

The main text is composed of chapters One to Four whose pages should be numbered in Arabic numerals
(i.e., 1, 2, 3, …)

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
 CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO THE INTERNSHIP EXERCISE
1.0 Introduction (This section describes what is contained in the chapter or what is going to be covered
under the chapter)
1.1 Background to the Internship
(For the sections highlighted in Red, you should leave them intact)
1.1.1 What is Internship?
“A form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom
with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give
students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional
fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and
evaluate talent."
- Defined by NACE – the National Association of College and Employers (2011).
Internship could also refer to a period of work experience offered by an employer to give students
and graduates exposure to the working environment, often within a specific industry, which relates
to their field of study.

1.1.2 Objectives of the internship exercise (What purpose does it serve?) This will cover the
general purpose or objectives served by internship.
The Intended Objectives of the Internship program as per the university arrangements are:

 To allow students to apply, evaluate, test and integrate academic knowledge and theoretical
concepts in a work place setting
 To improve and expand students’ knowledge about themselves and their abilities, goals, and
career interests in a work environment setting.
 To expand students’ awareness of the world beyond the classroom by exposure to a variety of
careers, cultures, disciplines, life styles, and environments.
 To reduce students’ intellectual and geographic parochialism.
 To allow students to gain access to knowledge and equipment not available on a college
campus environment.
 To encourage students to take a greater responsibility for their education and life, and develop
self- reliance, personal style, values, and beliefs in a manner consistent with becoming a
responsible and productive individual.
 To provide students with experience in the disciplined and discriminatory use of evidence in
making decisions and solving problems in a work setting.
 To provide a Reflective practice for life-long learning
 To provide Awareness of one’s own learning processes

1.1.3 Training Objectives: This will cover the specific objectives of your internship in the context
of your experience at your work placement. These objectives will therefore be task specific.

1.1.4 Benefits of the Internship

a) Benefits to the Student

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
  Students often gain new perspectives because students are able to see the application and
relevance of what they are learning. It provides the student a golden chance for better
understanding of theory through its actual application in practice.
 Students gain a head start in their career fields and sometimes secure full-time employment
with their internship site upon graduation.
 As a result of participation, students may earn money to support their college expenses.
 Students gain real-world experience, often learning about the latest technology and
equipment used in the workplace.
 Students learn job-seeking and job-holding skills, and, as a result, gain maturity,
professionalism, and confidence.
 Students have opportunities to sample their chosen career fields early in their studies.
 For many students, the internship experience contributes to a greater sense of responsibility
for their own efforts and greater dependence on their own judgment.
 As a result of the internships experience, students have the opportunity to develop social
relationships and skills.
 The coordination of work and study tends to increase student motivation and, in some cases,
may result in improved academic performance.
 Increases the development of decision-making and analytical skills through experience in
actual work environments.
 Helps you develop a more positive attitude toward coursework as a result of seeing its
usefulness on- the-job, which often leads to better grades.
 Helps you gain professional experience to include on your resume, which can significantly
improve your marketability to employers.
 Increases the potential for a higher salary and greater advancement upon graduation as a
result of previous experience.
 Provides useful contacts that may lead to future employment.

b) Benefits to Employers
 Find future employees. Internship programs provide a source of well-trained, quality
students who are available for career employment upon graduation. An internship program is
a recruiting tool. Implementing an internship program means you have an ongoing pipeline of
future fulltime employees. For many, the process of recruiting and hiring is a drain on
company resources. One solution: Appeal to tomorrow's staff members when they're looking
for internships, and all you have to do is choose the best of the bunch when it comes time to
hire. Moreover, college campuses are viral societies. This means if your organization
impresses one class of interns, word will quickly spread. Soon you'll find the most sought-
after student talent is interested in working with you.
 Test-drive the talent. It's a human resources reality: A new employee makes a solid
impression in the interview, but then just doesn't gel with your current team or your
company's way of doing things. Because of this, hiring someone as an intern is the most
effective way to evaluate their potential as a fulltime employee. When you "try out"
candidates via a semester internship, you make fewer mistakes when it comes to fulltime
staffing; you avoid the pitfall of training a new hire, only to find out they're not a fit for your
organization…or that the entry-level employee doesn't like the field. Starting an internship
program lets you benefit from added manpower, while more accurately assessing candidates.
 Increase productivity. Speaking of additional manpower, setting up an internship program
allows you to take advantage of short-term support. The extra sets of hands help your
employees be more productive, prevent them from becoming overburdened by side projects,
as well as free them up to accomplish more creative tasks or those where higher-level,
strategic thinking or expertise is required.

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
  Increase employee-retention rate. The proof for the test-driving theory is in the positive
employee-retention figures: According to NACE's 2009 Experiential Education Survey,
almost 40% of employers reported a higher five-year retention rate among employees they'd
hired via their internship programs.
 Employers who hire internship students indicate that these students usually provide better
employee performance, evidenced by higher performance ratings and lower absenteeism and
tardiness/lateness.
 Enhance perspective. It's not just the extra sets of hands that make interns advantageous.
Especially in an organization of only 12 or 15 employees, new people bring with them novel
perspectives, fresh ideas, and specialized strengths and skill sets. These augment the abilities
of your professional workforce.
 Take advantage of low-cost labor. Interns are an inexpensive resource. Their salaries are
significantly lower if any, than staff employees, and you aren't obligated to pay
unemployment or a severance package should you not hire them on fulltime. Moreover, while
their wage requirements are modest, they're among the most highly motivated members of the
workforce.
 Find free-of-charge. Internships.com allows you to post your employer profile completely
free of charge. This means you get extensive exposure to the top colleges and candidates
without putting a dent in your recruiting budget.
 Give back to the community. As a small business, you likely rely on community support.
Creating an internship program is an excellent way to give back. Hiring interns not only helps
students in your community get started; it enhances the local workforce as a whole.
 Support students. Internships provide students numerous perks: They gain experience,
develop skills, make connections, strengthen their resumes, learn about a field, and assess
their interest and abilities. Offering a paid internship is particularly beneficial, because it
enables economically disadvantaged youth to participate. Students who have to help fund
their own schooling will need a job, regardless. Providing an internship allows that job to
facilitate a positive future.
 Benefit your small business. When looking for fulltime work, the top talent often go for big-
name businesses. But when seeking internships, learning is the leading draw. Many
candidates feel they'll get more hands-on training, real experience, and mentoring
opportunities with smaller organizations.
 Employer takeaway: In terms of both today's workload and tomorrow's workforce, starting
an internship program is an excellent way to facilitate success at your small- or medium-sized
business.
 Employers benefit from the continuous exchange of theory and practice, since theories
continue to change based continuous research findings in universities.
 By being involved in internship programs, employers develop positive college and university
relations, and, thus, become a contributor to the educational process.

c) Benefits to the Faculty, University/College and Community

 Internship experiences result in the improved placement of students in career positions upon
graduation.
 The employment community can provide training on technical and highly specialized
equipment, thus enabling the educational institution to expend its funds on other needs.
 Internship positions can provide a source of financial aid for students who might not qualify
for other financial aid programs (e.g. international students).
 Involvement in internship programs provides opportunities for enhanced relationships with
the community.
 Student retention often improves because of increased relevance of the education.
 The faculty benefit by having students in their classes who have had practical experience in
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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
 their fields.
 Internship programs can help colleges and universities attract corporate support.
1.2 Background to the Work Placement Organisation Description of the Field work placement
organisation (What is it?, When did it start, Its vison, mission, objectives and core values if any)
1.2.1 Organisational Profile (What is it?, When did it start? What products or services does it
provide? What is nature of the Organisation? It is Public or private or NGO or supra-
national? Is it International or Local? What is the organizational culture if any?)
1.2.2 Scope of the Internship (The Geographical scope, Content scope and Time scope)
1.3 Organisational structure with an organogram (If that organogram does not exist propose one
based on the functional and power structure of the organisation)
1.4 Functional Department of Attachment (This section will present a description of the department
where you were attached to carry out the internship clearly spelling out its functions. This applies to
those who were assigned to specific departments)
1.5 Intern-Supervisor Relationship(This section will define the nature and quality of the relationship
between the intern and the supervisor. Did the supervisor extend the intern enough opportunities for
adequate experience? Were you excited about the assignments you were assigned, the tools provided
to accomplish the assignments together with the expectations from your supervisor?)

CHAPTER TWO
INTERNSHIP ACTIVITIES, EXPERIENCES, LESSONS AND SKILLS ACQUIRED
(This section must be very elaborate as it forms the core of your internship)

2.0 Introduction (This section describes what is contained in the chapter or what is going to be covered
under the chapter)

2.1 Internship Activities: This section presents activities carried out During Internship (Describe the
Activities on the basis of what you were doing on a weekly basis; use you weekly activity log that
describes activities done, experiences, lessons learnt and challenges met)
2.1.1 Title/Position of the Intern in the Organisation
2.1.2 Duties and Responsibilities Assigned by Supervisor
2.1.3 Actual Activities undertaken/Accomplished during Internship
2.2 Internship Experiences: Experience is the knowledge or mastery of an event or subject gained
through involvement in or exposure to it. Terms in philosophy, such as "empirical knowledge" or "a
posteriori knowledge," are used to refer to knowledge based on experience. A person with
considerable experience in a specific field can gain a reputation as an expert. The concept of
experience generally refers to know-how or procedural knowledge, rather than propositional
knowledge: on-the-job training rather than book-learning. Under this section we shall record our
experiences gained through internship. For example; Conflict resolution, Waking up and arriving in
time for work, going through professional dressing, chairing meetings, writing reports, recording
transactions , etc.

2.3 Lessons Learnt and Skills Attained/Acquired during Internship:

2.3.1 Lessons Learnt during Internship One can simply think of a lesson learnt in this way,
“What would we do differently next time? And what would we do the same?”

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
 Oftentimes we have made or thought of this statement; "That's a valuable lesson I will never
forget". The lessons learnt can be very large or small in scope. Lessons learnt are usually
acquired through personal or collective experiences and can cover a wide range of topics.
Most importantly, they capture a shift in our understanding about an activity or process and
provide new learning for ongoing or future programming. When lessons learnt are identified,
documented and disseminated, this, in and of itself, is a project success.
Key Tips for Formulating Lessons Learnt
 Lessons learnt should consist of a generalized principle that can be applied in other situations.
 Do not write the lesson only as an observation, description or a recommendation that lacks
justification. Justify the lesson with proof of why it is valid.
 Explain the lesson in the context (nature) of the project or internship exercise. For it to be useful to
others, they need to understand the situation in which it occurred to know if might be appropriate or
useful for them.
2.3.2 Skills Attained/Acquired during Internship: Skills are simply the things you learn that enable
you to perform certain tasks. Work skills – also called job skills – are the competencies you need to
perform tasks the job requires. By knowing the "language" of skills, you can communicate them to others
by understanding, describing, and discussing them. This happens when you: Write a resume, Read about a
job opening, Go for a job interview, Talk with your supervisor, Ask for a raise, Seek a promotion, Change
your career, or Learn new skills. To succeed in this high-performance, global economy, everyone needs to
understand and be good at communicating about skills – students, employers, employees, job seekers,
educators, and human resource managers. Your success requires continuous improvement – strengthening
and learning new skills.
Types of Skills – Job and Work Skills
The Foundation Skills: Foundation skills are the ones every worker needs. There are four groups: Basic,
People, Thinking, and Personal Qualities. They are marketable and transferable.
Marketable Skills: Marketable skills are those an employer will pay you to perform, which include; All
the Foundation Skills and Skills listed in job opening announcements
Transferable Skills: Transferable skills are ones you can transfer from one occupation to another.
Motivated Skills: Motivated skills are those you enjoy using. You want to work at something you enjoy
doing. Think of an achievement, accomplishment, or "good experience" you have had – whether related
to work or not. Then, write down or tell someone, What you did, How you did it, and What happened.
You will be describing your motivated skills. These are especially important in thinking about your career
direction and doing what you enjoy doing. Research shows that a good career-interest/personality match
predicts job success and satisfaction.

While writing about skills attained during internship, we will consider all skills highlighted above,
however, more emphasis will be addressed to foundation skills viz;
Basic Skills relate to Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Speaking and Listening skills
Thinking Skills relate to Creative Thinking, Problem-Solving Skills, Decision Making Skills and
Visualization skills
People Skills relate to Social, Negotiation, Leadership, Teamwork and Cultural Diversity management
skills
Personal Qualities relate to Self-Esteem, Self-Management and Responsibility management skills

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
 CHAPTER THREE
CHALLENGES TO THE INTERNSHIP EXERCISE
(This section must be very elaborate as it helps your fellow students, the organisation and the university
to improve on the experiences of subsequent internship exercises)
3.0 Introduction (This section describes what is contained in the chapter or what is going to be covered
under the chapter)
3.1 University Challenges; This set of challenges relates to the way the internship exercise was arranged
or organized; its supervision, challenges to the Internship attributable to the Nature of Training and
Learning at the University
3.2 Work Placement Organisational Challenges; These challenges could relate to lack of or
inadequacy of facilities to enable the intern enjoy quality experience at the organisation; Technology
challenges, office space challenges, the lack of well developed departments to deal with the intern’s
specific area of specialization, mistrust to the intern, etc.
3.3 Personal Challenges: These Challenges relate to your abilities to adjust to the internship exercise.
This could be your failure to learn the procedural and operational systems at the organisation, failure
to adjust and fit within the organizational culture, lack of interest in the activities of the organisation
because what is found on ground fails to meet your expectations or is not relevant for your
professional development path, Failure to develop a good working relationship with your supervisor,
etc.
3.4 How the Challenges were Managed ( Explain how you coped with the challenges; how did you
adjust yourself to fit within and fulfill the expectations of the internship)

CHAPTER FOUR
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
4.0 Introduction (This section describes what is contained in the chapter or what is going to be covered
under the chapter)
4.1 Conclusions
4.2 Recommendations
4.2.1 Recommendations to the Work Placement Organisation
4.2.2 Recommendations to the University
4.2.3 Recommendations to the Faculty
4.2.4 Recommendations to the Department
4.2.5 Recommendations to Fellow Students

REFERENCES
Appendix I Letter of Recommendation from the Faculty
Appendix II Acceptance Letter from the Work Placement Organisation
Appendix III Fully filled Activity Log Sheets (This describes the Activities on the basis of what you
were doing on a daily to weekly basis; the weekly activity log describes activities done, experiences,
lessons learnt and challenges met). These sheets are provided by the Faculty as package for the intern to
go with for internship.
Appendix IV Photographic Impression of the Internship Exercise (photos or images)

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk
Appendix V Organisational organogram (That’s if the organogram is too big).

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© 2016 Developed By Wairindi Daniel Katongole with Contributions from Basuta James & Lutaya Sadat for the Faculty of Business and Management Internship Desk