You're sixteen and thinking about your resume. It's a weird time. Most adults tell you to just enjoy your summer, but then you look at college acceptance rates for business programs at places like UPenn or NYU and realize "just enjoying it" might not cut it. You need a hook. Specifically, you need business internships for highschool students that actually mean something, not just a line item about filing papers in your uncle’s real estate office.
Let's be real. Most "internships" for teens are glorified shadowing. You sit in a swivel chair, drink too much lukewarm coffee, and watch a middle manager use Excel. That is a waste of your time.
If you want to actually learn how a P&L statement works or how a go-to-market strategy is built, you have to look in the right places. It’s not just about the big names like Google or Goldman Sachs—though they have programs—it’s about finding the friction points where a company actually needs an extra set of hands.
The Reality of the "High School Intern" Label
Most companies are terrified of hiring anyone under eighteen. It's a compliance nightmare. Labor laws are strict, and HR departments generally don't want the liability of a minor in the office. This is the first hurdle you have to jump.
Because of this, the most formal business internships for highschool students are often hosted by massive corporations with dedicated DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) budgets or universities that act as intermediaries. Bank of America has their "Student Leaders" program. It's legendary. They don't just put you in a cubicle; they connect you with a local nonprofit and pay you to work there for eight weeks. Then they fly you to DC. It’s a full-immersion experience into how community capital works.
But what if you don't get into one of those hyper-competitive slots?
You pivot. You look at startups.
Startups are messy. They are chaotic, understaffed, and usually desperate for anyone who can write a coherent email or manage a TikTok account. This is where the real business education happens. You aren't just an intern; you're the "head of stuff we don't have time for." That’s where you see the gears turning. You see how a seed round is raised. You hear the panic when a lead investor pulls out. You learn that business isn't a textbook; it's a series of fires that people get paid to put out.
Where the Opportunities Actually Hide
Forget LinkedIn for a second. Everyone is on LinkedIn. If a job is posted there for a high schooler, ten thousand people have already seen it.
Instead, look at local Chambers of Commerce. It sounds boring. It sounds like something your grandpa would join. But these organizations are the hubs for every small to mid-sized business in your city. They know which manufacturing plant is trying to digitize their inventory and which marketing agency is overwhelmed.
Another secret? Cold outreach.
Find a local business owner on LinkedIn or via their website. Send a short—and I mean short—note. "I'm a high school junior interested in supply chain logistics. I see your company is expanding its warehouse footprint. Can I help you with data entry or floor mapping for twenty hours this summer?"
Specific beats general every single time. "I want to learn business" is a boring sentence. "I want to help you optimize your Shopify backend" is a value proposition.
Does the Name on the Building Matter?
There is a massive debate in college admissions circles about "prestige" versus "impact."
If you intern at a Fortune 500 company, it looks great on a sweatshirt. But if your only task was "observing meetings," you have nothing to write about in your Common App essay. Admissions officers at top-tier business schools like Wharton or Haas can smell a "parent-arranged" internship from a mile away. They want to see what you did.
I’ve seen students who interned at local bakeries and completely revamped their inventory system using Airtable. That is a business internship. They identified a cost center, implemented a tech solution, and measured the ROI. That beats "Summer Intern at JP Morgan" (where the student mostly just sat in the back of a conference room) any day of the week.
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Formal Programs Worth the Application Stress
If you are dead set on the formal route, there are a few heavy hitters.
The Bank of America Student Leaders Program is the gold standard. It’s paid. It’s prestigious. It’s incredibly hard to get into. They look for students who are already active in their communities.
KPMG’s Future Leaders Program is another one. It’s focused heavily on female students heading into college. They provide a scholarship and a multi-day leadership retreat. It’s less of a "daily grind" internship and more of a professional development pipeline.
Then you have Bloomberg’s High School Internship. If you live in a city where they have a major office—like New York or Princeton—this is a legitimate, paid technical and business role. You’ll be exposed to the Bloomberg Terminal, which is basically the heartbeat of the global financial system.
The "Pay to Play" Trap
You’re going to see ads for "Summer Business Programs" at Ivy League schools. They cost $5,000, $8,000, even $12,000 for three weeks.
Are they business internships for highschool students? No.
They are academic camps. They can be great for learning, but they don't carry the weight of a job. Don't confuse the two. If you have the money and want to live in a dorm for a month, go for it. But if you want a resume that shows grit and professional competence, find a job where they pay you, even if it’s just minimum wage. The shift in power dynamics when you are an employee versus a customer (which you are in a paid program) is massive.
The Skillsets That Actually Get You Hired
If you walk into an interview and say you "love leadership," the person across the desk will probably roll their eyes. Leadership is a result, not a skill you just "have" at seventeen.
Instead, focus on these three things:
- Data Proficiency: Can you use Excel? Not just "I can make a list," but can you do a VLOOKUP? Can you build a Pivot Table? If you can, you are more useful than 50% of the adults in that office.
- Communication: Can you write a professional email that doesn't use "I hope this finds you well" three times? Can you summarize a thirty-minute meeting into five bullet points of actionable tasks?
- Low Ego: You will be asked to do things that feel beneath you. Do them perfectly. If you are asked to get lunch, get the order exactly right and bring it back five minutes early. Reliability is the most expensive commodity in the business world.
Navigating the Legal Stuff
If you find a company willing to take you on, you'll likely need a work permit. Your school’s guidance counselor is the person for this. In states like California or New York, the rules are very specific about how many hours you can work and how late you can stay.
Don't let the paperwork discourage you. Most small business owners don't know the rules, so if you show up with the permit already printed and say, "I just need you to sign this," you've removed a huge barrier to them saying yes.
Why This Matters Beyond College Apps
The dirty secret of the business world is that it’s all about people.
An internship is just a long-form networking event. The person you work for today might be the person who writes your recommendation for an MBA five years from now. Or they might be your first angel investor when you start your own company at twenty-four.
The goal isn't just to check a box. The goal is to see if you actually like business. Better to find out now that you hate 9-to-5 office culture than to find out after you've spent $200k on a business degree.
Actionable Steps to Secure Your Spot
Stop overthinking and start doing. Here is the move-forward plan:
- Audit your "tech stack": Spend this weekend on YouTube learning the basics of Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. Specifically, look up "Data cleaning for beginners."
- The "Local 50" List: Open Google Maps. Search for "Marketing agency," "Logistics firm," or "Consulting group" within 10 miles of your house. List 50 of them.
- The 3-Sentence Email: Reach out to the founders or managers of those 50 companies.
- Sentence 1: Who you are and why you like their specific company.
- Sentence 2: What specific task you can do for them (Social media, data entry, research).
- Sentence 3: A request for a 10-minute Zoom call to discuss a potential (possibly unpaid) summer internship.
- Check the Big Portals: Keep an eye on the "Careers" pages of firms like PwC, Deloitte, and Goldman Sachs. They often post their high school programs in late winter or early spring (January–March).
- Leverage LinkedIn: Don't just make a profile. Follow the companies you're interested in. Comment on their posts with actual insights, not just "Great post!" Show them you're a person with a brain.
Business is about solving problems for a profit. Start by solving the "I need an intern" problem for a local business owner. You'll learn more in three months on the "inside" than you will in four years of high school business electives. It's about getting your foot in the door, then making sure you're the most helpful person in the room. This isn't just about a resume; it's about starting the transition from a student who consumes information to a professional who produces value. That's the real win.