College Student Internship

City of Vacaville – A beautiful place to live, a great place to work!

The City of Vacaville invites applications for College Student Internship opportunities within the City departments listed below. 

Salary Range: $20.57-$25.00/hour 

College Student Interns must be enrolled in an accredited college or university program working towards an Associates, Bachelors or Masters Degree at the time of hire. Student Interns work a flexible schedule, up to a maximum of 129 hours per month, or as noted in the description below.

INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES:

DEPARTMENT: CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE/MEDIA AND COMMUNICATIONS

The City of Vacaville Public Relations division is seeking an intern to support community and public engagement.  The Public Relations division supports all City departments in messaging the community and can use support across several different areas. Depending upon coursework and experience, the incumbent may assist with drafting social media posts, updating the City’s website, filming live events, broadcasting council meetings, designing graphics, capturing photos of individuals and events and contributing to the creation and distribution of various City communications.

Preferred Majors: Public Administration, Communications, Journalism, Film, Media or Graphic Design or a closely related field.  

Hours: 10-20 Hours per week.

DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT/ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
The internship duties may include, but are not limited to, working with businesses and internal City staff to clarify municipal requirements related to business licensing and permitting; assisting in the development and maintenance of content for the City’s website to clearly communicate business license requirements and processes; identifying opportunities to improve customer understanding of regulatory requirements; and supporting efforts to identify and evaluate opportunities to streamline and improve the efficiency of the permitting and business licensing process.

Preferred Majors: Business, economics or a closely related field. 

Hours: 20+ hours per week, no more than 129 per month. 

DEPARTMENT: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT/PLANNING DIVISION
The Community Development Planning Division is seeking an intern who is ready to dive into the exciting world of city planning! You'll gain hands-on experience assisting customers at the front counter, learning the ins and outs of permit processing and working on impactful projects that help shape the community. From preparing white papers to presentations to the Planning Commission, you'll develop valuable skills while getting a front-row seat to how cities grow and evolve. No two days are the same. One moment you’ll be answering questions from residents and the next, you’ll be collaborating on real-world planning initiatives.

Preferred Majors: Urban and Regional Planning, Urban Design, Architectural Design, Geography or a closely related field. 

Hours: 20+ hours per week, no more than 129 per month. 

DEPARTMENT: PARKS AND RECREATION

Join our Parks and Recreation team as an intern and get hands-on experience in shaping the community! In our Park Planning Division, you'll help organize digital files that support the future of our parks, keeping everything running smoothly behind the scenes. On the Recreation and Programming side, every day is different—you could be planning exciting special events, creating engaging classroom lesson plans, or tackling light administrative tasks that keep our programs thriving. If you love parks, people and making a difference, this internship is your chance to dive in and have fun while gaining valuable experience

 

Preferred Majors: Parks and Recreation, Recreation Management, Sports Management/Development or a closely related field. 

Hours: Approximately 20 hours per week.
 

DEPARTMENT: POLICE
This college internship offers hands-on experience supporting specialty police units that address community quality-of-life concerns. Interns help with case tracking, research, data entry, and outreach coordination, preparing written summaries and assisting with community engagement projects. Working alongside professional staff, interns focus on communication, organization, and program support tasks that strengthen public partnerships and improve service delivery, rather than field or enforcement activities.

Preferred majors: Criminal Justice/Criminology, Sociology, Psychology, Public Administration, Communications, Public Relations, Political Science, Business Administration.

Hours: 25 hours per week.

 

DEPARTMENT: PUBIC WORKS TRAFFIC ENGINEERING
The internship duties for the Traffic Engineering Division may include, but are not limited to, assisting with day-to-day traffic engineering activities such as conducting field investigations, performing research, and gathering traffic-related data; preparing and developing a variety of maps, charts, exhibits, and other graphical materials; and supporting staff with documentation and analysis related to traffic operations, safety, and transportation planning projects.

Major Requirement: Must be currently enrolled with a major in Civil or Environmental Engineering.

* A valid California Class C Driver’s License and a satisfactory driving record are required as conditions of initial and continued employment. *Hours: 15-25 hours per week.

DEPARTMENT: UTILITIES /ENGINEERING
The Utilities Department Engineering Division is seeking motivated students for a summer internship focused on improving our geographic information system (GIS) and asset management program. Duties may include, performing GPS data collection and field surveys of utilities infrastructure including water and sewer assets; locating, identifying, and recording accurate geographic coordinates and asset information using GPS and mobile data collection devices; conducting field investigations to verify existing conditions; updating and maintaining GIS databases; assisting with quality control of collected data; organizing field data, maps, and related documentation; and preparing basic reports, spreadsheets, charts, and technical summaries with guidance from engineering staff.

In addition to GIS-focused fieldwork, interns may assist with a variety of Utilities Engineering functions based on operational needs or if the internship extends beyond the summer period. Duties may include, assisting with engineering plans, drawings, maps and exhibits using civil engineering design software; supporting preparation of as-built construction plans; performing basic calculations for cost estimates and material quantities; filing and organizing engineering records; supporting specialized data collection activities including sewer flow monitoring; and utilizing SCADA and other monitoring tools to assist with engineering data collection and analysis.

Major Requirement: Must be currently enrolled with a major in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Construction Management, GIS, or a closely related field.

* A valid California Class C Driver’s License and a satisfactory driving record are required as conditions of initial and continued employment. *

Hours: 20-30 hours per week, no more than 129 per month.

 

DEPARTMENT: UTILITIES /Water Quality - Pretreatment
Water Quality Interns will assist Environmental Compliance Inspectors with inspections, sampling, case investigations involving Fat, Oil and Grease and water waste. Assist with CCTV inspections, organizing the storeroom and lab, filing documents, database maintenance and entering data into excel spreadsheets. Preparing outreach materials, distributing them to the public and maintain vehicle cleanliness. Interns should be comfortable using Microsoft Word, Excel, GIS and have overall good computer literacy.

Preferred Majors: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science or other science related majors.

Hours: 15-25 hours per week.

ABOUT YOU

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Education: Enrollment in Associates, Bachelors or Graduate degree program related to area and/or department of internship. For engineering internships, enrollment in an accredited engineering program to obtain a B.S. Degree in Engineering is required.
 
Experience: No experience required.

ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE

A completed City of Vacaville Employment Application and Supplemental Questionnaire must be received by the Human Resources Department at 650 Merchant Street, Vacaville, CA 95688 by 5:30 p.m., Monday, March 16, 2026.

Applicants are encouraged to apply online at www.cityofvacaville.com.   Application packets may also be requested in person at the Human Resources Department or by calling (707) 449-5101. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application.

IMPORTANT: Contact with candidates will primarily be via email. Make sure you list a current email that you check regularly on your application.

All applications will be reviewed for minimum qualifications and student eligibility. Qualified applications will be forwarded on to the applicable department for further review. The department will then contact the candidates they are interested in moving forward in the process.  The selection process may include an application review, an oral interview and/or a practical exercise. Educational transcripts or proof of enrollment in college is a requirement for employment as an intern.

For ADA information and other Frequently Asked Questions, please click here. 

The City of Vacaville is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and values diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.