Your Cengage instructor has partnered with Extern to give you hands-on professional experience through your curriculum
Complete real projects and get live feedback from company brands you recognize as part of your Cengage coursework. Whether it’s for your capstone or career exploration—start building resume-ready experience now.
Why this matters
The entry-level job market has changed. Employers expect experience, but opportunities to gain it are shrinking. Cengage and Extern are working together to solve this problem by embedding professional experience directly into coursework so students don't have to wait just for summer or until after graduation to build the skills that matter.
No matter what background, GPA, or current experience, Extern is here to give anyone the opportunity to get professional experience in their fields of interest.
How these projects are designed
These virtual, fully remote projects are designed to fit your schedule and can be completed from anywhere. The experience includes guided online modules aligned with the project work, along with live sessions hosted by participating companies throughout the externship.
Projects are available across multiple industries and career areas, allowing students to build both soft and hard skills relevant to current workforce needs. Example projects include sustainability consulting engagements, venture capital investment memos, and game design.
Externships are typically 8–12 weeks in length and involve an estimated 5–10 hours of work per week. Participation is open to all eligible students regardless of GPA, major, or prior experience.
I'm using a Cengage course. How do I get access?
If your Instructor has enabled Extern, you'll see a direct link to explore available externships that align with your Cengage course.
What’s Waiting For You
Put the experience on your resume with big brand names you can point to and experience you can speak to in an interview.
Meet industry professionals and collaborate with peers from all around the world.
Learn through application the most in-demand tools and skills employers are looking for.
Showcase your project deliverables so you can show your peers and recruiters the experience you now have.
Extern will verify your experience if you meet the requirements of completion and act as a reference for recruiters.
Gain confidence as you learn about what actual projects look like in the real world and be more sure of the career you want to pursue.
Extern by the Numbers
Backed by data, powered by mentorship, loved by students.
Students Served — and growing fast
of externs get hired within 12 months
universities where students are externs
Build AI agents (no coding needed), and stand out in the job market. This externship gives you hands-on experience with real data, automation, and in-demand tools like n8n. Finish with a live AI dashboard and a portfolio-ready project.
Analyze real e‑commerce data from Google Analytics, Meta Ads, and Shopify to uncover what drives clicks and sales. Learn to spot funnel drop‑offs, optimize marketing spend, and craft strategies that boost conversions and revenue.
Build AI-powered document intelligence with Pfizer, automating healthcare and clinical supply documents using OCR, LLMs, and RAG
Think like a venture capitalist, faster with AI. Use AI-driven tools, databases, and market maps to spot and analyze energy, industrial, and sustainability startups, then craft investor-ready reports to pitch them like a pro.
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What if the real drivers of health have nothing to do with doctors or medicine? Define a research question, analyze public data with Python, and share your insights using AI. A résumé-popping mix of health, data, and strategy.
A shopper buys kombucha Tuesday, a smoothie Friday. A $1B beverage brand can't explain why. Build the real survey and find the insights that can.
Analyze video ads, uncover what works, and build a strategy. Then, turn your insights into a creative concept you can showcase in your portfolio - and present to the Global Consumer Insights team.
20+ years of juvenile justice data. Real correlations. Real policy impact. Your analysis goes straight to legislators.
Finance is changing. Learn to use AI to analyze real financials, benchmark performance, and build an exec-level financial memo.
Design + prototype the next big social app feature Gen Z actually wants. Build real UI/UX and product management experience with Canva, analyzing user insights, and pitching your final feature concept—all with BeReal.
Turn six messy CSVs into an analytics database and a Q4 dashboard that drives real business decisions. SQL + Claude.
Redesign mental health care from the inside out. Map workflows, spot risks, and build tools to make patient care safer, smarter, and more human.
Scout Vertical AI startups for a SoftBank-pedigreed VC fund — sourcing deals, analyzing founders, writing investment memos.
Pick a community anywhere in the world. Find the public health data. Figure out what is actually driving childhood mortality there, and build the brief that could change how people respond.
