How to Participate
Eligible internships include any construction internships of at least two months in length that occurred during the August 2016 – August 2017 school year. Previous internships will not be considered. Entrants must have been enrolled in a college, university, or trade school for the 2016-17 school year.
Grand Prize
$10,000
1 winner
Finalist
$4,000
4 winners
Honorable Mention
$2,000
12 winners
1. Answer these Five Questions
After registering and logging into your account, you’ll be able to access your dashboard. Here you’ll see a button that will take you to the scholarship submission entry form, where you will see the following questions to consider while at your internship:
- Briefly, tell us about yourself and why you chose to do an internship in construction.
- What results did you achieve on the internship and how did you exceed the company’s expectations for your role?
- What did you learn in this internship that will affect your life in a positive way?
- How were you involved with safety and/or quality during your internship, and how did that change your perspective on construction?
- After reviewing www.ibuildamerica.com, tell us what I Build America means to you.
2. Submit Your Entry
Document your experience and complete your entry by submitting:
- 5 written responses to the contest questions
- 8 high-quality photos
- Any supporting documents that showcase your skills (make sure these are relevant — examples include construction project plans or bids that you’ve helped with)
3. Vote
Help choose the top contenders by upvoting the best entries — spread the word to friends & family! Voting begins September 19th and you can vote for an entry once per 24 hours. You can still submit entries for committee consideration until October 3rd BUT the sooner you enter the contest, the more time you’ll have to earn votes!
4. Judging
Once voting closes, the top 8 candidates become semi-finalists along with 9 committee-selected candidates. These 17 semi-finalists are then asked to gather recommendation letters that are sent with their entries to the industry expert panel for final judging. The Intern of the Year and four finalists will be announced November 14th.
Timeline
August 1st – Entry submissions open at 10:00am Central Time (CT)
September 19th – Popular voting begins at 10:00am Central Time (CT)
October 3rd – Last day to submit final entry &
popular voting ends at 4:00pm Central Time (CT)
October 17th – 17 Semi-finalists announced & recommendation letters gathered
October 24th – Semi-finalists sent to industry judges
November 7th – Judging finalized
November 14th – Winners announced!
Additional Tips:
** Include personal stories and unique experiences that distinguish you as an all-star intern. Try not to be too vague.
** Make sure to attach photos! You increase your chances as a finalist if you have high quality pictures submitted with your scholarship entry.
** If you have any additional documents that help tell your story, don’t forget to show us those too!
