Approved applicants can enter our internship candidate pool in one of two ways. The most common path is through our Small Group Program, where teens build their skills over six weeks. This approach allows your teen to get a taste of farm work before making a three-month commitment to it. Small Groups allow teens to gain confidence and a solid understanding of the kind of work they’ll do as interns. Learn more about our Small Group Programs and upcoming dates here.

Sometimes, Small Group Programs aren’t a good fit for a teen or family due to location or timing. In those cases, we schedule a two-hour training and assessment session at a local farm or stable. During this session, teens perform the chores they’ll encounter during an internship. This allows us to evaluate their ability to follow directions, stay focused, and handle the physical demands, such as carrying water buckets and mucking stalls.

Once your teen is in the intern candidate pool, our Client Case Manager will connect you with one of our program partners to arrange a meet-and-greet and a trial workday or two. When a potential host-employer accepts your teen, they become a part-time employee at that facility. 

Most of our interns work after school and on weekends during the school year. The scope of work, hours, wages, and other details are arranged between the host employer and the teen. We require Ben’s Ranch interns to commit to at least six hours per week for at least three months. After six months, interns graduate from the program and are encouraged to seek new employment, applying the skills they’ve gained during their time with us.