Industry-Specific Guidelines (Training Plan)
This page applies only to hosts of J-1 interns and trainees.
Certain industries are subject to additional rules when designing a training plan for their international intern or trainee. Click on your industry to see specific requirements. If you need assistance determining which industry your host organization falls within, please contact us.
FAQs
Agricultural training tasks that CIEE can accept:
- Interns and trainees may learn about rotational grazing methods, irrigation management methods, sustainable farming practices, small organic farming methods, seed genetics and breeding, and small farm or ranch business management practices
Agricultural training tasks that CIEE severely limits*:
- Assisting with the selling of farm produce/products at farmers’ markets/farm stands.
- Assisting with minor animal activities (animal exercise, training, grooming, feeding, tacking up a horse)
*These tasks are permitted only:
- For a maximum of 10% of the phase.
- When they are essential to understanding higher-level skills and tasks later in the training.
- When under constant supervision of a qualified employee.
Agricultural training tasks that CIEE cannot accept*:
- Activities requiring manual labor such as mucking stalls, hauling water, bailing hay, mending fences, and mowing
- Harrowing or harvesting large fields
- Operation of combines, tractors, or other farming equipment
- Transportation of equipment for long distances on trucks
- Animal care or medical treatment of animals (including de-worming, vaccinating, and trimming hooves)
- Animal husbandry (including prenatal care, birthing, and breeding)
- Milking animals
- Riding horses
- Assisting, leading, and instructing customers/guests in riding horses
- Leading horseback riding tours
*Intern and trainees may observe an employee engaged in these tasks if they constitute less than 10% of a phase and only when they are essential to understanding higher-level skills and tasks later in their training.
Training tasks that CIEE can accept:
- Project management
- Scheduling projects
- Budgeting
- Drafting
- Meeting with contractors
- Blue print development/reading
- Surveying
- Safety/land regulations
- Inspection procedures
- Supply ordering and inventory
- Client management
- Communication on project progress
- Invoicing
Training tasks that CIEE cannot accept for any period of time*:
- Operation of heavy machinery
- Participation as labor on a work crew, including but not limited to:
- Digging holes
- Mixing concrete
- Transportation of materials
- Crew management
- Scaffolding or any other labor that takes place high off the ground, including roof work and climbing ladders
*Interns and trainees may observe an employee engaged in the above tasks if those tasks constitute less than 10% of any phase and only when this observation is essential to understanding higher-level skills and tasks later in their training. Additionally, participants must always be accompanied by a qualified supervisor on the job site.
If the host organization would like to move forward with training after agreeing to these limitations, CIEE may ask the host organization supervisor to sign a waiver indicating the host organization’s understanding of program regulations before CIEE approves the application.
Education training tasks that CIEE can accept:
- Curriculum development
- Lesson plan development
- Classroom observation
- Scheduling, budgeting, and forecasting for the upcoming academic year
- Preparation of teaching materials
- Attendance at PTA or school board meetings
- Training related to scheduling/preparation of in-service days
Education training tasks that CIEE cannot accept:
- Teaching or instructing of any kind (any age)
- Acting as a teacher’s aide
- Acting as a student chaperone or caregiver
- Providing discipline
CIEE will consider applications for participants to train in clinical care facilities if the proposed training is focused on business, operations, or learning laboratory research methods and leaves no opportunity for patient contact or training that would result in patient diagnosis.
Healthcare training tasks that CIEE cannot accept:
- Client assessment or care
- Administration of medications or medical procedures
- Patient or client interaction
- Conducting physical and therapeutic intervention
- Restraining or monitoring clients/patients
- Counseling or therapy
- Coaching
- Nutrition counseling or consulting
- Assisting clients with meals, housekeeping, transportation, or hygiene
- Any activities in which interns or trainees may find themselves in situations where they must deliver clinical and/or therapeutic services or perform unskilled labor
Additional notes:
- Interns and trainees should not have access to client Social Security numbers.
- Training in the fields of clinical care, exercise training, physical therapy, or veterinary care must be observation-based. The intern or trainee should not be responsible for the care and health of individuals or animals.
- If the host organization would like to move forward with training after agreeing to these limitations, CIEE may ask the host organization supervisor to sign a waiver indicating the host organization’s understanding of program regulations before CIEE can approve the application.
Hotel Property Locations
CIEE requires that hotel Host Organizations have broad operations to facilitate a comprehensive training in the hospitality field, including rotation through different roles in different departments. Qualifying properties are generally rated 4 star or higher and offer a degree of professional service. In addition, the property must provide luxury amenities like concierge services, banquets/events, fine dining restaurant, room service, etc. Gyms, pools, and continental breakfast do not qualify towards the extended amenities requirement.
Restaurant Locations
For both culinary and front-of-house trainings in a restaurant, the location must offer high-level training. Typically, qualifying locations have wine pairings, a sommelier, multi-course offerings, and rotating menus. Cafes, casual dining locations, franchises and counter service restaurants do not qualify for front-of-house trainings. Bakeries and cafes may qualify for culinary trainings on a case-by-case basis. Please contact CIEE in advance before initiating applications.
CIEE requires the following number of training phases based on the type and duration of the training program:
| Intern Hospitality* | Trainee Hospitality* | Trainee: Hospitality Management*** | |
| Duration | Number of Phases | Number of Phases | Number of Phases |
| 0-3 months | 1+ | 1+ | 1+ |
| 3-6 months | 1+ | 2+ | 2-3+ |
| 6-12 months | 3+ | 3+ | 2-3+ |
| Over 12 months | N/A | N/A | 3+ |
*Each phase in a hospitality internship should not last more than six months. A phase in housekeeping should not last more than six weeks, with a maximum of two weeks cleaning and/or inspecting rooms.
**Hospitality and culinary Trainees are limited to 12 months
***Note that it is extremely rare for CIEE to approve an application for a Hospitality Management Trainee for more than 12 months.
TRAINING PLAN QUALIFICATIONS FOR HOTEL PROPERTIES
Interns/Trainees must participate in comprehensive rotations through a variety of departments. Training plans must show growth and development of skills and show that they are not only learning the task but understanding how it fits into the overall successful operation of the property. Interns/Trainees are encouraged to learn about budgeting, marketing, management, and scheduling by shadowing and observing supervisors to gain a broader understanding of the property and industry.
Training plans must include less than 10% of the following activities and can only be included in training when it is needed in order to complete/comprehend higher level tasks.
- Busing tables, food running, bar backing, acting as a restaurant host
- Cleaning guest rooms
- Night audit/bookkeeping and overnight shifts
- Breaking down and setting up of events
- Serving (including room service) is only permitted over 10% if a training plan shows that serving tasks are necessary to progress to higher level skills/training.
CIEE cannot accept trainings of any length in the following departments:
- Spas
- Valet/bellhop
- Security, maintenance, general manual labor
- Laundry services
- Bar tending
- Fitness centers/gyms
TRAINING PLAN QUALIFICATIONS FOR RESTAURANT LOCATIONS
Interns/Trainees must participate in comprehensive rotations through a variety of skills. Training plans must show growth and development of skills and show that they are not only learning the task but understanding how it fits into the overall successful operation of the business/industry. Interns/Trainees are encouraged to learn about budgeting, menu planning, management, and scheduling by shadowing and observing supervisors to gain a broader understanding of the business and industry.
Training plans must include less than 10% of the following activities and can only be included in training when it is needed in order to complete/comprehend higher level tasks.
- Basic food prep tasks (chopping, portioning, storing etc.)
- Cleaning and sanitation
- Serving is only permitted over 10% if a training plan shows that serving tasks are necessary to progress to higher level skills/training.
CIEE cannot accept trainings of any length doing the following tasks:
- Washing dishes
- Shifts devoted to cleaning/maintenance
- Bartending
Interns/Trainees cannot make decisions about hiring or firing and they cannot not be responsible for supervising, evaluating, or disciplining staff or other Interns/Trainees.
HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
To qualify for hospitality management, all tasks must be focused on back-of-house activities like marketing, finance, or business operations. No front-of-house operations permitted.
Training tasks that CIEE can accept:
- Developing harvesting calendars
- Fermentation management
- Blending
- The study of health and sanitation standards
- Laboratory analyses and quality control
- Marketing, finance, and/or inventory management
Training tasks that CIEE can accept when limited to no more than 10% of a phase *:
- Pruning vines
- Harvesting
- Participation in wine tastings/samplings
- Receiving and weighing grapes
- De-stemming and sorting grapes
- Watering and irrigation
- Cleaning tanks/barrels
- Retail tasks such as assisting customers, labeling merchandise, etc.
*Tasks permitted only when they are essential to understanding higher-level skills and tasks later in the training.
Trainee program length
Trainee may apply for an 18-month program as long as six months of the program are spent in related, non-credited classroom work provided or coordinated by the host organization.
Training programs in the retail industry must be management-focused. Examples include training in areas such as human resources, accounting, opening/closing procedures, staffing practices, merchandising, sales analysis, budgeting, and retail buying practices.
Retail training tasks that CIEE cannot accept:
- Retail sales, including operating a cash register and assisting customers
- Conducting in-store demos
- Stocking shelves
- Inventory management
- Folding clothes
- Labeling merchandise
Multiple-location retail companies
Training must take place at headquarters. In some cases, it may be possible to have a phase where the intern or trainee is involved in a retail location to learn what is associated with management of a store, but this phase should be limited to a maximum of 1 month.
Single-location retail companies
Training programs at single-location retail establishments are rarely approved. CIEE must ensure that each intern’s or trainee’s program has a broad scope and is in-depth. Single-location retail establishments typically can’t provide that kind of training.
Sales training tasks that CIEE can accept:
- Forecasting
- Budgeting
- Sales analyses
- Presentation creation
- Client presentations (under supervision)
- Learning how to pitch sales
- Learning how to close sales
- Conducting "warm" sales calls
- Client management
- Order tracking and inventory
- Learning sales management tools
- Attending client meetings (under supervision)
Sales training tasks that CIEE cannot accept for any period for time:
- Commission sales
- Sales quotas as part of evaluations and/or compensation
- Cold calls
- Direct sales/marketing to customers/clients
- Independent representation of Host Organization on sales calls
- Canvassing or in-person campaigns
- Soliciting donations
- Hosting a stand or booth (for example at a convention or in a store)
Additional notes:
- Off-site sales calls must always be accompanied by a qualified supervisor.
- Sales training must be at a high level so that the participant learns about the sales process (rather than simply making sales).
Nutrition tasks that CIEE can accept:
- Nutrition business management (budgeting, purchasing, planning)
- Nutritional menu planning & curriculum creation
- Organizing health-focused promotions and events
- Food science research and writing
- Nutritional information creation and quality assurance for food manufacturers
- Food product development
Sports medicine and/or management tasks CIEE can accept:
- Sports medicine business management
- Sports and fitness laboratory research
- Fitness and exercise plan creation and curriculum development
- Sports teams business management
- Sporting events planning and organizing
Tasks CIEE cannot accept:
- Coaching, personal training, or exercise training
- Nutrition counseling or consulting
- Physical therapy
- Gym reception tasks
Additional notes
- Training cannot take place on the gym floor or at a reception desk. However, CIEE will consider applications for training in an office of the gym if it is separate from the gym floor and the training focuses on approved tasks (as listed above).
- There can be a 2-week observation-only period where the intern or trainee shadows a supervisor providing personal training to clients on the gym floor if the remainder of the training takes place in an office setting.
- Interns and trainees can shadow a supervisor providing nutritional counseling, but this must be observation-only.
Social services training tasks that CIEE can accept:
Social services training tasks that CIEE cannot accept:
Prohibited sites of activity
Interns and trainees are prohibited from training in social services facilities such as those listed below, regardless of the nature of training:
If the host organization would like to move forward with training after agreeing to these limitations, CIEE may ask the host organization supervisor to sign a waiver indicating the host organization’s understanding of program regulations before CIEE approves the application.