Undergraduate Admissions

I first talked to a lot of the students that already participated in the Credit Internship program. I got a lot of feedback; they said it was a great way to get a real-world experience and figure out what you want to do with your life.

I knew that I wanted to do my internship close to home in Mississippi. The ILR Career Services office told me about the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). I had already thought about the EEOC from taking human resource management last year as a sophomore, and I thought it would be a good way to get involved in enforcing anti-discrimination laws.

It was a great experience. I started with “intake.” At intake, I helped interview employees who came to file a charge against their employer. The most exciting part of intake was talking with the people coming into the office every day. It made me realize that I was applying what I learned in class. I knew the answers.

I then I went into “on-site investigation,” where you interview the employees and people from management and investigate the charge. I also looked at cases where the EEOC had requested information from the employer. They sent in their information plus the affidavits and other information from the charging party. I then looked at all the information and gave a suggestion of what type of finding I thought the case should have.

I then went into “mediation” and I sat in on sessions with the mediator. I actually got to see some of the cases from walk-in on day one, and then a couple of months later, it would go to mediation. The interesting part was to see how it actually ended; to see the whole case from beginning to end. In my opinion, that was the best part of the whole process.

I had someone at the EEOC make sure that I did interviews the correct way, but I also had the opportunity to do it on my own and to see how it feels. When you do it on your own, it’s different than when you’re watching someone else do it. You have to make the decisions and you never know what type of person you will be dealing with; what type of situation they are in. There were a lot of different situations and you have to cope with people and their emotions and their frustrations in dealing with an employer, and you have to be remain objective at all times.

My internship was actually more than what I thought it was going to be. Everybody has their own perception of what an internship is. Some think you are just typing and filing. I did not think I was going to have a very significant role in the organization, but I did. And towards the end of it, they were actually asking me what I thought about cases, and that made me feel like I was a part of the organization instead of just an intern.

My internship helped me decide that I want to go into human resource management. I've decided I want to get a master’s in human resource management, and now I’m looking into universities that offer this degree, such as the ILR School. I want to pursue an MILR degree. The credit internship program helped me to see that I wanted to have an influence in the workplace, and that working in human resource management was the best way for me to do that.