The ILR Credit Internship Program has been in operation for more than twenty-five years, and is widely recognized in the United States as the most successful of its type.  The program was created by the faculty of the ILR School to afford our advanced undergraduates (Juniors & Seniors) opportunities to enhance their understanding of the field of industrial and labor relations by working for a semester (approximately 14 weeks) in one of the professional careers it encompasses.

Each semester we routinely place dozens of eligible students with corporations, trade unions, labor and employment law firms, appropriate legislative bodies and other public agencies at every level of government, think tanks, public policy institutes and a wide array of advocacy organizations associated in one way or another with issues of work and workplace relations.   For most of its history our program operated almost exclusively within the United States. In recent years, however, we have sought to expand its scope, and we now routinely place students at various locations internationally.

Students are approved to take part in the program only after meeting academic and other standards imposed by faculty legislation.  They are eligible to apply only after completing the first two years of our four-year undergraduate curriculum, a requirement that assures that every intern has taken most, if not, all of the courses that comprise the core of our instructional program.

We are also very careful in judging the suitability of the placements we arrange for our interns.  We require that every sponsoring organization be involved with activities directly related to the field of industrial and labor relations, and that the work they propose to have an intern undertake is consistent with the character of work performed by members of their professional staff.  Because our program is an adjunct of our instructional mission, it is essential that students who work as interns are discharging duties that enrich their understanding and thus enhance their education.