Where To Find Internship Listings
As soon as you are notified of your eligibility to participate in the internship program, you will be asked to submit a list of your top four or five choices for internship placement. In order to make informed choices, you will have to acquaint yourself with the wide (and changing) range of opportunities available to you. Complete listings of available opportunities (organized both geographically and by type or organization), are maintained in the internship office, as well as in the Office of Career Services. These lists are accessed via computer in each location. Moreover, the managing director of the program can provide you with additional information relating to particular internship opportunities, including comments from former ILR interns.
Checking Back Regularly for New Sponsors
In addition to the substantial list of opportunities that are routinely available to prospective interns, new sponsors join the program each semester. As a result, it is important that you check the bulletin board outside of 119 Ives East frequently to ensure that you are aware of any new internship opportunities that become available.
Initial Contact of Sponsors on Your Behalf
Once you have decided which internship opportunities you wish to pursue, the program director will contact those sponsors on your behalf. In addition to a cover letter explaining your interest in the internship they are offering, the program director will also send to the sponsors your name, a copy of
Sponsor Decisions and Student Interviews
In the end, of course, it is the sponsoring organization that decides to whom the offer of its internship is made. Organizations handle the selection process in different ways. Some will send a representative to campus to interview prospective interns, others will request telephone interviews with interested students and others will ask the program director to suggest the names of especially appropriate candidates in accordance with criteria they establish. Sometimes ILR students are in competition with students from other institutions, but more often they are in competition with other ILR students. It's up to you to convince sponsors that you are the person best suited to do the job they have in mind. Whatever the particular procedure you are required to follow, it is extremely important that students seeking internships stay in close contact with the internship office.
Communicating With Potential Sponsors
To facilitate your search, as well as to minimize its cost to you, a telephone is available for your use in the internship office. You may make internship-related long-distance calls from that telephone as frequently as necessary. In order to influence the timing of the internship selection process, you should be aggressive, but not annoyingly so, in bringing your interest to the attention of those organizations with whom you hope to secure a placement. Remember that your interactions with prospective sponsors are for the purpose of your mutual enlightenment. Be prepared to provide whatever additional information they may require, but also be prepared to solicit whatever additional information you need to make an informed decision about your suitability for the job they have in mind.
Alternative Opportunities
Not every student will get his or her first choice of an internship assignment, but the chances are excellent that you will get one of your top choices. In the event that you want or need to consider additional opportunities beyond those originally selected, you may do so by informing the assistant director.