The great thing about doing an internship through Chicago Semester is that you have a voice in where your placement will be. You aren't assigned a site, and then told, "Hope you like it!" Nor are you left to fend for yourself. The opportunity to choose fosters a strong sense of commitment from both sides in the internship match.

For general students, Chicago Semester staff draws from years of experience and a hefty database to arrange several interviews for you during orientation week. Then, with input from you and the site after your interviews, we make a match. We can't guarantee you will get your first choice, but we do promise a place of growth and new learning with support from CS staff throughout the semester.

The Facts about General Student Internships

• Students work 32 hours per week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.
• Internships typically last 13½ weeks.
• Instead of salary, you are compensated with quality assignments, valuable supervision and academic credit awarded by your college.

The organizations that offer internships are expected to meet several criteria. Chicago Semester expects partnering organizations to:

1. Attend a supervisor meeting at our office early in the semester.
2. Assign a seasoned employee to supervise and become a mentor, which entails:
   • Meeting with you at least once a week.
   • Assisting you in developing a learning contract for the internship, which contains student goals, objectives, specific tasks and evaluative criteria.
   • Providing you with meaningful learning opportunities and responsibilities.
3. Orient you to the organization.
4. Participate in a midpoint and final evaluation session at the site involving you the intern, the site supervisor and the practicum group leader.
5. Prepare a written evaluation and grade for the intern at the end of the internship to be submitted to CS. This is then forwarded to the student's college.

Finding an Internship Site

Here's an outline of the process of securing an internship site:

1. We review your application, résumé, goals and recommendations (especially essay question #4 about your ideal internship).
2. In the months before the semester, we send prospective internship sites your résumé and a profile about you and then follow up to arrange your interview appointments.
3. You receive your interview schedule the second day of orientation week.
4. You go to the interviews and reflect on which place or places best seem to fit your goals. We'll talk about it with you as you come to a final choice; part of this may include passing along input from the sites you've been to, conversation with other students who interviewed at the same places you did and maybe helping you choose between several great options.
5. You will contact the site to confirm their offer and prepare to begin your work the next week!

General Student Internship Categories

General students include students from all majors except education, social work, and nursing. For placement purposes, students are divided into six different categories. Select which one is most appropriate to learn more about possible internship sites.

• Arts: graphic design, interior design, arts administration, web design, photography, theater and dance
• Biology & Health Sciences: exercise science, physical therapy, occupational therapy, pre-med, pre-physician's assistant and zoological studies
• Business: accounting, banking, finance, general business, operations, international business and human resources
• Communication: advertising, event planning, marketing, journalism, TV, radio, film, video and public relations
• Social Services: counseling, child welfare, art therapy, youth ministry, homeless shelters, other social service settings
• Miscellaneous: law, urban planning, criminal justice and much more!