Internships
To gain hands-on experience in the field of sociology, we encourage you to particpate in an internship while studying at NIU. An internship provides early information about whether you really like a particular type of work or not. Sometimes an internship turns into a paid job after graduation.
We maintain a file of agencies that have sought interns in the past, which may be needing interns in the future. Visit Huskies Get Hired for internship listings. Attend a job fair. NIU hosts two internship fairs every year, one in the fall and one in the spring. You can also call an agency in which you are interested and ask whether they take interns.
Frequently Asked Questions
You should do an internship after you've had several courses in your major, but before graduation. Generally, this means late in the junior year or early in the senior year. For many students the summer between their junior and senior years is ideal.
Some internships are paid, but most of the ones in public service agencies are not. The computerized listings through Career Services indicate which positions are paid.
Minimally, you must be a sociology major in good academic standing. You must commit at least 120 hours of work to the agency, although some agencies require more. You must work out a plan for the internship with your agency supervisor and that plan must be approved by the sociology department internship coordinator. (You don't want to do merely repetitive clerical work.)
All students taking SOCI 390 must register their internships with Career Services. This provides a record of your internship activities, generates a notation on your transcript and facilitates our obtaining an evaluation of your work from the agency supervisor. See the Career Services website to register an internship and complete the Internship/Co-op Placement Reporting Form.
On the other hand, you may undertake an internship without seeking academic credit for the experience, while enrolling in SOCI 390 requires both an internship and the completion of the SOCI 390 course requirements.
Yes, subject to the following constraints. First, you should only do one internship at a time. In addition, a second internship should normally be with an agency other than the one with which you did the first internship. Sometimes we will approve a second internship with the same agency, but this requires clear evidence that the second experience will be substantially different that the original.
Contact Us
Director of Undergraduate Studies and Internship Coordinator
Dr. Laura Heideman
lheideman@niu.edu
Zulauf Hall 810
