Finding an Internship

The first step in any internship is to find an organization that needs your skills.  There are, of course, many different types of organizations that you could work for.  Depending upon your interests and skills, you may want to work for a government agency, a nonprofit organization, a law firm, a political campaign, a private business, or any kind of organization that is relevant to the study of political science.  Some organizations will pay you to work for them; other, equally rewarding, internships are voluntary.

In order to help you locate an appropriate internship site, the department has compiled a list of organizations that routinely hire interns.  You should take a careful look at this list and begin contacting them to see if they might need you and your skills.

Federal Government:

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Library of Congress
USAID
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Labor
U.S. Department of State

Minnesota Government:

Minnesota Department of Health
Minnesota Department of Public Safety
Minnesota Governor’s Office
Minnesota House of Representatives
Minnesota Senate

County Governments:

Hennepin County
Ramsey County
Anoka County
Dakota County
Other county, city, and local governments

Non-Profit Organizations:

Alliance for Sustainability
Amnesty International
American Refugee Committee (ARC) International
Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Children’s Defense Fund (CDF)
Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute
DC Internships
Environment America
Eureka! Recycling
Great Plains Institute
Great River Greening
Hispanic Association of Colleges & Universities National Internship Program
Idealist
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
International Institute of Minnesota
The Legal Rights Center
Lutheran Coalition for Public Policy
Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless
Minnesota Council for Nonprofits
Minnesota Environmental Partnership
Minnesota International Center
MinnesotaJobs
National Academy of Social Insurance
National Wildlife Federation
Native American Congressional Internships
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)
PPIA Fellowship Program
Public Policy Institute of California
Public Service Careers
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Washington Center
Washington Internship Institute
White Earth Land Recovery Project

Other organizations:

United Nations
American Political Science Association
USAJobs
World Bank

You can also solicit information on organizations from the University’s Career Center at http://www.stthomas.edu/careerdevelopment/

For further internship ideas, visit the Career Development site for Political Science majors by clicking here.

Remember:  the first step in a successful internship is putting in the effort to match yourself with an organization.  This means making phone calls, presenting yourself properly, and sticking with it!

Internship Suggestions:

Do you know of any government agencies, nonprofit organizations, law firms, political campaigns, private businesses, or any other kind of organization that might be offering internships to political science students?  Help expand the opportunities for political science students at the University of St. Thomas by suggesting a location. 

Contact:

Dr. Steve Hoffman at smhoffman@stthomas.edu with the name of the agency or organization and their contact information.