Let the internship search begin!

As part of any program you complete with Chicago Center, you will complete an internship placement. The summer session has the following requirements: 

• Four days/week
• 32 hours/week
• Six weeks of placement 

Our internship search began at the Chicago Center classroom when meeting with Lane, Scott, and Whitney. We were all given sheets of paper that gave us each a list of potential internship placements based off of our interest that we gave when we applied to the program. We were then given multiple sheets that gave us helpful tips on how to search for internship, call potential employers, schedule interviews, completing interviews, and then accepting positions. These papers were fantastic! The Chicago Center did a great job on how to complete this search and choosing an internship that is a great fit for each person individually. Before hand, we were all incredibly nervous to see how the search would be conducted, all of our nerves were calmed immensely after this. 

My internship search went a little bit like this... 

I was given my sheet of potential employees and to be honest, I was not expecting my list at all. My views and goals changed since I have applied for Chicago Center. I came in thinking I wanted to intern in a social organization such as UNICEF, environmental organizations such as PERRO, or a financial organization that provides financial planning services to those who cannot plan them themselves. My list did not consist of the organizations listed above and consisted of mainly environmental and park organizations. The first day of my search was mostly researching and calling companies and organizations--got two interviews! The next day I also called more organizations and landed two interviews! We were given a "script" by Chicago Center on how to call and say what needed to be said without saying too much, it must have worked because I landed interviews. The interviews themselves were not what I was expecting. They mainly all consisted of conversation asking about Chicago Center, my college and activities I complete in and what I am hoping to gain from this internship. I completed four of these interviews and making a decision was much harder than I ever expected. It was difficult because I am still struggling with what I want to pursue when I graduate. 

Internship Choice: 

My internship that I chose is Friends of the Parks. Friends of the Parks is an advocacy organization non-profit whose job it is to protect the parks. I am looking forward to see what this internship has in store for me for the next six weeks!