Chicago Semester

General Students

If you aren’t a nursing, social work, or an education student, Chicago Semester has a “General Student” track for you. We accept students with a variety of majors and interests, and the great thing about doing an internship through Chicago Semester is that you have a voice in where you will intern!

For general students, Chicago Semester staff draws from years of experience and a hefty database to arrange 2 – 3 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.
   • 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.

Finding an Internship Site

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

1. We review your application, résumé, goals (especially the essay question about your ideal internship), and recommendations.
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 at the beginning 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;.
5. You will contact the site to confirm their offer and prepare to begin your work the next week!