Nothing helps you learn more quickly what your interests and skills are than a hands-on internship. Nothing helps you “get your foot in the door” of an organization that you might want to work for more easily than an internship. And nothing helps you “network” with employers and professionals who can help you succeed in your career more quickly than an internship. That is why the sociology & anthropology department does all it can to encourage students to do an internship in a field (or fields) that interests them. Internships help you see how the knowledge and skills you gain as an undergraduate translate into the workplace.
There are a couple ways to find out what internships are available. To start, we suggest reviewing internships listed on this website. This listing is grouped into three somewhat overlapping categories: Applied/Organizational and Education.. You will see that there is a wide range of organizations offering internships, and they are EAGER to have our students work for them. But this list is not exhaustive, and is stronger in some areas than others. There are many other possibilities, and we recommend that you have a discussion with your advisor about your interests and passions, and the types of places that you think might help you pursue them. Often, a call from your advisor can open doors that you did not even know existed. TCNJ has a very good reputation in New Jersey, and many places jump at the chance to have you as an intern – they just haven’t considered having one until a faculty member suggests it to them.
We recommend the following websites to get your search started:
- www.internships.com/internship-jobs/newjersey
- www.idealist.org/search/v2/?search_type=internship&search_browser_options_initial_sort=published_date
- LionsLink
Setting up an Internship
You begin by talking over internship possibilities with your faculty advisor. While many of the organizations listed on our website allow students to contact them directly, you should talk with your faculty advisor first. That way you can make sure the internship fits into your program of study, consider a full range of internship options, and gain an ally in the application process. Your faculty advisor may also become your faculty internship supervisor, or may direct you to another faculty member whose particular interests overlap more directly with yours.
Your faculty internship supervisor does several important things. First of all, supervisors play the role of your academic “guardian angel” – that is, they look out for you and your academic interests during your internship (to make sure that you are not relegated to the copy room, for example), ensuring that your internship is a valuable learning experience. They also join with you and your site supervisor to determine the goals and assignments of your internship (which get codified in your internship proposal). They are regular sounding boards for you, and you will be required to consult with them on a regular basis throughout your internship. And, last but not least, they assign you a grade based on your site supervisor’s evaluation, your assignments, and their own assessment of your performance in the internship.
You should register for an internship the same time as you register for the rest of your courses. There is an internship form that needs to be completed by you and your faculty supervisor, and the department chair must sign that form, too. The form must also specify whether the internship proposal is either attached to the proposal, or will be submitted no later than the first week of classes. That proposal must also be reviewed and approved by the department chair. The form and proposal are submitted in person to the Records and Registration office. Be sure to get a head start on all of this by meeting with your department advisor early. (Note, however, that you can be registered for an internship up to and including the first week of classes. This occurs in highly unusual cases only; last minute decisions to do internships may find you without either a site or a faculty supervisor).
The internship proposal is a one-page statement of your internship goals and assignments agreed to by you, your faculty supervisor, and your site supervisor. It should include the full contact information for your internship site supervisor, and the name of the organization for which you are proposing an internship. You, the student, prepare this proposal based on a dialogue between you and your faculty and site supervisors. The proposal must be approved by your faculty supervisor and by the department chair, and a copy of it must be submitted to Records and Registration by the end of the first week of classes (earlier is definitely better).
Feel free to set up a meeting with our Program Assistant, Katherine Koenigsknecht, for more information on past internship sites of TCNJ Sociology students and help with the internship enrollment paperwork.
Internship Information
Some are paid, and some are not. There are fewer paid internships, and often these make more demands on your time and assign lots of routine clerical tasks. If you choose one of these, your faculty supervisor will be sure to stress to your internship supervisor that this is an educational experience, and that hands-on involvement and thorough exposure to current organizational issues and projects is required. There is a greater variety of unpaid internships, and these are often more consistently interesting. As a general rule, non-profit and public organizations have limited funds and cannot pay their interns, while for-profit organizations are more likely to have paid internships. (Note: some major for-profit organizations have large intern programs during the summer, which are often very competitive.)
The college policy for unpaid internships is that 1 course unit of internship requires 200 hours. Paid internships generally require more hours, because we don’t give academic credit for filing or photocopying. Your faculty supervisor will determine the exact amount of hours you’ll need to complete for a paid internship.
Depending on faculty availability and your willingness to pay for internship credits during the summer. Ask your department advisor.
You may or may not be required to write a paper for your faculty supervisor. The specific requirements of your faculty supervisor as to a paper, project report, journal, presentation, or other assignment(s) are at her/his discretion, in consultation with you. They should be specified in your internship proposal.
All sociology majors are required to take SOC 499 “Senior Seminar in Sociology” and SOC 499 requires students, as a major part of its course requirements, to complete an internship. The internship is an opportunity to spend approximately 100 hours on site in an internship of your choosing. We recommend that students consider doing two different internships if possible to further expand your skill set and prepare you for life after graduation.