Planning an Internship

Steps in Planning a Successful Anthropology Internship

• Learn about the Anthropology Internship Program at IUP.
  • Attend an organizational meeting about internships, or contact Dr. Amanda Poole at pooleab@iup.edu.
• Read the Internship Guide for Anthropology Majors by Tara Lynn Luffy, which can be found in the Anthropology Department office. Read an essay by a former student intern, “How to Independently Arrange An Internship.”
• Begin searching Internet websites for appropriate internship sites. Try looking through other university’s homepages, because they have a great deal of internship information that IUP may not have. Check out the internship book selection in the Anthropology Department. Also, contact professors and other faculty members who may have good suggestions for you.
• If you still would like more guidance on finding an internship, go to the Career Development Center in 302 Pratt Hall or Experiential Education in 306 Sutton Hall.
• Fill out the Request for Internship Placement form.
• Prepare introductory letters, which are sent to the institutions to which you are applying. These letters are personal introductions and ask for particular information about the internship opportunity. A personal, imaginative letter introducing yourself, your interest in the program, and your resume will help make a positive impression.
• Write a statement of purpose, which goes into detail about what you want to get out of the internship experience. It is a good idea to send this out to possible internship sites in order to show them what exactly you hope to accomplish during your time with them.
• Finally, prepare a resume or curriculum vita in which you can more fully develop what you have accomplished in the field you are interested in.
• After all the paperwork has been reviewed by the internship coordinator or an advisor, send it to the desired internship site and wait for a response.
• After you have been accepted by an organization to do your internship there, fill out the Internship Contract.

• Fill out the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Internship Approval Form at the appropriate time according to when you will be doing your internship (i.e., by the first Monday in July if you are doing a Fall internship, by the second Monday in November if you are doing a Spring internship, and by the second Monday in April if you are doing a Summer internship). As part of this application, you will need to attach a statement of purpose that includes a timetable and guide to how you will be graded.

• Make final preparations for completing your internship, such as fundraising, vaccinations (if you are going to a foreign country prone to disease), passport acquiring, etc. Provide the IUP internship coordinator with the information on how to contact you during your internship. Prepare for a visit from the internship coordinator sometime during your internship experience.
• Send or give the Site Supervisor’s Internship Evaluation Report form to the site supervisor at your internship site.
• While you are doing your internship, keep a daily log, and send copies to the internship coordinator every week.
• Send duplicates of all the materials that you produce in the course of your work during the internship to the internship coordinator.
• Upon completion of your internship, you should prepare a final project paper, or personal growth statement, that will be due no more than sixty days after leaving the internship site.
• Prepare a brief self-evaluation statement.