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Federal internships can be a great way to start a career in government. But before you get an internship, you have to find it, which in some ways can be trickier than finding a job.
The big difference between job hunting and looking for an internship is that internships are “excepted” positions, not “competitive” positions. What that means is instead of using Monster Gov't/Public Service and USAJOBS to search all agencies at once, you have to go to each agency's Web site.
Here's how you to start your hunt:
• Make a list of agencies that are of interest to you.
• Go to each agency's home page.
• Look for a link for employment, careers, students or interns.
• If you can't find any of the above, use the search field to look for “student internships.”
• Read through descriptions of internship programs.
• Once you find a program you like, try putting the name of the program in the search field to find more information.
• Look for actual program announcements with dates, pay and instructions for how to apply.
• Bookmark these pages and write information down or print it out.
• Write a federal-style resume that covers the skills in the announcement.
Here are how a few of my own federal internship hunts for positions at NASA and the National Science Foundation go:
National Air & Space Administration: I found a great Flash animation on the home page, but I couldn't find the internship info for “regular students,” only Astronaut Educators. So I went to the top to search, typed in “Student Internships” and found NASA's Student Intern Program Homepage. I still haven't found the real internship/job announcement with dates, salary and how-to-apply instructions, but at least I found a good description of the internship programs.
National Science Foundation (NSF): Where are the internship listings with closing dates, salaries, and other job-related information? Time to use the search feature on the NSF site. I typed in “Student Internships” and found the Student Appointments page. This is a little better, with more information about the types of internship programs offered, but where are the real listings? Back on the search results page, I clicked on a link that took me to the Department of Energy's Web site, which provides a good description of an internship for a science major on a page for Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships. This page includes dates, pay, length of appointment, and other information.
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The Bottom Line
Yes, finding the good federal internship listings and descriptions with each agency can be time-consuming, but the time you spend is very worthwhile. Federal internships can pay well and include advancement and benefits.
