Washington Internship - Placement Process
The Placement Process
Once a student’s application is received by The Washington Center, the following steps
occur:
- An email is immediately sent to the student acknowledging receipt of the application.
- Typically, within a couple of weeks from that point, the applicant receives the acceptance letter (through email and a hard copy).
- A few weeks later The Washington Center assigns a Placement Advisor to each student. The PA contacts the student to discuss the range of internship opportunities that may suit the students’ interests.
- The Washington Center identifies a variety of potential placement sites and sends a copy of a student’s application packet to each site.
- Student can monitor the progress of their applications through The Washington Center’s website. Web links for all the placement sites that receive a student’s application are posted on this Web site.
- At this point students need to be patient. Several weeks may lapse from the time a student’s application is distributed to potential placement sites and when the first interviews occur.
- The Washington Center does not determine where a student will be placed for an internship. That decision is in the hands of the placement sites that receive a student’s application.
- Usually, a student is contacted by phone to arrange a time for a phone interview. Before the interview, students should research the potential placement site through the link provided on The Washington Center’s Web page.
- The phone interview is generally informal, but it presents an important opportunity for prospective interns to ask how the placement site utilizes interns, what opportunities exist for enhancing job skills, the type of mentoring an intern can expect, the dress code for that particular placement site, etc. Students are advised to speak with former interns to get a sense of how the phone interview is conducted. There is not a standard format for these interviews.
- Students should not expect to be interviewed by every placement site that receives their application. It is possible that a student may receive only one or two interviews. Conversely, a student could be interviewed by several placement sites. The factors that influence this are typically the strength of a student’s application (the essays, the quality of writing, the GPA, and the strength of the letters of recommendation). It is important to realize that placement sites receive many internship applications, and they may be looking for only one intern. However, The Washington Center has a strong reputation and prospective placement sites know that internship applications that come through The Washington Center are consistently from strong candidates.
- After a student is interviewed, an internship offer may be made within a few days. If a student receives an offer from one placement site but is waiting to hear from another site, it is not uncommon to ask for a few additional days to decide whether to accept the first internship offer.
- Before any internship offer is accepted, students should speak with their Program Advisor at The Washington Center and/or the Campus Liaison at Stockton. Students can accept one internship offer.
