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Printer-Friendly ModeInterning a boon for job hunters
September 17, 2007 —
SVSU's political science department has witnessed a major boom in the amount of people seeking government internships. Students like these are looking to secure positions in their particular field of interest answering phones, making contacts, and ultimately gaining experience.
Greg Dietrich, a 27 year old SVSU student majoring in political science with a minor in communication, has completed two internships. He has worked for Senator Carl Levin's Saginaw office during the winter of 2007 and later the summer worked for Representative Dale Kildee's Washington D.C. office. Dietrich said the hustle and bustle of life in Washington was a wholly educational experience.
"You make good contacts. You get to see what the culture is like in Washington D.C. It's a fast-paced environment. Some people like it. Some people don't," Dietrich said.
During his internships, Dietrich had the opportunity to meet the congressman he worked for. During the winter of 2007, Dietrich met Sen. Carl Levin at the Saginaw Bennigan's. Later that summer while interning for Rep. Kildee, Dietrich was invited to a "members only" breakfast on Capitol Hill. According to Dietrich, the knowledge he gained from the internships and the opportunities he had while being in the arena were priceless.
Dr. Erik Trump, the chairman of SVSU's political science department, commented on the growing number of students looking for internship opportunities.
"We got to this point just last year where all of a sudden a lot of students wanted to do internships," he said.
In light of the rising interest in internships, Trump said that an organizational base had to be established in order to allow the process of applying for internships to occur more fluidly.Trump also explained why students should consider partaking in an internship.
"The reasons are sort of multiple and it depends somewhat on the individual student. For some students the idea is that an internship gives someone an opportunity to learn about the public policy process from within. Internships not only give intellectual comprehension of how policy is formulated," he said. "But they also give tangible skills such as professionalism which are not taught in a classroom."
Trump also said that SVSU has been a breeding ground for students who are knowledgeable enough in American politics to succeed at internships. Through an internship those students have a medium by which to practice their inherent know how.
"Ultimately we would hope that there is that kind of relationship there. At a very basic level, why does Carl Levin's office want students from the political science department to be working there? It's because they assume, reasonably, that the students that are going to go and work there understand what the fundamental basis is for the American political system."
Trump also recognizes the positive rapport nearby political offices have kept with the University. In fact, many of these offices are staffed by SVSU alumni. Trump says the relationship with these offices and the alumni have been invaluable to the education of current students.
"A fair number of alumni who are either working for politicians or running campaigns, and who are politically connected are contacting us. We also have longstanding relationships with certain offices. Carl Levin's office in Saginaw, for example, has had a relationship with SVSU since before I got here."
The Center for Public Policy and Service - the campus institution designed to help students acquire internship opportunities - is under the direction of political science professor John Kaczynski. Recalling his experience as an undergraduate, he said the internships he involved himself with were of great educational value and one of the main reasons he is so eager to help current students with similar endeavors.
"I've had numerous internships," said Kaczynski. "Two were at the municipal level; one was for the city of Cadillac and the other with the city of Grand Haven. I've also had two with Michigan's House of Representatives."
It was these internship experiences that finally gave Kaczynski the opportunity to test his political knowledge in a real world environment, thus gaining further real world experience.
"I gained a plethora of information from every internship. It was great because it was a motivator. I took all the knowledge I had obtained from my undergraduate years and was able to apply it in the field," he said.
The Center for Public Policy and Service will hold a federal internship seminar on Sept. 26th and a state internship seminar on October 24th. Both of these events will take place from noon until 1 p.m. in the Roberta E. Allen Reading Room, located in the fourth floor of the Zhanow Library.