THE INTERNSHIP AT IFE
What does IFE look for in an internship for its students?
IFE’s criteria for a placement are
- an intern will be part of a team or working group;
- an intern will be given significant work to do;
- an intern will have access to a range of actors and sources of information in his or her chosen field
How does the placement process work? Does a student have any say?
Internships are based on:
What each student is interested in doing and learning
Students’ previous experience
Students’ training and field of study
Requirements students need to fufill
Types of Internships:
IFE places student interns in ministries, the Parliament, social agencies, local and regional governments, cultural organizations, political parties, the media, NGOs, think tanks, foundations, and other types of organizations.
The Starting Point for the Internship Placement Process:
IFE applicants indicate on the application the type of institution they prefer, in what field, working on what issues, etc. Applicants may indicate a career interest, a research area for a senior thesis, or other criteria for placement, such as a simple desire to put some faces to the language and literature they’ve studied. Each admitted student then enters into direct and sustained contact with IFE about the choice of placment. A placement strategy is worked out which takes the various parameters into account.
IFE maintains contact with admitted candidates during the placement process. It is important to note that student choice is full and unrestricted before the search begins, in the designation of what placement strategy is to be pursued. Once the search begins, however, it is carried out in a linear manner, with possible placements pursued one at a time. It is not at all feasible to propose several confirmed placements at the same time simply in order that a student has a "range of options".
Not at all a placement agency, IFE is an academic program built around an internship and as such ensures that each student is placed where they can pursue their desired program of study (and/or career development).
In general, students arrive in Paris knowing where they will be working, as well as having participated in that choice. It is IFE’s policy to accomodate changes of mind by students to the full extent possible. Similarly, any lack of fit manifested at the time of the initial interview suffices to restart the placement search. Obviously the further along in the process and in time, the stronger a student’s argument must be to justify a change of direction.
What is the daily experience of being an IFE intern? What is it like?
An IFE internship is a good deal more than just a student experience abroad.
Once they have had the chance to get oriented, interns arrive at their sponsoring office expected to perform various useful tasks for of use to the sponsoring organization.
The first job then is getting quickly acquainted with the work, structure and personnel of the host organization, especially as this is the best way to overcome the culture shock that may be provoked by entering a French institution!
After that, each situation is unique and is the result of a day-by-day process from the first day of the internship. An internship is always a work in progress, and rarely a prefabricated structure. Interns may be required to travel, to attend meetings, to perform research, to conduct interviews and gather data for reports and memos, or to brief a bureau chief on a specific question. In general interns aid in the daily work of the office including translation, web site maintenance, and other tasks such as preparing for upcoming events, meetings or presentations, etc. IFE interns’ English skills, while not the focus of their mission, often prove an excellent means for interns to add value to their host organization and thereby "earn their keep".
As the internship unfolds, the intern’s confidence grows as does the host’s confidence in the intern. This leads to greater responsability, more varied tasks, and/or more involvement with various office teams. The research project often plays a role in this process as it leads the intern wider afield for interviews and for gathering material, at the same time that individuals in the intern’s immediate milieu become interested in the project and the intern’s findings.
What can a student expect to get out of this experience?
Every intern is a specialist and a generalist. By far the most significant result of an IFE intern’s work experience is the benefit of exposure to the concrete, detailed activity of a French Institution, whether it be in a French office, active in social, political, or cultural affairs, the liberal arts, business and communications, research in the natural sciences, or many other fields (history, archeology, urbanism, etc).
Each year interns testify to the valuable dimension this experience adds to their understanding of the world. This daily immersion in professional activity in another culture is similar to the academic work in one way: it deepens understanding through a combination of close study and critical perspective. IFE looks for placements where, through office teamwork and a broad social context, students will have the chance to acquire the cross-cultural skills and familiarity with contemporary European society that both private and public sector employers value and that make IFE graduates well-informed citizens of the world.
