Internships are an important aspect of your undergraduate experience - allowing you to apply the skills you have gained from your academic pursuits in practical work environments and research. Our department is committed to the ASA's curricular recommendations for students to be career ready and competitive in the job market.  We offer a career development course for our majors; numerous opportunities for departmental engagement and development of leadership skills; and include an option in our senior capstone for students to pursue approved internships for credit.

SOC 199: Career Development

Meet your peers and dive into all career-development designed for Sociology majors; examine the skills you obtain through classes; identify your marketable skills; and be prepared for your internship/job/career/grad school searches.  Students will leave the course with a better understanding of the career decision-making process; career options for Sociology majors; the internship/job/grad school search process; and prepared to design their Illini experience for success.

Register by visiting Course Explorer and searching SOC 199. 

SOC 400: Internships

Sociology 400 is the Sociology Department's internship course and is one of the options to meet the Capstone Requirement. To enroll students must get any internship on or off-campus, approved by the undergraduate academic advisor using the application linked below. Applications must be received before the 1st class day of the term in which they are applying and internships must meet the Guidelines for Internships

Application for Course Approval - SOC 400 Internships
Seats are limited and reserved for primary majors. 

If students have questions regarding special circumstances or accommodations, they are encouraged to email soc-adivsing@illinois.edu

Internship Search Resources

Sociology majors find internship opportunities in a variety of ways:

Find existing internships:

Create your own internship:

Think about and research what and where you'd like to intern. Find the contact info for the organizations and reach out.

  • Ask friends, relatives, adviser, former employers for ideas/leads
  • If they already have a volunteer program, they may be more willing to make you a intern
  • Reach out early and provide your resume, statement of interest and references. 
  • Identify organizations/companies in your local area to connect with for possibly internship experience

Additional Tips on Searching