Unlock Your Potential: Internship Opportunities in Memphis

Memphis, a city brimming with culture and opportunity, offers a diverse landscape for aspiring professionals to gain invaluable experience through internships. Whether you're a student seeking hands-on training or a recent graduate eager to launch your career, Memphis internships provide a pathway to professional growth and development. With Fortune 500 companies, mission-driven nonprofits, and government agencies, Memphis presents a unique environment to explore various career paths and make a lasting impact.

Why Choose a Memphis Internship?

A Memphis internship offers the opportunity to work alongside seasoned professionals while you gain experience of your own. An internship allows you to quickly accomplish five important things:

See what’s happening within a specific industry and organization.
Listen to how people interact with one another in a professional setting.
Learn what jobs are available within your chosen industry and organization.
Do some of the same tasks as full-time professional employees.
Impress managers-after all, they just might offer you a permanent position!

Memphis internships can be the stepping stone to your dream career. In fact, 7 out of 10 Memphis internships result in a full time job offer.

What Do Interns Do?

As a Memphis intern, your day-to-day activities may vary widely-and that’s a good thing. After all, the whole point of getting an internship is to see, listen, learn, do and impress. With this in mind, you’re going to want to see as much as possible, listen closely to every word spoken, learn as much as you can, do a range of tasks and work hard to impress everyone you meet-which means rolling up your sleeves and making the most of every opportunity.

Some days, you might simply shadow employees to see what they do to advance the organization’s mission. Other days, you may sit in on important meetings to hear and learn how decisions are made. Often, you’ll be assigned tasks to complete, from administrative duties to actual projects. Whatever you do, you’ll always have the opportunity to impress.

Where to Find Internship Opportunities in Memphis

Internships in Memphis are out there, but you need to know where to look and which ones are right for you. Luckily, there are several groups right here in Memphis that are eager to help you find the perfect internship for you.

LITE Memphis equips African-American and Latin students with 21st -century skills to create wealth, helping them build their networks through paid internships in college.
The City of Memphis has an “MPLOY” program that links top employers with students seeking internships. Training is provided and this program has an excellent track record of internships leading to full-time positions.

Internship Opportunities with the City of Memphis Government

The City of Memphis Government offers internships across various divisions, providing students with exposure to public service and potential employment opportunities after graduation. These internships offer valuable experience in local government operations and community engagement.

Tennessee General Assembly Internship Program

For students interested in lawmaking and state government, an internship with the Tennessee General Assembly can be a transformative experience. Students can travel to Nashville to serve as interns in the Tennessee General Assembly or legislative committee responsible for lawmaking in Tennessee. Interns are assigned to legislative leadership offices and committees, adapting to the legislative schedule. Their responsibilities include bill analysis, constituent work, research, and general office work. This program requires approximately 600 working hours over the Spring semester and a minimum 3.0 GPA. Students are encouraged to apply for this opportunity. All documents should be submitted as PDF files virtually.

The Washington Center Internship Program

Another avenue for gaining experience in the political arena is through The Washington Center. This program provides students with real-life experiences in the nation's capital. Scholarships and housing assistance are often available through The Washington Center.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Internship Opportunities

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) offers internship opportunities in its Alternative Dispute Resolution unit (mediation), its Enforcement unit (investigation), its Legal unit (litigation), and its Hearings unit (federal sector cases). EEOC internships are unpaid; however, interns may receive academic credit for their services with approval from their school. Semester interns are asked to provide at least 20 hours per week of work. Applications for unpaid internships occurring during the school year may be made at any time.

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Mediation Unit

The Mediation Unit is charged with the responsibility of conducting mediations on employment discrimination claims involving private sector and public sector non-federal entities. Persons selected for this internship should have taken one or more classes of Conflict Resolution, and or Employment/Labor Law. Interns will be involved in all phases of mediation, from the development of mediation candidates, telephoning parties to explain the potential benefits of mediation, to the scheduling of mediations, and the observation and potential participation in actual mediations, as the parties attempt to resolve the dispute. A limited number of internships are available with the ADR Units in the Memphis District Office.

Enforcement Unit

The Enforcement Unit is charged with the responsibility of conducting investigations on employment discrimination claims involving private sector and public sector non-federal entities. Persons selected for this internship should have taken a class in Employment/Labor Law.

Legal Unit

The Legal Unit is charged with the responsibility of litigating individual and class employment discrimination cases in the federal courts on behalf of employees and job applicants. EEOC seeks law students with a commitment to public interest law and EEOC’s mission. Preference is given to students with a demonstrated commitment to civil rights and/or who have completed course work in employment discrimination, employment law, evidence, or trial practice. Law student interns assist with various aspects of litigation and litigation development. Assignments typically include legal research and writing relating to employment discrimination and general federal practice issues such as discovery, trial practice and evidence. Interns may also be involved with interviewing claimants, drafting discovery demands or responses, summarizing deposition testimony, attending depositions and court conferences, analyzing documents, using litigation support software, and assisting with outreach projects. A limited number of internships are available with the Legal Unit in the Memphis District Office, Nashville Area Office, and Little Rock Area Office.

Hearings Unit

The Hearings Unit is charged with the responsibility of conducting hearings on claims of employment discrimination involving federal agencies. Persons selected for this internship need to have a class in Employment law, and preferable labor law as well. The position requires much writing of judicial decisions. For this reason, proven proficiency in legal writing is a must. The interns will work with all of the Administrative Judges in the office, as much as practicable. Case files will be provided which are ready to have a decision written without need for a hearing or, put another way, a summary decision. The intern will be given opportunities to participate in pre-hearing conferences, settlement judge conferences and, depending on proficiency demonstrated, writing decisions based on observation of a hearing. A limited number of internships are available with the Hearings Unit in the Memphis District Office.

Additional Internship Opportunities

Many other organizations throughout Memphis offer internships in various fields. These internships can provide valuable experience and networking opportunities.

Read also: Your Path to a Healthcare Career

St. Jude Internships

Why Memphis?

Simply put, Memphis has it all: Fortune 500 companies, mission-driven nonprofits working to make the world a better place, government agencies that keep things running and something to do every night of the week. Seriously, why not Memphis? A thriving Maker movement fueled by artists, entrepreneurs and start ups, world-class universities, a growing tech sector and diverse job opportunities. The Memphis Grizzlies, music festivals and incredible restaurants don’t hurt either.

And once you get here, we want to make sure you love our city! New Memphis’s Summer Experience welcomes interns working in Memphis through a series of free events.

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