Internship required to finish my MPA. Needs to be Public Organization at the director level. Any advice for doing this on Active Duty?

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 23 Apr 2019 19:00:01 -0400

Suggestions would also be great. I have already been turned down for one because of my busy schedule (Bragg baby).

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Apr 24 at 2019 11:25 AM

CAPT Kevin B. — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 11:25:08 -0400

I'd check out the varied fraternal and public service organizations. You likely have a lot of conflicts during the day but some stuff runs outside of normal hours. Some places to check.
County Emergency Manager (including the 911 Center)
District Red Cross
Regional/County Food Bank
Salvation Army
Area Animal Rescue
Homeless Management
District Fish/Wildlife, Lands Management
District Scouting (only if all else fails)
State level Special Olympics (I did a lot of work at state and was a head referee for the USA Games)

The list goes on. I presume you'd intern under the direction of the local executive. That typically is an eye opener. I did side work for a Regional FAA Administrator (SES Type) when I was doing an executive program for the Feds. Got to know a different culture. You get to see and be a part of stuff you'd normally not get until at least another 10 years under your belt. Also, as an intern, aka Gopher, you get a broad brush exposure to stuff in different swimlanes. Do something in an area you have no experience in. Always good to learn a bunch vs. limited new stuff.

Since you tagged Emergency Management, start knocking off all the FEMA ICS stuff you can. A lot of it is online including their Professional Development Certificate. ICS gets you a lot further on the outside as JOPES is a MIL only thing. Consider boosting up your skill set to qualify for the varied response teams the MIL side has. I was the head Contingency Engineer in the NW Region and had a hand in Fukushima and Haiti earthquake. I'd always grab young guns who benefit for eye opening experiences.

Good luck son.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Apr 24 at 2019 8:59 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 20:59:23 -0400

CPT Private RallyPoint Member they expect you to intern at the Director Level? That is absurd. That is often the terminal end of a career. Not somewhere you have an intern. Example, I was hired as an Assistant Director (22 years of organizational and engineering experience lateral entry) for a Facilities Department in a School District. The director had been there 16 years and worked his way up to that level. I replaced him when he left.

How long do you need to intern? Recommend going to your BC through your Btry Commander and see if you can worksomething out with a Garrison Directorate to shadow one of them like the DES or DHR or DPW. Could you get command for a short period...the military is a public service organization. just saying.

So your program just dumped you the curb with this final requirement (you must bring us, a shrubbery!)? No placement? No assistance? No POCs? They are high thinking people can intern as a director.

Response by SSG Eduardo Ybarra Jr. MS Psyc made Apr 25 at 2019 11:41 PM

SSG Eduardo Ybarra Jr. MS Psyc — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 23:41:00 -0400

First thing you need to do is ask yourself is where do you want to apply this too? Education, Legal etc. By chance have you looked on post under the GS system or even the VA? It may be along shot but it is close and you really won't have to leave post, with the exception of the VA. Some programs are pretty lenient about where you can go. That was the case when I interned. Hopefully, you can find something that is not too difficult to get into. Good Luck.