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Liaison Tips

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Steps to the Placement Process and timeline

The Washington Center works hard to provide placement opportunities closely tailored to students’ interests and needs. Because we must often wait until a given term approaches for placement sites to determine their needs for interns, our tailored, individualized placement process often takes some time. Although this process maximizes students’ opportunities, it can sometimes lead to some anxiety. As liaison, you can be very helpful by explaining the process and the timelines. There are five steps to The Washington Center’s tailored placement process. Placement process timelines are different for each student and depend on the credentials of the student as well as needs of the internship sites.

STEP ONE:

Applications are reviewed for acceptance into the program. Once accepted, students are assigned to a program advisor. Program advisors send student applications to potential placement sites based on the interests of the students and the needs of the placement sites. Program advisors work closely together whenever students' interests fall within more than one program area. Also, if the student is accepted into the Political Leadership and accepts an internship more closely related to International Affairs, for example, the student’s program can be changed.

STEP TWO:

Upon receipt of the application, the supervisor at the potential placement reviews the materials. In some instances, the placement will select its candidates based on the application alone. Keep in mind applications are sent to a number of potential placements and students may be in competition with other interns for the same placement opportunity. Likewise, agencies know they may be in competition with other organizations for our interns.

STEP THREE:

If they want an interview with a student, supervisors call students directly to set it up. In some instances, they will arrange a phone interview at a later time, or they may interview students on the spot. It is suggested that students arrange a time when they can be uninterrupted and have questions in front of them.

STEP FOUR:

It is important that students discuss all internship offers with their program advisor prior to making a decision. If a reasonable time has passed and they do not get an offer, they should discuss this with their program advisor, as well. Additional placement opportunities may need to be explored. Note, the final decision is always the student’s. Students shouldn’t feel pressured to take something that they are unsure about. Sometimes asking more questions of the placement site or asking the program advisor may help them decide. However, should they choose an internship that they later do not like, and The Washington Center cannot resolve the problem, there is the possibility of finding them a new internship, once proper policies and procedures have been followed.

STEP FIVE:

The final step in the process is for the student to select the preferred internship and confirm the choice with both the placement site and program advisor. It is the student’s responsibility to accept and reject offers. Please note that it is not necessary to receive more than one offer before deciding upon an internship. Often the first offer is entirely satisfactory. But if not, we will continue to investigate other internship placements. It is important for students to realize that the process takes time, and that they need not to be worried about getting an internship placement. It may happen that they will arrive in Washington without a confirmed placement. While we prefer that all students arrive with a confirmed placement, in a small number of cases, particularly in the summer, a placement may not be confirmed until shortly after arrival in Washington, D.C. Usually by the time of check-in, we will have arranged one or more personal interviews for any student still unplaced.

One caveat: background checks and security clearances.

On rare occasions, background checks for certain agencies may not be completed in time for students to start their internship on the first day. A program advisor will work closely with the student on this as we monitor the situation on a daily basis and he or she should keep you informed of the situation. The Washington Center cannot be responsible for these delays, and it is up to the student and you to determine how long you are willing to wait for clearance. In the rare situations where the clearance may take more than 1 or 2 weeks, we expect students to develop an active learning plan to take advantage of the resources of Washington while they await clearance.