USAJOBS connects job seekers with federal jobs across the United States and around the world as the official employment site for the federal government

This job is open to

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The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Students

Current students enrolled in an accredited high school, college or graduate institution.

Clarification from the agency

U.S. citizen, undergraduate and graduate students with a strong interest in the U.S. Department of State.

Duties

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The Department of State tries to provide student interns with opportunities both educationally and professionally substantive in nature. The purpose of the program is to provide students with insight into the work of U.S. foreign policy and the administration of the U.S. Department of State and its diplomatic facilities around the world. Specific duties and responsibilities vary according to the domestic office or overseas post of assignment. Former Department of State Student Interns have written reports on human rights issues, participated in trade negotiations, assisted with U.S. citizens services or visa work, helped Americans in distress abroad, supported and helped to coordinate international conferences and visits of high-level officials, researched economic or environmental issues, monitored and evaluated media reporting, supported educational and cultural exchange activities and identified U.S. experts to speak overseas, and worked on web pages and electronic journals.

Other examples include interns with scientific and technical backgrounds working on issues such as arms control, genetically modified organisms (GMO's), infectious diseases, and remote sensing. Also, students interested in management and administration may use their expertise working on projects involving budgets, human resources, information systems, or general logistical support to posts abroad.

Student interns may be required to do some routine administrative work.

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

To qualify you must: 

Be a United States citizen at the time of application.
Be at least 16 years old.
Be in good academic standing with at least a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Be pursuing a baccalaureate or graduate degree.
Be a college junior, senior, or graduate student with at least 60 credit hours—You are considered a college junior if you will be starting your junior year immediately following the completion of your internship. 
Be enrolled in an accredited academic institution on at least a part-time basis at the time of application for the internship. The individual may qualify as a "student" even if the individual has a break in classes, as long as the break is no longer than five months at the time the individual begins the internship.
Be a continuing student - This means that you will be returning to or have the intention at the time of application of returning to your course of study the semester/quarter immediately following the completion of your internship - i.e., returning to school in the fall of 2022. Proof may be requested.
Be able to receive and maintain a security clearance or Public Trust certificate.

Qualifications

Please see the below "Requirements" section for a list of qualifications.

Education

Applicants should be pursuing a baccalaureate or graduate degree, on at least a part-time basis, with at least a 3.0 GPA or higher. College juniors, seniors, or graduate students with at least 60 credit hours by the time the internship begins are encouraged to apply for this opportunity. Note: Applicants are considered a college junior if they will be starting the junior year of college immediately following the completion of the internship. Applicants must also be a continuing student with the expectation and intention of returning to their course of study the semester/quarter, immediately following the completion of the internship – i.e., returning to school in the fall of 2022. Proof may be requested.

If your academic plans change after your application and you are no longer a continuing student or have a break in classes longer than five months before your internship begins, you will no longer be eligible for the internship.

Additional information

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON SECURITY CLEARANCES:

The Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS) advises that routine SECRET level clearances normally require 120 to 150 days to complete. Investigations may take substantially longer if you have a history of extensive overseas travel, education, residence and/or employment; or if you have dual citizenship, foreign contacts, immediate family, relatives, and/or a spouse or partner who is a citizen of a foreign country.

In addition, if DS identifies a security, suitability, or medical issue, your investigation may require additional time to process and review. These issues could include, but are not limited to, a current or past history of drug or alcohol abuse, indications of a mental or emotional health condition, or indications of financial problems. You should consult the Adjudicative Guidelines for Determining Eligibility for Access to Classified Information (https://www.state.gov/security-clearances) to review how these considerations could affect your application. Such issues may not necessarily preclude DS from granting you a security clearance, but they will likely lengthen the time required to complete the clearance process.

We cannot guarantee that every potential intern will obtain a security clearance before the start of an internship, if at all. Because the timeframe between conditional selection for an internship and entry on duty is relatively short (six to eight months), DS may not be able to adjudicate a non-routine case in time for the student to participate in the scheduled internship. In addition, if an applicant has strong foreign ties to a particular country, approval for an internship in that country may be challenging. Therefore, we encourage students to seek internship assignments in countries where they do not have substantial foreign ties.

It is the policy of the Federal Government to treat all of its employees with dignity and respect and to provide a workplace that is free from discrimination whether that discrimination is based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity or pregnancy), national origin, disability, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, age, sexual orientation, or other non-merit factors.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION - The U.S. Department of State provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Office of Employee Relations, Disability/Reasonable Accommodations Division, at (202) 261-8163 or reasonableaccommodations@state.gov. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be on a case-by-case basis.

This position is not an appointment. Participants are uncompensated student volunteers in accordance with 5 U.S.C. 3111 and are not considered federal employees for any purpose other than those listed in 5 U.S.C. 3111(c). Any description of “excepted service” within this vacancy announcement is intended solely for categorization on the USAJOBs website and should not be construed as providing any rights or benefits in accordance with that appointment type.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Students will be evaluated by the bureaus to which they have applied based upon a completed application denoting the applicant's education, experience, training, and background.

Bureau offices and posts may make their final decision based upon a phone interview or by simply reviewing application materials.  If during the evaluation period, you are contacted by more than one office in the U.S. or overseas, based upon bureau entries listed in your application, please make note of your final decision by contacting us.

All interns selected for a position will be officially notified by the Student Internship Program (unpaid) Office by e-mail per the timeline provided via https://careers.state.gov/intern/student-internships/.

To preview questions please click here.

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Applications must be submitted electronically through the "Gateway to State" system. To begin the application process, please click on the "Apply Online" button to the right.

You have until 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process. This includes submitting your online application as well as any required documents as defined in the Required Documents section. Candidates are encouraged to complete their applications well before the application deadline to be assured of consideration.

Please read all instructions carefully.

There are three parts to the application process:

Applicant Profile (For applicants new to USAJOBS)
Internship Application, including Statement of Interest as part of the application questionnaire
Required Documents—Official Transcripts

Part I-Applicant Profile

Applicants new to USAJOBS must create an applicant profile by providing biographic and prior Federal government employment information, if any. You must answer all "required" fields in order to proceed through the application process. (If you are not new to USAJOBS, you can proceed directly to the intern application.) All applicants must also "build" a USAJOBS resume. You must complete these two steps in order to be able to move forward to the application in the Gateway to State.

Note: Attaching a personal resume to your USAJJOBS profile is not sufficient. You must build a USAJOBS resume.

Part II-Internship Application

The second part of the online application process is specific to the internship program. In this section, you will be required to:

Answer questions regarding your personal, academic and employment credentials.
Identify up to two bureaus for which you wish to be considered for an internship assignment.

Note: Applicants interested in working at overseas posts or branch offices outside of Washington D.C. must first indicate the bureau with responsibility over that location. For example: An applicant interested in working at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia will select WHA or the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Later in the application, applicants will be given a chance to identify the specific country in which the embassy or consulate is located.

Answer the question regarding the statement of interest that describes your objectives and motivation in seeking an internship.

Note: Bureau representatives rely heavily on statements of interest in making their selections. Therefore, your statement of interest should be concise, well written, and it should tell your story. Explain how your academic courses and other personal experiences relate to the bureau(s), office(s), or overseas post(s) to which you are applying. You may discuss what you will bring to the work of the office or post, and what you hope to take away from the internship experience. You might highlight any disadvantages you may have overcome or relevant unique experiences. Also, you can expand on any of your answers to questions asked in the application, such as language ability or other special skills.

Agency contact information

Student Programs Office

Phone: 000-000-0000
Fax: 000-000-0000
Email: StudentInternship@state.gov

Address: U.S. Department of State
2401 E Street, NW
Room H-518
Washington DC, District of Columbia 20522
United States

Next steps

Application Status

After the close of the announcement, the application status in USAJobs should say "Reviewing Applications." This status on USAJobs will not be updated further. You can click on "Track this application" for more information.

Internship On-boarding Deadlines 

Application Deadline (including all supporting documents): September 7
Applicants Receive Email Notification of Selection/Non-selection: mid-late October
Security Clearance Application (e-QIP): late October
Seasonal Security Clearance Deadline: mid March
Internship Season: eligible from January 17 to April/May 31 (start date contingent upon security clearance)

Required Documents

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Once you have completed the online questionnaire and Statement of Interest, you will be prompted to attach your transcript to your application for it to be considered complete. Applications submitted before the deadline without the required documents attached will not be considered.

The required document is your current or most recent school transcript that must be included in your online application via the instructions below. Both official and unofficial transcripts are acceptable. However, if you are selected for an internship, you may be required to provide an official transcript before starting your internship. Should your official transcript indicate that you are not an eligible student, your internship offer will be rescinded.

Transcripts can be added to the job application by uploading them.

Technical questions about attaching the required document to your application should be addressed to the Help Desk at 1-866-656-6830 or mgshelp@monster.com.

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.

How to Apply

Help

Applications must be submitted electronically through the "Gateway to State" system. To begin the application process, please click on the "Apply Online" button to the right.

You have until 11:59 pm Eastern Time on the closing date of this announcement to complete the application process. This includes submitting your online application as well as any required documents as defined in the Required Documents section. Candidates are encouraged to complete their applications well before the application deadline to be assured of consideration.

Please read all instructions carefully.

There are three parts to the application process:

Applicant Profile (For applicants new to USAJOBS)
Internship Application, including Statement of Interest as part of the application questionnaire
Required Documents—Official Transcripts

Part I-Applicant Profile

Applicants new to USAJOBS must create an applicant profile by providing biographic and prior Federal government employment information, if any. You must answer all "required" fields in order to proceed through the application process. (If you are not new to USAJOBS, you can proceed directly to the intern application.) All applicants must also "build" a USAJOBS resume. You must complete these two steps in order to be able to move forward to the application in the Gateway to State.

Note: Attaching a personal resume to your USAJJOBS profile is not sufficient. You must build a USAJOBS resume.

Part II-Internship Application

The second part of the online application process is specific to the internship program. In this section, you will be required to:

Answer questions regarding your personal, academic and employment credentials.
Identify up to two bureaus for which you wish to be considered for an internship assignment.

Note: Applicants interested in working at overseas posts or branch offices outside of Washington D.C. must first indicate the bureau with responsibility over that location. For example: An applicant interested in working at the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia will select WHA or the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Later in the application, applicants will be given a chance to identify the specific country in which the embassy or consulate is located.

Answer the question regarding the statement of interest that describes your objectives and motivation in seeking an internship.

Note: Bureau representatives rely heavily on statements of interest in making their selections. Therefore, your statement of interest should be concise, well written, and it should tell your story. Explain how your academic courses and other personal experiences relate to the bureau(s), office(s), or overseas post(s) to which you are applying. You may discuss what you will bring to the work of the office or post, and what you hope to take away from the internship experience. You might highlight any disadvantages you may have overcome or relevant unique experiences. Also, you can expand on any of your answers to questions asked in the application, such as language ability or other special skills.

Agency contact information

Student Programs Office

Phone: 000-000-0000
Fax: 000-000-0000
Email: StudentInternship@state.gov

Address: U.S. Department of State
2401 E Street, NW
Room H-518
Washington DC, District of Columbia 20522
United States

Next steps

Application Status

After the close of the announcement, the application status in USAJobs should say "Reviewing Applications." This status on USAJobs will not be updated further. You can click on "Track this application" for more information.

Internship On-boarding Deadlines 

Application Deadline (including all supporting documents): September 7
Applicants Receive Email Notification of Selection/Non-selection: mid-late October
Security Clearance Application (e-QIP): late October
Seasonal Security Clearance Deadline: mid March
Internship Season: eligible from January 17 to April/May 31 (start date contingent upon security clearance)