NRES students often wait until winter break to start looking for summer internships, but some great ones are advertising now, with application deadlines in late October-early November. It is important to begin your summer job search early, especially if you seek opportunities in the corporate and consulting arenas. Handshake currently lists dozens of summer internships in the environmental field. Here are a few examples of environmental summer jobs and internships, all located in Illinois (there are listings all over the U.S. in Handshake). Be sure to log into Handshake before you try to follow the links below.
Several environmental consulting firms, providing a variety of different environmental services, have posted summer opportunities in Illinois:
There are many EHS (Environmental, Health, and Safety) summer internships with various manufacturers in Illinois, including:
Even the opportunities involving plants and field work are beginning to appear, though we anticipate seeing more of these posted in December-January-February.
There are other posted summer environmental positions in Illinois that don't fit into the previous categories.
Things to keep in mind as you consider opportunities
Don't eliminate a summer job opportunity because the listing doesn't have "Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences" as one of the eligible majors. Most positions will include a phrase like "or related major" that often includes NRES. To determine whether it might be worth applying, look at the list of tasks and skills in the description, and if you recognize all (or even almost all) of them, consider it. For example, when preparing this article, I looked at all the summer positions in Illinois posted by Gewalt Hamilton Associates. I included the survey and transportation internships, because many NRES majors of junior or senior standing will have the knowledge and skills to be able to accomplish the responsibilities. On the other hand, I did not include the Water Resources internship because the description focuses much more on engineering design skills and responsibilities that are not part of the NRES program, but if you have an interest in developing those skills and the type of work the organization does appeals to you, it may be worth your time to apply. Internship job requirements are often flexible since the employer isn't making a long-term commitment by offering one.
The key is to use your resume and cover letter to demonstrate that you have some of the skills and knowledge they request and explain reasons you are interested in building those that you don't already possess. Make sure that you tweak the language in your resume to use the same terms the position description uses for the skills you have. In your cover letter, explain how your Illinois education has prepared you for the summer position and explain how it has given you a foundation from which you can develop the other skills in the listing. You can improve your cover letter by doing a bit of research on the organization (all Handshake listings have links to the organization's web page) and explaining why you're interested in that company specifically. What does it do or what is it known for that you want to learn more about and why? How does that relate to your NRES major and the courses you have taken and will take to complete your degree? Use your cover letter to demonstrate that you know what the company does, what the position requires, and the match between those and your education and experience.
Remember, College of ACES Career Services is available to assist! There are online resources to help you start your resume and cover letter, and once you have a draft, you can drop by the Hub (Suite 115 in the ACES Library) Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday between 3:00 and 5:00 pm. If those times aren't convenient, you can make an appointment in Handshake using this link.