Student Externships Chicago District Office

Alternative Dispute Resolution:

For the Chicago District Office, interested students should e-mail or send a letter of interest and resume to Julie Bretz, ADR Coordinator, at EEOC, 230 S. Dearborn St., Suite 1866, Chicago, IL, 60604 or julie.bretz@eeoc.gov .

For the Minneapolis Area Office, interested students should e-mail or send a letter of interest and resume to Ruby Jones at EEOC, 330 South Second Avenue, Suite 720, Minneapolis, MN 55401 or ruby.jones@eeoc.gov .

Enforcement:

For the Chicago District Office, interested students should e-mail or send a letter of interest, resume, transcript, and brief writing sample to Ernestine Harris at EEOC, 230 S. Dearborn St., Suite 1866, Chicago, IL, 60604 or ernestine.harris@eeoc.gov .

For the Minneapolis Area Office, mail or e-mail a cover letter, resume and transcript to Petrona Melgarejo at EEOC, 330 South Second Avenue, Suite 720, Minneapolis, MN 55401 or petrona.melgarejo@eeoc.gov .

Legal:

Positions Available: Summer, semester, or quarter internships for currently enrolled undergraduate, graduate and law students with the Legal Unit of the Chicago District Office (“CDO”). A limited number of volunteer positions are also available for recent graduates. Legal typically accepts between eight and twelve interns during the summer, fewer during the school year, though the number hired will depend on litigation needs.

What to Expect: The Legal Unit is primarily involved in suing companies found to be in violation of EEO laws. Legal also provides advice and training to other units in the office and helps guide cases during investigations. The CDO is responsible for Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas.  Internships are divided into two types of activities: substantive assistance to lawyers, and opportunities to observe depositions, court hearings and other EEOC activities. Substantive work might include legal research and writing (law students only), abstracting depositions and other documents and developing case data bases, interviewing witnesses and claimants, researching companies we are suing, and answering discovery requests and summarizing case law. Less frequently, we sometimes have data for which we need assistance with preliminary statistical analysis.

Requirements: Summer interns are asked for a total of 400 hours during the summer. During the school year students are asked to commit to a minimum of 150 hours during the course of a semester. Candidates will be evaluated based on academic performance, demonstrated writing skills, and interest in furthering the mission of the agency. B+ average or above preferred.

To Apply: Applications for summer internships should generally be made no later than February 1, fall applications should be submitted no later than May 15, and winter/spring applications should be submitted no later than November 1. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis. Please note in the email subject line which type of internship (summer, semester, etc.) for which you are applying. Because unexpected openings sometimes occur, students may apply after these dates; however, you will only receive a reply if there is a current opening. To apply, email a cover letter, resume, and transcript, preferably in a single PDF, to Ethan Cohen at cdointcom@eeoc.gov and/or ethan.cohen@eeoc.gov.

For more information, go to the EEOC Chicago District Office.