CFS student Mike Luo (seated) gets assistance from his supervisor at Merrill Lynch.

We have had a mutually beneficial relationship with CFS. We have built strong relationships with many intelligent and hard-working young people. They become part of our teams and contribute to the success of our organization. They use the skills and knowledge that they gain about work and themselves to prepare for whatever challenges lie ahead.

Juan C. Avila, Vice President, Merrill Lynch

The CFS intern program is a critical recruiting tool. We provide the interns a look at what we have to offer, and we get to know them and their strengths. We also provide the interns with practical business experience and access to professionals from a variety of fields related to entertainment, advertising and marketing. This opens their eyes to potential career paths.

Tom S.C. Weeks, Vice President, Entertainment Director, Starcom Entertainment

For Internship Organizations

Chicago Field Studies runs intensive, one-quarter academic internship programs for top-ranked juniors and seniors, based on principles of experiential and comparative learning. CFS students intern at a Chicago-area organization for 24-32 hours/week and participate in small Northwestern seminars that explore organizational behavior and contemporary issues in different industries and sectors. Internships are generally uncompensated.

Through their internships, students explore fields in which they may be interested in pursuing careers. The internship organizations also serve as a site for research, and class discussions and assignments draw on the original research that students conduct at the workplace.

For Prospective Internship Organizations
For Current Internship Organizations
Guest Speakers and Site Visits

For Prospective Internship Organizations

We are always looking for new organizations to hire students as interns. We welcome the opportunity to tell you more about our programs, learn about your organization, and discuss how we might work together in the future. These strong relationships benefit our students and help position us as one of the top academic internship programs in the country.

Organizational Benefits

Supervisors tell us they enjoy sharing their expertise and mentoring students interested in the profession. Additionally, organizations benefit by having a year round source of highly motivated student interns from a world-renowned university to assist with projects. This program also serves as an ideal recruiting tool. According to the 2005 Experiential Education Survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 75% of employer respondents indicated the primary purpose for them sponsoring an internship is to recruit entry-level talent.

To learn more about the internship component of our programs, please see the Internships section of our site. For more information, or to set up a phone or in-person meeting, please contact our office. We look forward to hearing from you!

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For Current Internship Organizations

Thank you for hosting CFS interns! If you are looking for the CFS Internship Guidelines and Agreement, click on the link below to download a copy. If you have questions or suggestions, please contact us. We are always interested in your feedback and in learning about the “best practices” in your internship programs so that we can share them with others.

CFS Internship Guidelines and Agreement

Internship Dates for 2008-09

Fall Quarter 2008

CFS Mandatory Orientation: Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Internship Start Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Internship End Date: Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Winter Quarter 2009

CFS Mandatory Orientation: Monday, January 5, 2009
Internship Start Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Internship End Date: Thursday, March 5, 2009

Spring Quarter 2009

CFS Mandatory Orientation: Monday, March 30, 2009
Internship Start Date: Tuesday, March 30, 2009
Internship End Date: Thursday, May 28, 2009

Summer Quarter 2009

CFS Mandatory Orientation: Monday, June 22, 2009
Internship Start Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Internship End Date: Thursday, August 6, 2009

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Guest Speakers and Site Visits

CFS programs are experiential and comparative, which means that we want students to learn from your organization and employees, both inside and outside the classroom, and we want them to learn about different work experiences, both within and between industries and sectors. To meet these objectives, we involve our internship organizations in our seminars through our guest speaker and site visit series.

Every quarter, our programs host two to three guest speakers from professional fields, who come to campus for one hour during class (usually Fridays 12-1pm over lunch) to facilitate a discussion about a few of the key issues being debated in their fields. We invite speakers from our internship organizations and from other organizations in the Chicago area. Please let us know if you are interested in speaking or know of someone who would make a good speaker.

Every quarter, we also take students on two site visits to organizations that are currently hosting interns. Visits are hosted by the organization and the intern and generally include a short tour, a presentation introducing the organization, and a Q&A session. They last approximately 1.5 hours. If you regularly hire CFS interns and would be interested in hosting a site visit, please let us know.

Thank you for your interest and support!

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