Student/Alumni Externship Program
Gain Short-Term Opportunities with Long-Term Benefits
Matt DuPlessie '99 hosted four externs at 5 Wits Productions, Inc., during IAP 2008. Photo: Eric Schmiedl '09.
The MIT Alumni Association's Externship Program is designed to connect alumni and undergraduate and graduate students during the Independent Activities Period, January 9-February 3, 2012. Externships span from one to four weeks, depending on sponsor needs, and are offered worldwide in an array of fields.
Since 1998, the Externship Program has matched over 2,275 students with alumni sponsors. This program, unique to MIT, connects students to workplaces large and small, from Fortune 500s to start-ups, research labs to trading desks. The opportunities are as diverse as MIT alumni and students.
What have past students and alumni sponsors said about the Externship Program?
"Take advantage of all the opportunities to talk to people who have worked in that industry for years. Getting an "A" in a classroom, even at MIT, doesn't compare to the value and insight that people gain from years of experience." - Stephen Chang '12, sponsored by Katherine Redfield '10
"It helps everybody to bring new faces to the firm, see what they can do, the energy level they have. We found out that students that have interned with and then come to work with us stay longer than those who did not intern with us." - Ramon Gilsanz SM '81, CE '82 hosted Aissata Nutzel '11 and Nilu Zhao '14
Your Resources
- Students: Learn more about externships for IAP 2012
Externship opportunities provide you with real world learning and a dynamic IAP experience with an alumnus/a sponsor. - Alumni: Help a student and your company
Past alumni sponsors report that the externship program reconnects them with MIT, introduces potential summer interns and future employees to their workplace while increasing student awareness about opportunities in their field.
