Why You Should Be Interning In Mississippi

By Crystal Garner on May 30, 2012

Flickr photo courtesy of jimmywayne

With the national job market being in a critical state, the few jobs available for recent graduates are very competitive. Internships have become just as vital as general employment.

While internships tend to offer valuable experiences and could possibly lead to future employment, many internship positions are unpaid and only offer college credit. The topic of unpaid internships has been a continuous debate with discussions centering the economy and labor laws.

According to a recent report by the New York Times, interns claim to have no other worth-while options with the post college unemployment rate being unfavorable.

Generally, college students and graduates around the country don’t flock to Mississippi for career advancing opportunities. In 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau released data landing Mississippi as the poorest state in the nation by 24/7 Wall St.

Despite the unemployment rate of Mississippi, the state offers several paid and stipend available internships/employment opportunities for both in-state and out-of-state undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent college graduates.

According to the Riley Foundation, the city of Meridian, Mississippi, began its Summer Work Program by offering 17 job opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.  Working with a variety of community organizations, each student works for a total of 8 weeks and receives $4000. Additionally, the program offers four housing scholarships.

If Mississippi still doesn’t sound appealing, review these interesting annual, paid internship opportunities available in Mississippi that may have local residents thinking twice before crossing the state line and non-Mississippians packing up and moving to the hospitality state.

Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge – Yazoo, Mississippi

Wildlife Internship - Benefits include a $100 per week stipend and free housing. Duties include working with wood duck box maintenance and production checks, passerine nest boxes, moist soil management, waterfowl surveys, and other wildlife-related work projects. (The ability to operate small boats, experience with woodwork equipment or hand tools, and ability to identify wildlife is preferred.)

MS State Office of the State Auditor – Jackson, Mississippi

Accounting Internship - Benefits include a $10,000 undergraduate stipend or a $12,000 graduate stipend. Interns join the Public Employees’ Retirement System, and interns are also eligible for health insurance. This internship is open to college juniors and seniors majoring in accounting at a Mississippi college or university and Graduate students earning a Master’s degree in accounting, professional accounting or business administration.

Graduate students may choose to attend school outside of Mississippi. Upon completion of the internship program, students must agree to a two year work commitment following undergraduate graduation in exchange for stipend.

Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life – Jackson, Mississippi

History Internship – Benefits include a stipend (unknown value) and traveling opportunities. Duties include historical research and writing, road trips to southern communities, archiving, transcribing and indexing oral history, and assisting with development of interpretive projects.

Community Engagement Internship – Benefits include a stipend (unknown value). Duties include developing and implementing activities and lessons to improve literacy among K-12 students, developing materials that can be used for the implementation and marketing of the program, and assisting with administrative tasks.

Rabbinic/Cantorial Internship – Benefits include a $4,000 stipend. Duties including traveling to Southern US to celebrate Judaism with communities without fulltime rabbinic support, leading a variety of services (Shabbat, Holiday Observances, etc.) in a variety of environments, creating & implementing education materials: Torah Studies, Adult Educations, Judaism 101.

Interns will also take part in writing insightful sermons as part of the ISJL’s Taste of Torah series, providing pastoral care: home, nursing home, hospital visits, taking an important role in the ISJL’s annual Teacher Training Institute, and addressing & participating with interfaith groups, representing the ISJL & the Jewish community.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format