yb1 Wrote:SO I may be getting an Internship with the DOD for 3 months. It will be my first internship with any reputable agency. I know that I am able to take part in training's for free. Do you guys have any tips, tricks, or suggestions on what I should be going for?
I should know for sure in the next couple weeks if I got the internship. I know people here have mentioned the DOD and all the benefits here before. I am just not able to find any of the posts.
I am trying to use this opportunity to get my foot in the door of the Government. The internship itself is nothing special it is for admin assistant. But it is a start.
yb1, I know this is an old thread, but I'm going to respond to it for the benefit of others. First, there are different types of "internships" with the Federal Government and the DoD. Some are your traditional in school internships that most people are familiar with. Others are what are called internships, but are more like apprenticeships for recent college grads. The latter kind of internship is where you are put in a position at a low grade with a low starting salary. You are set up with a mentor and a training program. Each year as you get more experience and more training, you get a bump in grade (which usually comes with a nice bump in pay), until about 3 or 4 years when you "graduate" the program at an accelerated grade. One program in my office starts you at a GS7, and each year you go to GS9, GS11, and then GS12. In the DC area, that's a pay bump from about $43,000 from the start to $75,000 after graduation (not including annual raises). Its a nice program for new grads.
The other which I think is the one you're doing works like your traditional internship and you work in an office for a lower salary and pick up valuable experience. In the end, it makes it MUCH EASIER to get a regular GS position, as many people know, is hard to get your foot in the door if you aren't a Veteran.
Also, don't think an admin assistant is "nothing special". In the govt (and many times in the civilian world), those guys make the office run smooth, and it isn't about typing documents and getting coffee. Those positions are about running the office. Usually, if you don't transfer out of that field, you will be in a management analyst track. There are GS-14 management analysts making six figures (plus a nice pension at the end). These guys are running metrics, managing support contracts, coordinating security clearances, running office projects, etc.
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