Work experience during studies

Contact person: Priv.-Doz. Dr Bernhard Weicht

Questions and answers

  1. Internship agreement

  2. Possible activities

  3. Examples for institutions

  4. Information on the internship report

Internship agreement

In order to test and apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired or to gain an orientation on the conditions of professional practice and to acquire professionally relevant qualifications, students can complete an internship of 350 hours in relevant organisations (in Germany and abroad) with sociologically relevant fields of activity or research projects. An internship report must be submitted. The internship can be completed after completion of the 2nd semester at the earliest. Authorisation must be obtained before starting. Please send the signed internship agreement (BA practice agreement ) plus a short statement (1 paragraph) on the extent to which the internship helps to deepen, apply or reflect on the contents of the BA Sociology programme to the internship coordinator (Priv.-Doz. Dr Bernhard Weicht).

Instead of a part of 10 ECTS-Credits of the elective modules according to Z 10, students can complete an internship in domestic or foreign organisations with sociologically relevant fields of activity or research projects to test and apply the acquired knowledge and skills in practice. Students must provide evidence of at least 250 hours of work and submit a practical report; this corresponds to 10 ECTS-Credits. The internship can be completed after the end of the second semester at the earliest. Authorisation must be obtained prior to commencement. Please send the signed internship agreement (MA practice agreement) plus a short statement (1 A4 page) on the extent to which the internship helps to deepen, apply or reflect on the contents of the BA Sociology programme to the internship coordinator (Priv.-Doz. Dr Bernhard Weicht). The work placement can be completed twice (instead of Z10) (i.e. 2x 250 hours for 2x 10 ECTS-Credits).

Possible activities

INHLATIVE WORK
  • Health reporting, employment services
  • Urban and transport planning
  • In the area of specialisation: Contemporary society, market/state, living environments, agricultural and regional sociology
  • Political work: lecturing, working in political offices, preparing speeches
CROSS-SECTION TASKS
  • Public relations, communication work, project management
  • Personnel administration and counselling, personnel development, training and further education,
  • equality reports, gender mainstreaming
  • Planning, administration, statistics
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
  • Archive development
  • Equality reports, gender mainstreaming
  • Organisation of (scientific) congresses, events
  • Imparting knowledge to the population and raising their awareness
  • Science administration
TEACHING, (ADULT) EDUCATION
  • Independent teaching and educational work
  • Tutor activities

Examples of institutions

(The fact that the institutions are mentioned here does not mean that they actually accept interns. The list is merely intended to serve as a "source of ideas" for possible institutions for students interested in internships).

Internship report

The report should consist of two parts and reflect on the completed internship in general, but also with regard to the content learnt during the course. Part (1) will be published and is intended to help fellow students with their own internship search. In particular, the internship should be reflected on the basis of sociological content.

Part (2) should describe the personal experience of the internship.

Formally, the report should consist of three pages (Arial, 11pt, 1.5 line spacing) and be handed in to the academic supervisor together with copies of the internship confirmation and the internship certificate. The questions and topics listed below are to be understood as a rough guideline for writing the report.

1-2 pages

In the first part, you should primarily describe the activity you carried out, the working environment and the organisation where you completed your internship. You should also relate your experiences to the content you have learnt in your sociology degree course. This part will be made publicly accessible and should be available to your fellow students in particular as a guide.

- Describe in detail the organisation where you completed your internship
- Do sociologists work in this organisation? If yes, how many and with which area of responsibility?
- During what period did the internship take place and what were your working hours?
- Was it a traineeship or a paid internship?
- In which department did you work?
- For example, did you work on a specific project or did you take on many smaller tasks?
- What activities and tasks did you carry out? Did you work more independently or as part of a team?
- Were you able to use the qualifications you acquired during your studies?
- Which sociological terms, methods and theories can you use to reflect on your internship?

1-2 pages

The second part is about reflecting on your personal internship experience. This section will not be published. Please start a new page for this section.

- Were there any particular key experiences or successes during your internship?
- Which of your expectations were realised during the internship? What surprised you (positively or negatively)?
- Would you need further qualifications to work in this field in the long term?
- Would you like to work in this area/industry/company after your studies?
- How would you rate the quality of the internship supervision in this company/department?
- Do you consider the internship you completed to be good preparation for (entering) professional life in general?
- What knowledge and/or experience of your work was particularly valuable?

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