FAQs

Expect the student(s) to be ready to learn and ask questions. The purpose of this program is career exploration, so students may not have relevant work experience or may not yet know the right kinds of questions to be asking to learn more. Keep in mind that students are participating to learn about your industry, what you do in your role, and what they can be doing now to prepare for the future.

Our hope is that students will have an opportunity to engage with you and/or your coworkers to have a conversation or an experience that allows them to interact and discover. We strongly encourage you to resist the temptation to merely lecture them about what you do or to treat this event as a recruitment event. Externship Day is geared toward giving students exposure to the workforce and learning from alumni about life after Wheaton.

It depends on you and your field of work! Understanding what your student hopes to accomplish will help you think well about what to do during your time together. Younger students are often in the early stages of exploration and may just want to hear about what you do and what your industry means. Our older students may be exploring your company versus another one where they interned, or they may be confirming their interest in your industry or role. Some ideas for engaging externships include:

• A conversation with you to learn about your career path and transition after Wheaton
• A tour of your office
• Informational interviews with your colleagues in various roles and at different levels in your organization
• Attending a meeting with your colleagues or a client
• Learning about the industry, organization, training, and education necessary to enter your field
• Assisting with projects, if possible (e.g., research, report writing)

We cannot guarantee a student extern for every host site. Matching is based on student interest, and pairings are automated to align with their applications. We will do our best to make sure all host sites are filled. Approval of host site registration is conditional on alignment with the Wheaton College mission, values, and institutional commitments.

In-person Externships in the Chicagoland area will take place on January 30, 2024, as students do not have class that day.

You and your extern(s) will be matched on January 12, 2024, and your extern(s) should reach out to you to introduce themselves by January 16, 2024. In your response, please share your plan for the January 30, 2024 Externship Day. Please email externship.day@wheaton.edu with questions.

Externships are ideally full day experiences, with a minimum expectation of 4 hours. The registration form will allow you to specify the length and time that works best for you.

Students review the list of all Externship hosts between December 18 and January 11, 2024. They will select up to five host sites of interest. Matching is based on student rankings, location preferences, industry and student group involvement. Once we match students and alumni in the system, both alumni and student will receive an email with their match information by 5pm Central on January 12, 2024. We want each match to be the best possible fit for both the host and student!