FAQ
In the course of time we will update the FAQ's again and again. If your questions have not yet been answered here, please send us an e-mail or drop by.
I don't have the opportunity to work full-time, how can I still complete my internship?
Provided the internship provider agrees, it is possible to complete the internship part-time, i.e. to spread the required 240 working hours over a longer period of time. However, a certain minimum number of hours per week and clear working time regulations are expected (e.g. 10, 15 or 20 hours per week).
Can I do my internship from home?
No, activities that are to be completed entirely or predominantly in the home office cannot be recognized by us as an internship because this would defeat an important purpose of the internship . This is because the practice of professional work also includes all those experiences that can only be gained in the immediate context of formal organization and informal cooperation under conditions of "operationality".
Can I have my professional and/or voluntary activities recognized as an internship?
Can I have my professional and/or voluntary activities recognized as an internship?
Yes, this is possible in the Bachelor's degree program upon application. The prerequisite is that activities were completed for a longer period of time before the degree course (but after leaving school) or in the course of the degree course, that the field of practice also appears to be suitable in principle from a social science perspective, i.e. that a reference to aspects of your own social science degree course can be recognized (e.g. working student activity in a human resources department, relevant professional training with a certain amount of professional experience, extensive voluntary activities in relevant organizations and professional fields). Such activities can be credited as internship time, in whole or in part, depending on the nature of the internship, upon a duly substantiated application. A meaningful application is expected as justification.
Can activities at the university also be recognized as an internship?
Activities at the Faculty of Sociology, where you are also studying, cannot be recognized as an internship or credited towards the internship. Activities at the rest of the university (in the central administration or in research projects or networks) can be recognized after examination of the relevance of the tasks, i.e. upon justified application, but at most to the extent of 50% of the required internship. Purely auxiliary and routine activities (copying, obtaining literature, etc.) are not recognized. Working in the self-administration of Bielefeld University is generally not a recognizable substitute for an internship.
Are my other part-time jobs also eligible for (partial) recognition?
In principle, typical "study jobs" such as waitressing, stocking shelves in supermarkets, telephone service in call centers, driving for service providers, warehouse work, etc. are not recognized - but also the pure execution of standardized mass surveys in opinion research companies or other purely routine and auxiliary activities, whether in scientific or other organizations, do not meet the requirements for a qualified, task-oriented social science internship.
What should I include in the internship report? Do I have to analyze my internship sociologically?
If you are studying for a Bachelor's degree, you do not have to analyze your internship sociologically. The report is a mixture of an activity description and a theory-practice reflection. You can find the guidelines for the internship report here. If you are completing an internship in the Master's degree program in Sociology or Master's degree program in Political Communication, you must write a sociological term paper.
I haven't found a mentor yet, can I still register and complete my internship?
Yes, you can also look for a mentor during or after your internship. However, we recommend that you look for a mentor before you apply.
I have finished my internship. What happens next?
Write the internship report and submit it together with the internship certificate to your mentor. Then submit the certificate, the report and the confirmation from the internship provider to us, preferably in person.
And here is the wording of the current orientation guidelines for internships at the Faculty of Sociology:
The internship brings students into contact with potential fields of professional activity, familiarizes them with the possibilities and problems of applying the knowledge they have acquired during their studies, places them in the context of everyday (organized) professional life and ideally provides them with skills relevant to employment. In this sense, the internship contributes to the professionalization of students. The content of the internship and the detailed objectives are also formulated in the internship modules of the degree programs for which the faculty is responsible or co-responsible and in which internships are mandatory or optional.
- Internships take place in the most diverse fields of professional practice. This includes the practical fields of research and teaching.
- Internships in the Faculty of Sociology or internships in interdisciplinary degree programs for which the Faculty of Sociology is responsible are not completed in the Faculty of Sociology - its working areas, research projects, courses, committees, administrative areas, etc.
- Assistant activities in non-subject-related research institutions of Bielefeld University as well as activities in the central administration and its staff can be recognized as a partial internship upon application. A further partial internship outside Bielefeld University is regularly required in these cases.
- Student work in the self-administration or in political university groups is generally not recognized as an internship.
- Internships are typically full-time internships and as such cover a period of 6-8 weeks. Part-time internships are possible. However, they should not be less than 19 hours per week.
- Individual applications for the recognition of professional or voluntary activities performed outside the university, which must correspond to the overall character of the required internship, as well as other justified exceptions to the aforementioned rules, will be decided upon application by the internship coordinator. Insofar as the provisions of certain internship modules are affected, the responsible module coordinators will comment on the matter. General regulations for exceptional situations (e.g. in connection with pandemic protection regulations), in which action must be taken depending on other bodies and responsibilities, are not affected here.