Extern Program | Career Development Center | SIU

For more than 30 years, SIU has provided the Extern Program as a unique professional development experience for students. To date, more than 4,000 Salukis have worked with companies and organizations around the nation to gain first-hand experience.

A partnership between the Career Development Center and Alumni Association, the Extern Program provides students with professional experience in their chosen career fields. Students are matched with SIU alumni and friends in a variety of careers across the country. They apply skills learned in the classroom in a professional work environment. The program is individualized and enhances the student’s education. Benefits received are invaluable. Not only will students gain real-world career knowledge and experience, they will also expand their career network. Some students find their externship has led them to find a lifelong mentor, an internship, and even a full-time employment offer.

Externships are unpaid one-week career preparation and exploration experience for current students in their third semester at SIU or be a transfer student (JD and Master’s students may also apply). Each spring, alumni and friends of the university host students at their workplaces and provide job shadowing in a wide variety of career fields. The 2023 Extern Program takes place between March 11-19, 2023. Students are matched for externship positions based on their major, career interests, and the sponsor-developed description of the experience.

Sponsor applications are collected in the Summer 2023. Students can apply to the program by completing an application during the Fall 2022 semester. 

2023 Sponsor Application