The AIO builds relationships with host organizations to offer internship opportunities to Faculty of Arts students, and acts as a liaison between students and these organizations to facilitate in the selection of summer interns. Host organizations are ultimately responsible for selecting their interns, while students are responsible for preparing for and successfully completing the internship.
How to Apply for an AIO Internship Posting
The application is an online form (linked below). You will be asked to sign in with your McGill email and password. Please make sure that you are eligible to apply for the position before you start the application.
- Review all the opportunities for summer internships on our website.
If you are on a mobile device, select the "SECTION MENU" to see the internship postings.- Carefully read the detailed PDF posting for each internship and its requirements.
- Watch the recording of the information session linked above.
- Prepare the material for your application (see "What to Prepare" below)
- If you plan on applying for one of the internship posting outside of Canada, the Pre-Departure Orientation should be completed BEFORE you apply for the position and the certificate of completion must be submitted with your application. The certificate is valid for 1 calendar year from the date of issue.
- Please note that Pre-Departure Orientation is offered on a monthly basis - we recommend registering for it as early as possible (February 1st at the latest).
- Talk to one of our advisors during drop-in hours if you have any questions about the positions before applying.
All questions should be addressed to the Arts Internship Office, not the host organizations.- Unfortunately, the Arts Internship Office cannot review individual applications prior to submission. For CV and Cover Letter review, we suggest to attend the CV and Cover Letter workshops and to use the Career Planning Services:
- Use the CaPS guides on CV, cover letters, interviews and more
- Go to CaPS drop-in hours to have CV and cover letter reviewed or book an appointment with CaPS advisors (limited availability, drop-in hours are recommended)
- If you missed our workshops, you can find the slides on our past events page (note that they are not recorded)
- Unfortunately, the Arts Internship Office cannot review individual applications prior to submission. For CV and Cover Letter review, we suggest to attend the CV and Cover Letter workshops and to use the Career Planning Services:
- Complete the following AIO application form before the deadline: AIO Internship Application Form
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You may apply for 3 internships maximum. Your ranking is very important when we consider your application, and we strongly advise that you narrow down your selection so that you can create a strong application package for your top choices. Applying to more internships does not necessarily increase your chance of being selected, so spending time to build strong cover letters and resumes for fewer internships is often more beneficial to students.
- If you are applying for more than one internship: Please submit a targeted joint CV and cover letter for each internship you are applying for (eg.JohnDoe_Internship) containing both CV/Cover Letter in one PDF document
- Note on Offers: If you get selected for an initial interview and forwarded to one of your choices, you will be automatically withdrawn from consideration for other internships. Applicants who have applied to the early application deadline can still apply to 3 positions for the February deadline.
- Requirements. Please note that certain positions have citizenship requirements and/or require security clearance - these details can be found in the posting's PDF file. Please come to our office to learn more about these requirements.
- Awards are only released if all eligibility criteria are met: Undergraduate Student Eligibility (or) Graduate Student Eligibility for Award Disbursement.
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Internship Location Definitions: For certain positions, you might have to indicate in your application whether you are applying for remote or in-person.
- In-person internship: intern is expected to intern at the host organization office location.
- Remote internship: intern does not travel to or for the internship. The internship is conducted 100% remotely.
- Hybrid internship: intern is expected to be at the host organization office location (with a specified number of days in the office determined by the host organization.
- Awards. The Arts Internship Office internships are automatically funded (see the award amount on the PDF posting). If you are selected for the internship, you do not need to submit an Award application.
- Application Timeline. We will get back to you shortly after the deadline if you are selected for an interview. The Arts Internship Office will then transmit the selected applications to the host organization, which will ultimately be responsible for the selection of the candidate(s). Students who do not receive offers will be notified on a rolling basis as decisions are made.
- Formal Acceptance of an Internship. Once the host organization have made a final decision, the Arts Internship Office will send an offer to the student. The student will have 3 days to make a decision. We understand that 3 days is not a lot of time to make a decision, especially if you are waiting to hear about other offers. As much as we would like to be able to give everyone more time, we cannot allow individuals to hold an offer for an extended period of time, as this is not fair to the other students who are also waiting to hear about the same position. If this situation arises for you, please let us know if there is any additional information we can provide that will make your decision easier, and we will do our best to help.
What to Prepare
- Personal and academic information
- Unofficial transcript uploaded as a PDF or JPG, named in the format "lastname.firstname_transcript".
On Minerva, select the "View Your Unofficial Transcript" page, then Print and Save the webpage as PDF - Targeted CV and cover letter* for each internship you are applying for containing both the CV/Cover Letter in one PDF document uploaded as a PDF, named in the format "lastname.firstname_internshipname"
- Please address the cover letter to "Dear Selection Committee," as it will be read by both our office and the host organization if forwarded.
- If you apply to one of the internships outside of Canada, you will be required to complete the Pre-Departure Orientation before applying and upload the certificate of completion in your application. Please refer to the "Pre-Departure Orientation" page.
- Please note that Pre-Departure Orientation is offered on a monthly basis - we recommend registering for it on February 1st at the latest.
- The certificate is valid for 1 calendar year from the date of issue.
- Consent for the Arts Internship Office to share the application materials with the McGill Selection Committee and the host organization. (Host organizations are ultimately responsible for selecting their interns.)
- Review the requirements for selected candidates as detailed in the Arts Interns Handbook
Please email us if you have any questions: aio [at] mcgill.ca.