The first step to joining an EMI Internship is to create your EMI account. An EMI account is your passport to go with EMI and apply for an Internship. Create or update your EMI account.
EMI Internships are predominantly in fields relating to architecture and civil engineering. We typically host internships in architecture, civil engineering, electrical engineering, environmental engineering, structural engineering, and construction management. Occasionally, we also offer internships in other design fields. Sometimes there are opportunities for internships in graphic design, communications, business, non-profit administration, and other non-construction-related fields as well.
EMI internships are available for students who have completed at least their third year of university studies in their major. In some cases, your EMI Internship may qualify for credit hours toward your degree programme, or as a university design project, or as a Co-Op placement. However, this varies widely by university and internship location, and will require advance approval & coordination. Often, EMI interns have already completed their undergraduate or graduate degrees, or have been in the professional workplace for a year or two.
Application Process
Applying for an EMI Internship begins with submitting a pre-application online. This ‘pre-app’ is valid for internships at all EMI locations offered in the selected term and year. Once you submit a ‘pre-app’, a member of the EMI Internships team will follow up with you to provide more information and the materials you will need to complete your EMI Internship application. The final step is a phone interview with a member of the EMI Internships team, which is scheduled after the Term application deadline.
After these phone interviews, the EMI Internships team works across EMI to determine how applicants align with internship needs at each location. We take your internship location preference seriously, but must balance these preferences with the needs across EMI. Approximately 4 weeks after the phone interview, you will receive a follow-up call from EMI about final decisions. We hope you will be joining us!
Arrival
Interns start their experience with EMI orientation in their office of assignment. During this week, we introduce you to the history and vision of EMI, and give you tools to discover more about yourself and the cultures you will encounter during your internship.
Experience
Many interns travel on an EMI project trip or visit an EMI project site within or outside their assignment country during the first month of an internship. However, this time in the field visiting a client ministry is only a portion of the internship. The majority of an intern's time is spent in an EMI office. Interns are given varying responsibilities depending on their professional discipline, education, and experience. Architecture and Civil Engineering interns will gain exposure and experience in AutoCAD, SketchUp, and other design software as well as interact with EMI Staff and volunteer design professionals from a variety of disciplines. EMI interns work closely with their assigned project manager to produce the project design plans and reports for the client.
Want to know more? Check out "A day in the life."
You may wake up in the home of a host family or in a flat you share with your fellow interns. Your intern colleagues might be from Canada, the USA, South Africa, Uganda, India, or elsewhere and your relationships with them are one of the most valuable things you will gain during your internship. Your commute could be as simple as walking next door, a 10-minute walk, or riding a bus or the metro to get to the office.
Though each office looks different and surroundings vary, EMI opens every day around the world in prayer. This time of devotion is a wonderful time to dedicate your work to God each day. After prayer, EMI gets to work. The tasks of an intern vary from architectural or engineering design to AutoCAD drafting and report writing. Interns help communicate with project volunteers, make logistical arrangements for their project leader, and do red-line edits on project work. In addition, interns will take a normal part of keeping an office running, making copies, binding reports, etc. Other interns will wake up while it is still dark and begin their journey to a construction site. The day is full of working with local workers to ensure the project is built as designed.
Regardless of location, most interns are also involved in some kind of direct ministry activity. You could be serving meals in a soup kitchen, walking to local villages to help in a medical clinic, or simply playing with children at a local ministry. EMI interns also participate in a Bible study focused on Christian Discipleship and are assigned an EMI staff (or staff’s spouse) mentor to keep touch and encourage spiritual growth. This mentoring takes different forms, but interns build lasting relationships with the EMI staff at their assignment location.
The focus of an EMI Internship is discipleship. We want to see our interns grow as much as possible professionally. More than that, we want to see our interns grow spiritually towards greater intimacy with God and obedience to Jesus Christ.
For specific information on what an EMI Internship is like in a particular location, browse to an EMI location and check out the internships page.
Application
Q: What is the application process after submitting a pre-application?
A: The pre-application is only the first step in the application process for an EMI Internship. After submitting your pre-application, your appropriate mobilising office will send you the full internship application, including a list of personal response questions to complete and three reference forms to have completed. Applications will not be considered for the interview stage until all application documents, three references and a current resume have been submitted for an applicant. Please make every effort to have all of these items sent in by the application deadline.
Q: Will I get to go to the EMI location I choose?
A: The EMI Internships staff takes your location preferences seriously and tries to accommodate them whenever possible. However, across EMI, there are often more candidates for an internship in one location than in another, and we ask that you be willing to serve where EMI’s need is greatest.
Q: Does EMI have rolling applications?
A: No. EMI will review all applications at the deadline date and proceed from there. However, for any intern applicant who submits their application more than 60 days prior to the official application deadline for a given term, there will be the potential for them to be considered in early acceptance. If you would like to inquire about whether you qualify for early acceptance, please contact your appropriate mobilising office intern coordinator.
Q: What if my university is on the quarter system?
A: We recommend that you apply for a T3 (generally August to December) or T1 (generally January to May) internship or apply after you graduate. It is difficult for to accommodate quarter system students in T2 (generally May to August).
Q: Can I apply even if I have graduated from university?
A: Absolutely! We encourage you to apply regardless of the stage of your career, we are receiving more and more applications from students pursuing their post-graduate degrees, or even those with a few years of experience taking a leave of absence from work. We also see applications from those who are looking to change what discipline they are working in.
Technical Work / Projects
Q: What classes can help me prepare for an EMI internship?
A: AutoCAD, Technical writing, Surveying, any Structural design classes especially Reinforced Concrete, Masonry, or Steel, Water/Wastewater treatment, Hydro I&II, Public Health Eng., Water Distribution, all Architecture studios. Experience in another internship using skills applicable to EMI can also help prepare you for an EMI Internship.
Q: What projects will I work on?
A: EMI projects can be anything from a church to a hospital to a children’s home to a ministry centre for the elderly. Interns also help on projects from past terms, or on ongoing projects under construction or beyond the initial design phase. You can see some of our completed projects in the EMI Project Portfolio.
Q: Where will I travel to on my project trip?
A: Your project trip is usually in or near your internship assignment country. If your internship is located at EMI USA or EMI Canada, however, your project trip could be to any area of the world. Your project trip assignment might be set by the time of your acceptance, but most often project trip assignments are made shortly before the start of the internship. You can see upcoming project trips on the Trips page.
Q: What are the different EMI offices like?
A: You can find out more about each office and what internships are like there by browsing EMI ‘locations’ and checking their internships page.
Q: Can Mechanical/Chemical/Industrial (etc.) Engineers apply for EMI internships?
A: Yes—Mechanical, Chemical and Industrial Engineers can apply for EMI internships if they are interested in serving in the areas of Environmental, Structural, Electrical, Civil Engineering, or Research and Development. Rarely does an intern have the chance to use Mechanical, Chemical or Industrial engineering directly simply because of the types and scopes of our projects. It is more difficult for applicants in these disciplines to receive a position if there is a high demand for internships; additionally, rarely do they serve in an overseas office without first serving domestically. The few exceptions would be in Research and Development (this internship is offered in Uganda) and possibly the area of HVAC design for climate-controlled spaces. With all of this said, Civil, Structural, Electrical, Environmental Engineers and Architects typically have priority in our selection process because that is where our needs are greatest.
Q: Can my time at EMI count towards the hours I need for my professional license?
A: Potentially, but it will depend on your nationality and specific discipline. You can discuss this during the interview process.