Interns Gain Experience at Will County

Will County hosted nearly a dozen high school and college interns in various departments over the Summer, offering an opportunity for these talented students to work closely with department leadership and staff to assist with projects in their area of studies and to gain real-world experience critical for their career-development.

Interns gained experience in a variety of offices, including Animal Protection Services, Community Mental Health Board, Division of Transportation, Emergency Management Agency, Executive Office, ICT, Land Use, and Sunny Hill Nursing Home. Several offices also participated in the Will County Center for Economic Development Internship Program, which aims to give high school students real-world experience critical to preparing for their future careers and creates a future pipeline to strengthen the Will County Workforce.

Internships offer valuable perspective and practical experience for individuals before fully entering the workforce. Hear some of the stories from our 2025 Summer Interns:

• Andrew | ICT Department
  • “I learned the programming language COBOL, which was completely new to me, as well as a new way to frame and structure my code.”

• Cassandra | Animal Protection Services
  • “I learned more animal behavior signs of fear, anxiety and aggression, and was able to observe surgeries performed by a veterinarian, which helped in my pursuing of a career in veterinary medicine.”

• Dalyla | Executive Office
  • “This internship relates to my career goals after high school since I’m interested in going into journalism/communications, and I gained real life experience in an office setting in that area.”

• Iain | Division of Transportation
  • “I’m a construction management student, so being able to see the processes that lead up to and follow a project is something I will be closely involved with in my future career.”

• Jenna | Sunny Hill Nursing Home (Social Services)
  • “Having always worked with kids, I never thought I would work with seniors or in a medical facility, however, this internship has made that path possible, and I can imagine myself working as a medical social worker in the future.”

• Leilani | Community Mental Health Board
  • “My goal is to become a special education teacher, and this internship has opened my eyes to new opportunities in this field by introducing me to grantees who specialize in working with children who have special needs.”

• Mac | Emergency Management Agency
  • “This internship gave me hands-on experience in the emergency management field. It has confirmed that I want to pursue a career in this area and helped me identify that I’m more drawn to response and field coordination roles.”

• Michael | Land Use Department
  • “I was given the opportunity to work on my own projects and see them to completion, like creating an Affordable Housing Storyboard using ArcGIS to showcase the work that the Community Development Division has done.”

• Teliyah | Community Mental Health Board
  • “I have loved visiting local organizations and being exposed to volunteer opportunities, career paths, and the needs and services of our community, which all gave me valuable experience and solidified my desire to pursue a career as a Clinical Neuroscientist and Psychologist."

• Timothy | ICT Department
  • “I am majoring in Cybersecurity, and during my internship I learned how to write, program, and debug COBOL and CL coding languages as I assisted on upgrading network hardware.”