Internship and Volunteer Opportunities

General Intern Information and Requirements

• EFF does not have paid internships and cannot provide stipends (except for specific things, like travel to an EFF event you are assisting at, etc.)
• EFF is not accredited to sponsor J visas.

Internship Program for Law Students

We are now accepting applications for the Fall 2008 internship program for the San Francisco Office. We intend to accept applications until July 15, although we recommend that you apply early. Applications will be evaluated as they are received. Our internship program is based in our San Francisco office; we no longer accept internship applications for our DC office.

Job Description

Interns assist in all aspects of litigation, including legal research, factual investigation, and drafting of memoranda and briefs, while also helping with policy research, client counseling, and the development of public education materials. EFF's docket ranges across the technological and legal landscape, from online fair use of copyrighted materials to electronic voting to the PATRIOT Act; take a look at http://www.eff.org/legal/victories/ or http://www.eff.org/legal/active_legal.html for details about our work preserving constitutional values in the digital world.

Summer internships are full-time, 40 hours per week minimum, and last 10-14 weeks. School-year internships are part-time, 16 hours per week minimum, and last 10-12 weeks. Internships are available at our office in San Francisco for all legal issues. We do not offer remote internships. Internships are generally unpaid; therefore arrangements should be made with the student's law school for work/study stipends. In addition, some small stipends for summer internships may be available on the basis of need through the generous sponsorship of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder LLP.

Qualifications

Law students of all levels are encouraged to apply, including students enrolled in non-US schools. Applicants should have a demonstrated interest in and enthusiasm for civil liberties or technology-related legal issues, along with excellent research and writing skills and the initiative and energy to see projects to completion in a fast-moving environment. (Being a bit of a geek may help, but isn't required!)

Application

Who needs paper? Just send an email to legalinterns@eff.org with the subject line "Intern Applicant: [Your Name]." We'd like a single email with your resume and writing sample attached, as .doc, .pdf, .rtf or .txt files; no WordPerfect, please. The body of the email should contain your "cover letter," explaining why you want to work with EFF and why we should want to work with you, followed by three references. Note that writing samples on civil liberties and/or intellectual property issues are highly preferred.

Non-Legal Internship and Volunteer Opportunities

EFF currently has two non-legal openings.

Summer Media/Development Intern

EFF is looking for a summer intern to help in our media and development departments. This is an unpaid, full-time position. Projects will include working on our annual report, identifying and organizing press clippings (both physical and digital), and some writing and copy editing. Excellent writing and editing skills, strong organizational abilities, and the capacity to take instruction and run with it is a must. Interest in development and/or public relations as a career is a plus, as is knowledge and familiarity with EFF's issues. Send a resume and cover letter to press@eff.org.

Systems Administrator Volunteer

EFF is looking for an unpaid system administrator / desktop support volunteer to work around 20 hours per week on a regular schedule. Our sysadmin does systems administration, network administration, tech support, and facilities management, and would like assistance with most of those. Specifically:

Requirements:

• Has strong inter-personal and communication skills; is capable of explaining simple procedures in writing or verbally.
• Is familiar with Mac OS X; can set up networking, create/modify users; set up printers; install, configure, and remove programs; troubleshoot problems.
• Is familiar with UNIX/Linux and its commands/utilities at a user level; can edit files, use a shell, find users' home directories, navigate through the file system, and use I/O redirection. We use FreeBSD here, so that's preferred.
• Is responsible and able to take instruction.

Sample tasks: (it's not mandatory to have all these skill sets)

• Communicate with copy machine vendor to get price and time for adding scanning unit to the copier. Obtain approval from sysadmin, then manage the project to completion.
• Work with the sysadmin to verify and improve log file rotation.
• Implement OpenVPN. http://openvpn.net/
• Several of our network switches have faulty fans. Communicate with HP to get replacement fan units, then coordinate with the sysadmin to install the new fans in our switches.
• Install SpamSieve on users' computers. Configure and perform initial training.
• Fix a broken Polycom by soldering on a new phone jack.
• Assist sysadmin in racking computers, cleaning up colo cabinet.
• Move / assist in moving tables, desks, chairs, computers, monitors, etc. around the office.

Please submit your resume and a description of relevant skills, reasons for wanting to volunteer, and any other material that you think we should consider, to: pfy@eff.org.

About Non-Legal Internships

Non-legal interns work closely with EFF staff and other interns to create and promote programs to support EFF sponsored projects, legislative and policy issues, and coordinated efforts with other organizations. This may include conducting legal and other research, pitching media ideas with the press, speaking with existing and potential EFF sponsors, developing and writing legal and media materials, and fielding incoming media and interested parties' requests as appropriate. Responsibilities will vary by position.

Desired qualities include strong written and oral communication skills, strong personal computer skills (word processors, spreadsheets, database tools, e-mail, web browsers), basic HTML experience preferred, dedication and willingness to work hard, attention to detail and ability to meet deadlines, excellent knowledge of your field with at least a working understanding of the issues to which EFF is devoted. Preferred fields are Law and Pre-Law, Communications, Public Relations, Journalism, English, Computer Science, Information Systems, Political Science, and/or Business.

While "virtual" (long-distance) internships are possibilities, we would prefer at this time to place interns in our San Francisco office in to work directly with existing staff on time-sensitive matters.