The Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) program is committed to contributing to the diversity of the Department of State and other federal agencies. VSFS makes public service accessible to non-traditional students and students who can’t participate in in-person internships whether because of financial or family constraints, or the pandemic.
If you’ve never been a mentor, this is the year to join the VSFS family! It’s easy. Any U.S. government employee, whether Foreign Service, Civil Service, contractor, Eligible Family Member employee, or locally employed staff can register on the VSFS website and submit a project May 1 – June 18. These unpaid internships are open to all U.S. citizen college students, from undergraduates to PhD candidates. Since the Department launched the program in 2009, one-third of VSFS alumni who went on to become Foreign Service Officers are from underrepresented groups.
Over the past decade, more than 10,000 U.S. citizen college students from community colleges, minority serving institutions, and other institutions across the country have worked on projects during their academic year for more than 70 federal agencies, including the Department of State. The VSFS program had over 8,000 applicants apply for the 3,000 virtual internships available last year to analyze data, develop apps, design graphics, write speeches, conduct research, and much more. We anticipate that the number of applicants will increase in 2021 for the federal governments longest-running virtual internship program. The time commitment for students is about 10 hours per week from September through May. Students apply from July 1 – 31 on USAJobs.gov .
VSFS is hosting a webinar for federal employees and contractors who want to be among the first to see our new site, or to learn more about the program on Wednesday, May 12 at 8:15 PM EST. For the Webex registration link and calendar invite, please write to vsfs@state.gov.
For more information, please contact vsfs@state.gov.
