McGill.CA / Office of Student Academic Services

 

AGRI 410 Professional Agrology Internship

 

Get a feel for the AGRI 410 Internship: watch videos made by students!

 

This course is required in the Specialziation in Professional Agrology, for students in the Agro-Environmental Sciences and Agricultural Economics Majors. Note that you register for 3 credits over the summer (AGRI 410D1) and 3 credits over the following Fall term (AGRI 410D2), so do not leave this internship for after your final year, if you can help it at all.

Don't forget to mention to your potential employer that you intend on completing a credited internship, while working with them.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Your potential internship placement must be approved by me, no matter what (i.e., including if you plan on working with one of the businesses listed in the previous AGRI 410 placements). Do let me know right away if you have questions about a potential job's eligibility. You do not want to invest in an application process or even accept a job offer and then have it be refused for AGRI 410!

  • Your internship placement must be for at least 420h (e.g., 12 weeks at 35h/wk).

  • You must have completed 60 credits in a program that confers direct eligibility to the admission exam of Ordre des agronomes du Québec (OAQ). Normally, you would thus take this internship after U2. Note that, if you completed a technical degree in agriculture at the CEGEP level (FMT, GTEA, etc), you can take AGRI 410 at any time, but it's still best to take it after U2 given the greater level of preparation you will have. Let me know if you have questions about your eligibility.

  • AGRI 410 is a professional internship and you must be supervised by a member of the OAQ (or equivalent, outside the province of Québec) who works for the same employer as you. Talk to me if you plan on doing an internship outside Québec.

  • If you are interning in Québec, the person who supervises your internship must have been a member of OAQ for at least 3 years, and must not have been found guilty of any offence by the OAQ’s Conseil de discipline or the Tibunal des professions du Québec, and their right to practice agrology must never have been modified by the OAQ’s Conseil d’administration. Note that in some cases, your direct supervisor will be a technician. This is fine, to the extent that this person's work is supervised by a member of OAQ (which it must, by law).

  • If you are interning outside Québec, I will need to approve your placement as well as the person who supervises it. It will have to be equivalent to a Québec professional internship environment.

  • If you are an international student (i.e., hold a Study permit), you MUST apply for a Co-op/Internship work permit from Immigration Canada in order to complete AGRI 410. While you would normally be authorized to have a summer job or do an optional internship without special permission, since AGRI 410 is required in your program, the rules are different. There is no fee associated to obtaining this permit, but there is a 6 month processing time, so plan accordingly! See information on obtaining this permit on the ISS website.

 

Need help finding an internship placement?

 

What do I need to do to obtain permission to register?

  • By April 15, complete your Student employment info. This document is intended to be filled out by you, although you will likely need to ask your employer for some data
  • By April 15, send your Student goals for internship OR Objectifs de stage to julie.major [at] mcgill.ca. This document will be shared with your employer, but must be filled out by you alone, at this time. Choose the language that is best suited for discussing with your employer.

 

When will I register for the internship?

I will put in the request for you to be allowed to register once I have all of your documents mentioned above. You will be cc'd on the request for a registration permit to be issued for you. It may take several weeks for this step to be completed, but you will register before the end of April.

 

Relevant documents

AGRI 410 syllabus (note that the version pertaining to any given summer, will be available in April of the same year)

AGRI 410 welcome letter for internship supervisors: French, English

 

Pre-departure meeting in April

Before you leave campus for your internship, a meeting will be organized in order to discuss course deliverables, answer questions you may have, and prepare you for the internship. This meeting will be scheduled using a Doodle poll, and will take place when most students are available, potentially in the evening.

 

Some advice for choosing your internship

Here is some advice for you, from previous AGRI 410 students:

  • In most fields, agrology interns are in high demand - feel free to ask questions to your potential employer, and to "shop around".
  • Make every effort to find an internship that you like - you will work very hard for it. 
  • Do what you can to find an internship that lines up with your values, skills you want to acquire or improve...
  • Don't hesitate to try something new with your internship: get outside your comfort zone, and broaden your horizons. You do not have to choose an internship that corresponds to your program options. 

 

Some advice for negotiating your internship with your employer

Here are some post-internship answers from previous AGRI 410 students, to the question: "List at least 2 questions you would want to ask at a job interview for a position similar to the one you had during your internship". Obviously, not all questions are relevant to all internship placements.

  • What training will the organization provide me? (including sales-specific training, if appropriate)
  • How are the weekly hours expected to vary over the course of the summer?
  • If I work overtime, are the hours paid? At what rate? When? It is a good idea to ensure that any disposition related to overtime be put in writing. 
  • What proportion of the work is done in the field, and in the office?
  • What proportion of the work is done in a team, and alone? (Scouting can involve very long days, even entire weeks on your own)
  • What proportion of the work is dedicated to business development (i.e., finding new customers)?
  • Am I expected to work bank holidays during the summer months? And if so, am I paid time double?
  • What geographical area will I be expected to cover? (for jobs that involve being on the road to visit producers)
  • Am I paid mileage on my car?
  • Are lunches eaten on the road reimbursed?
  • Will the organization provide a cel phone, or cover my cel phone plan during the summer?
  • Is it possible I be called into work for emergencies during weekends, holidays or days off?
  • How many employees will be supervising me, and will I have to supervise anyone myself?
  • If the company provides attire (clothes), will they be available to me at the start of my internship (as opposed to halfway through)?
  • Will the business provide me with personal protection equipment, for example when exposed to pesticides? What about other equipment like a rain bib?

 

Are there other internships I can do?

Yes, there are other internships you can do for credits or not. AGRI 310 (3 cr) can be counted in the Ecological Agriculture, Agribusiness and Professional Agrology (for non-Ag. Econ. students) Specializations (see Dr. Caroline Begg to do this internship). FAES 200 is a non-credited internship, and FAES 300 is a 3-credit internship (see Ms. Kendra Gray in the Internship Office to take these).

 

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