Summer 2019 Internship Opportunities

This upcoming summer, the Center for Jewish History, is offering enriching internships across its Development, Finance, and Digital Services divisions. Interns will have the opportunity to gain knowledge from professionals in their respective fields of interest. The summer internships have flexible dates and we are willing to work with you on full time or part time hours with the possibility of extension into the fall semester.

In all cases, interns are expected to demonstrate a strong work ethic, and a commitment to the mission of preservation, understanding and supporting the study of history. We will provide an unlimited MetroCard for the duration of the internship and are willing to discuss ‘for credit’ opportunities.

• Financial Intern

  As a member of the Finance and FP&A team, the Financial Intern will support the Center for Jewish History and assist in maintaining and developing business controls and reports to ensure financial accuracy.

  Your role and responsibilities will include:

  • Financial Accounting: Support the accounting team by learning how to perform bank reconciliations, update investment schedules, generate journal entries for the monthly close, and assist Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. Collaborate with the Development team to improve the process of recording donations. As the finance department becomes “paperless”, assist with streamlining processes to ensure a reduction in paperwork.
  • Financial Analysis: Work with the CFO and Accounting Manager to generate reports and ad hoc analysis for the CEO and department heads, including reports that analyze our performance and support/drive management’s decision-making, including month-to-date and year-to-date expense and revenue reports against budget. Assist in the design of KPI Dashboards.

  Skills & Qualifications requirements: Working towards a BA or MA degree in a finance-related field; good Microsoft Excel skills.

  For more information regarding this internship, please contact internships@cjh.org.

• Development Intern

  As a member of the Development team, the Development Intern will support the Center for Jewish History and assist in maintaining and developing procedures within the department, providing improvements to our Raiser’s Edge database and performing prospect research.

  Your role and responsibilities will include:

  • Donation Workflows: Support the development team by learning how to perform regular database and donation related tasks including imports, exports, acknowledgements, mail merges, finance department reconciliations. Work with the development team to improve the process of recording donations. As the development department reduces the amount of paper records used, assist with streamlining processes to ensure a reduction in paperwork. Perform select outreach that may include written correspondence or phone calls.
  • Data Analysis: Work with the development team to generate reports and ad hoc analysis for the CEO and board, including reports that analyze donations in a holistic way; create templates and perform analysis both in Raiser’s Edge NXT cloud-based system and Excel. Assess ways information can be used and mined, including donation history, program attendance, etc. Assist with using wealth screening tools to create short lists for leadership. 
  • Database Improvements: Work with the development department to select a specific database improvement project to implement over the course of the internship. Research and suggest related best practices and independently carry out work in the database environment. Assist with the implementation of “actions” in the membership module and to a lesser degree for recurring gifts.
  • Prospect Research: Using online and paid subscription databases to create reports on current and future available individual supporters, foundations and grants.

  For more information regarding this internship, please contact internships@cjh.org.

• Photography Intern

  As a member of the Digital Services team, the Photography Intern will support the Center for Jewish History in digitizing collections held by the Center’s five partner organizations: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.

  Your role and responsibilities will include:

  • Digital Photography: Capture archival, library, and museum objects utilizing 35mm DSLR cameras, scanning equipment, and other imaging equipment. Learn current digitization standards in the archive and library fields. Collaborate on digitization projects with a creative team of seasoned photographers.
  • Post-Production: Process images (editing, renaming, and exporting to project-specific standards) and prepare for ingest into CJH’s digital asset management system, including creating derivative files when necessary.
  • General File Management: Assist in maintaining on-site storage and local backups.

  Skills and qualifications requirements: Digital photography experience; knowledge of image production and file management (including metadata and color management) using Adobe Creative Cloud (Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge); experience in operating and troubleshooting 35mm DSLR cameras.

  For more information regarding this internship, please contact internships@cjh.org.

Internship Opportunities

We offer internships that serve as a unique opportunity for students to expand their academic interests, gain new skills in the field of public history, and acquire knowledge and experience enabling them to compete in the non-academic job market.

All interns are offered compulsory monthly seminars combining lectures, discussions, and hands-on activities, to ensure that the internships can be taken for university credit.

• Public History Internships

  Students will be trained to co-lead our on-site primary sources workshops for high schools, as well as guide tours at the Center and walking tours of the neighborhood; they will learn how to research and design their own guided tours, walking tours, and community-building public history projects.

  In a pedagogical sub-track, interns will not only be trained to work with high-school students and teach with primary sources; they will also work on designing their own assignments, syllabi, and assessment/feedback criteria, and will be encouraged to test them out, under the supervision of the Center’s staff.

• Research Internships

  Students will work with visiting scholars at the Center, helping them with their specific research projects. Attending the CJH seminars will help them incorporate the skills they gain with visiting scholars in broader contexts.

• Curatorial Internships

  Students will serve as assistant curators of projects developed at the Center. They will also be encouraged to work on their own curatorial projects, and will get additional training with our staff.

Requirements for Internships

The ideal candidate is:

• ready to devote 8-10 hours a week, including at least one 4-hour block, with some level of flexibility (depending on tours, etc.).
• available for an orientation class on September 15, 2019.
• strongly motivated and reliable.
• committed to attending monthly seminars for interns.

Strong writing skills and additional languages are a plus, but not required.

Please send your resume and a short cover letter (400 words max) that includes your academic interests and explains your interest in this internship to education@cjh.org.

Volunteer Opportunities

• Tour Guides (Docents)

  A tour consists of a visit to the exhibitions of the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (Yeshiva University Museum has a separate docent program) and the public areas of the Center (usually the Leo & Julie Forchheimer Auditorium, the Paul S. & Sylvia Steinberg Great Hall, Lillian Goldman Reading Room, Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, and the Shelby White & Leon Levy Collection Management and Conservation Wing). Guides who lead these tours are knowledgeable about the facilities and the mission and scope of activities of the Center for Jewish History, and they are able to describe the exhibitions in the Partner’s exhibition cases. Tour guides give approximately 1 -2 tours each month and attend periodic training sessions on new exhibitions.

• Ushers

  Ushers work at special events held at the Center. They take tickets and give out programs and may perform other tasks, as needed. The usher is welcome to stay and view the performance. Most events requiring ushers are held weekday evenings or on Sundays. Each usher is responsible for being available 45 minutes before the event to several minutes after the event begins. They may occasionally be asked to stay after the program to help with a reception or book sales.

• Office/Library/Genealogy Assistants

  Office assistants work in various offices throughout the Center. Tasks may include coordinating mailings, addressing and stuffing envelopes, filing, answering phones and making phone calls, handling RSVPs to events, data entry and related office tasks. Some offices are seeking researchers and assistants for special projects. The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute needs volunteers who are experienced with family history research to assist patrons. Librarians may need volunteers to catalog books and related tasks. Required hours are worked out with the individual departments.

• Translators

  The Center maintains a list of translators who are willing to help Reading Room and Genealogy Institute patrons translate documents. Staff members give the name of the patron to the translator, who then reaches out to the patron to make arrangements. Translations may be done at the Center or remotely. Translators are needed in almost any language, but the most commonly requested translations are from Yiddish, Hebrew, Russian and German.

Requirements For Volunteers

• Time commitment level: either on a project/event basis, or consistently, with at least one shift per week, ideally same day each week.
• Attire: professional/casual, unless otherwise specified.
• Communication skills: must have excellent speaking skills; knowledge of foreign languages a plus, though not required.
• An interest in Judaism, education, culture, the arts and history.

Benefits For Volunteers

• Complimentary tickets to concerts, films and other events when available.
• Free admission to museums in New York City and elsewhere for the volunteer and a guest.
• Invitation to our annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon and other special events.
• Contact with a broad spectrum of individuals and groups.

If you are interested in volunteering at the Center, please contact Julie Kaplan, Volunteer Coordinator, at cjhvolunteer@cjh.org or call (917) 606-8226.