Industrial-Organizational Psychology - Applied training and experience

Applied training and experience

Students in the MASc program typically obtain applied experience through a one-term internship involving full-time work in a corporate or government human resources (HR) department or in an HR consulting firm. MASc or PhD students also are involved in projects contracted through the Waterloo Organizational Research and Consulting Group (WORC Group) which is the consulting entity for the Industrial and Organizational graduate program.

Some past internship placements

  • The Mutual Group
  • Babcock & Wilcox
  • Kelly Services
  • Public Service Commission Personnel Psychology Centre (PPC)
  • Hay Management Consultants
  • HumanSystems
  • Jackson Leadership Systems
  • Gallup Canada, Inc.
  • Bell Canada
  • Saville & Holdsworth
  • William Mercer, Ltd.
  • CAMI Automotive
  • Canadian Forces Personnel Research Unit
  • Canadian Forces Leadership Institute
  • Clear Picture Corporation
  • Société Pierre Boucher
  • Organizational Studies International, Inc. (OSI)
  • Export Development Canada (EDC)
  • The Canadian Wheat Board

Examples of tasks completed on previous internships

  • Validation of an organization-wide competency model
  • Employee opinion surveys - including design, analysis, and feedback of results
  • Succession management planning
  • Design and delivery of coaching workshops
  • Validation of selection instruments

Some student testimonials regarding the internship

I found the internship to be extremely valuable not only in a gaining perspective on how to apply the concepts that I learned in courses, but also because it gave me the opportunity to work in the HR department of a large organization. This experience helped me to gain perspective on my career path. I felt that I was able to make a contribution to the HR initiatives that I was involved with and I was treated as a valuable member of the HR department.

I found the internship to be a very valuable experience and it was an essential part of my learning. To learn about concepts in the classroom is important, but to see how these concepts are translated into practice by business professionals is key. During my internship, I was exposed to a variety of projects and was given increasing amounts of responsibility which made me feel like I was making a real contribution to the team. Now that I have graduated and am looking for full-time work, I am even more aware of the value of this experience as I can say to potential employers that I have experience working with various OD projects, in addition to my general knowledge of the concepts.

Selected past external consulting and applied research opportunities

  • Acme Tours: Diagnosing Barriers to Employee Effectiveness
  • Canadian Mental Health Association: Work Stress Reduction through Quality Oriented Work Redesign
  • Acme Billing Systems, Inc.: Software Developers' Perceptions of Organizational Change and Culture
  • A University of Waterloo Service Department: Designing a 360-Degree Feedback Process
  • Acme Support Systems for Human Resource Management: Profiling Owner/Manager Preferences and Orientations
  • Arts 4 Change Project: Facilitating Communication with Employees on a Self-Sustaining Vision
  • Acme Billing Systems, Inc.: Communication Networks and Matrix Structure in a Large Team for Software Development
  • A University of Waterloo Service Department: Mapping Communication for Organizational Improvement
  • Leadership Waterloo Region: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Leadership Development Program
  • Optimum Health, Inc.: Organizational Diagnosis and Market Research for Organizational Growth and Development