MCPC Internship Program

Find Out More About planning in Montgomery County

We are now accepting applications for spring and summer 2021 "virtual internships" with MCPC. While our offices are still closed to the public, we have been operating remotely from home, and invite candidates from across the United States to apply. Graduate students in planning or a related field, as well as advanced undergraduates (juniors and seniors), are encouraged to submit a resume and letter of interest to Brian Olszak. 

We offer full-time and part-time (15 hours a week or more) internships. Our nonpaying internship program gives students an opportunity to find out more about planning from a county planning perspective. Our staff serves the county commissioners and a nine-member planning board as well as an open space board and a farmland preservation board. We provide advisory services to the county's 62 municipalities.

Interns are given an opportunity to work with one or more of our six planning sections.

  • Community Planning - Professional planning assistance to municipalities for comprehensive planning, special studies, zoning ordinance revisions, and general planning
  • County Planning - Census data analysis, county comprehensive plan implementation, land use trends, and farmland preservation
  • Design Planning - Site analysis, conceptual design assistance, and land development review
  • Environmental Planning - Water and sewer database updating, data compilation for stormwater management plans, review of planning modules for sewer service, and assistance with riparian restoration projects
  • Open Space Planning - Open space inventory updating, trail development projects (acquisition assistance, plan review, municipal coordination, etc.); creation of various presentation exhibits; study, research, and preparation; and field work as needed
  • Transportation Planning - Research and support in conducting transportation studies; attendance at coordination or project planning meetings at DVRPC, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), and related agencies; and data compilation

Gain Experience with Different Types of Planning

Montgomery County offers varied experiences in planning. The eastern municipalities and boroughs are experiencing many of the issues related to older, more urban areas. Transportation management, regional planning, growth management, and the provision of services are all pertinent to the central suburbanizing area of the county. An important issue in the western part of the county is the preservation of rural areas, open spaces, and farmland.

Projects are assigned based on an intern's interests, within the range of projects in progress. Research, data entry, field work, plan review, and information management tasks are all part of the internship experience.

Interns should have an interest in the planning profession and be in their junior or senior year of college or in a graduate program and should be familiar with word processing and data entry computer applications. Access to a car for field work is desirable.

Application Process*

To apply for an internship, please submit a resume and letter of interest to Brian Olszak.