Department of Civil Service

Description:

The New York State Department of Public Service (DPS or Department) works to: ensure safe, affordable, and reliable access to electric, gas, steam, water, and telecommunications services at just and reasonable rates for New York State customers, protect the natural environment, reduce greenhouse gas emissions via transmission and siting of renewable energy resources, and augment the resiliency of utility infrastructure.

The Equal Opportunity Intern shall work under the supervision of the Equal Opportunity Specialist 2 and collaborate with various staff across the Office of Administration on the following efforts:

1. Recruitment
a. Help the Equal Opportunity Specialist (EOS-2) update and increase the representation on the listing of Affinity Organizations (Fraternities, Sororities, Societies, etc.) so that we can better advertise jobs at DPS to a wider candidate pool.
b. Update the listings of colleges and universities in New York State that have majors that offer the specialized skills that we are looking for in our engineers, economists, and lawyers.
i. Identify contacts in the career development, and pertinent academic offices of these institutions, as well as a contact(s) to send new job postings that may be of interest to their students to supplement postings on Handshake.
c. Work with the EOS-2 to evaluate the Department's current application review, interview and appointment review process in order to recommend and implement improvements.

2. Policy Review
a. Review and propose updates to the internal Language Access policies at DPS.
b. Review and propose plain language alterations for the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)/Reasonable Accommodation (RA) pages of DART.
c. Help EOS-2 to develop "Trauma Informed Communication" best practices.

3. Resource Development
a. Collaborate with the EOS-2 and Training Division on a "Plain Language" Training with supplemental resource guide.
b. Propose updated materials for addition to the:
i. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion SharePoint Page
ii. Equal Employment Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation SharePoint Page
c. Collaborate with the DPS Staff DEI Committee to update SharePoint Site
d. Update the "Diversity Awareness Calendar" for 2026 & 2027

Skills:

Strong Writing and Editing skills

Online Information-Sourcing skills

Interest in Policy Review & Development

Experience with Microsoft Point

Understanding of "Plain Language"

Internship Areas: Communications/Public Relations, Human Resources, Public Policy