HR internship fellowship
This HR internship puts you on Earth5R’s employee volunteering and sustainability training work for companies, with a mentor who reviews each design with you. You find out what staff need, plan volunteering days and training sessions, and measure how employees respond and what they remember afterwards.
For school and university students interested in people management, workplace culture or training who want a real programme to design. Online, with field work near where you live. The fellowship is paid because every fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders.
Why people and culture matter for sustainability
A company’s climate targets depend on what its employees do each day, from how a canteen handles food waste to how a buyer picks a supplier. HR teams train staff and shape the habits of a workplace. When sustainability is part of training and volunteering, more people in the company understand the targets and act on them.
Earth5R runs employee volunteering and sustainability training for companies. Its field work includes lake, river and beach cleanups, and training on waste segregation and composting for communities and zero waste housing societies. These programmes give you real examples of how a session is planned and what gets people to take part. As a fellow you study them and design your own.
This work links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Goal 8, Decent work and economic growth and Goal 12, Responsible consumption and production.
Available projects in the HR internship fellowship
You join Earth5R’s live work through your own subject. Your mentor shapes the final project with you.
Employee volunteering day plan
Design an employee volunteering day around a lake, river or beach cleanup, covering the briefing, safety and roles, and plan how to collect staff feedback afterwards.
Sustainability training module
Write a short training module for office staff on waste segregation and composting, test it with a small group, and check what they remember a week later.
Employee interest survey
Design a survey that asks employees which sustainability activities they would join, run it with working adults you know, and analyse what the answers mean for a company programme.
Onboarding guide for building staff
Study how residents and staff in a zero waste housing society learn to segregate and compost, and design a simple onboarding guide for new housekeeping staff.
What you do in the field
- Join a cleanup or community training session and note how it is run
- Interview working adults about training and volunteering at their workplace
- Design surveys and feedback forms, and record the responses
- Draft a training module with clear learning goals
- Analyse attendance and feedback data in a spreadsheet
- Present your programme design in a research conversation
Skills you build
On a HR internship, you collect your own data near where you live, using the Earth5R app and data forms. Earth5R checks the data on its platform before it goes into your project report.
How the HR internship fellowship works
Every fellow moves through four phases. Each phase is checked by your mentor before you move on.
Observe and Map
Go into the field near where you live and collect primary data for your project in Human Resources.
Frame and Design
Find the root cause in your data and frame a problem worth solving, with your mentor.
Model
Build a working model, analysis or design for your solution, and test it.
Build and Deploy
Put your solution to work, measure the result and publish a verified record on earth5r.org.
Along the way you take part in research conversations with professors at MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and other universities, and ask your own questions. See how FIELDWORK works.
Where this can take you
Degrees this work supports
- BBA or BMS with an HR specialisation
- BA in Psychology or Sociology
- MBA or PGDM in Human Resource Management
- MSc in Human Resource Management
- MSc in Organisational Psychology
Careers in this field
- HR business partner
- Learning and development specialist
- CSR and employee volunteering manager
- Talent acquisition specialist
- Organisational development consultant
Universities known for Human Resources
Strong HR and management programmes look for applicants who understand how people behave at work and can design something that changes it. A fellowship project gives you a programme you designed and tested, with feedback data, reviewed by your mentor and recorded on earth5r.org. Students use a HR internship to build a record of real work for applications to universities like these.
Cornell University (ILR School)
USA · Department of Human Resource Studies, ILR School
The Department of Human Resource Studies in Cornell’s ILR School teaches HR at undergraduate, master’s, doctoral and executive levels. Programmes include the Master of Industrial and Labor Relations (MILR), the Executive Master of Human Resource Management and a PhD in Human Resources. It hosts the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS) and the Institute for Compensation Studies.
University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management
USA · Work and Organizations Department
The Work and Organizations Department at the Carlson School studies the workplace, human capital management, people leadership and organisational behaviour. It offers undergraduate, master’s and doctoral programmes, including the Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations. The department also runs the Center for Human Resources & Labor Studies and works with industry partners.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
UK · Department of Management, Employment Relations and Human Resource Management Faculty Research Group
LSE’s Department of Management teaches the MSc Human Resources and Organisations, with streams in Human Resource Management, International Employment Relations and Organisational Behaviour. Its Employment Relations and Human Resource Management Faculty Research Group studies the context of work and employment, including corporate social responsibility, global labour standards and HR in global value chains.
UK · Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations, King’s Business School
The Department of Human Resource Management & Employment Relations at King’s Business School teaches the MSc in Human Resource Management & Organisational Analysis and an online MSc in Global Human Resource Management. Its research themes include job quality and fair work, the future of work and hybrid work, and worker health and wellbeing.
Warwick Business School, University of Warwick
UK · Organisation and Work group, including the Industrial Relations Research Unit (IRRU)
Warwick Business School’s Organisation and Work group researches leadership, change, managerial work, identity and health care management. It includes the Industrial Relations Research Unit (IRRU), which studies work, employment relations and human resource management. IRRU looks at how HR strategies shape organisational performance, skills and employee voice.
Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester
UK · People, Management and Organisations (PMO) Division
The People, Management and Organisations Division at Alliance MBS includes a Human Resource Management, Employment Relations, and Law group alongside organisational psychology. Research topics include work, safety and well-being, decent work, and employment in supply chains. The division is home to the Work and Equalities Institute, which studies fair and inclusive work.
UK · Organisational Behaviour subject area
The Organisational Behaviour subject area at London Business School teaches electives across the school’s programmes and runs an Organisational Behaviour PhD programme. Faculty and PhD students research leadership, motivation, decision-making and negotiation, as well as teamwork, organisational culture and the institutional factors that shape organisations.
France · Organisational Behaviour area
INSEAD’s Organisational Behaviour area teaches MBA, Executive MBA, Master in Management and PhD students, with courses such as Negotiations, Advanced Group Dynamics and Well Being at Work. Research covers leadership, teams, careers, diversity, inequality and power. Related initiatives include the INSEAD Gender Initiative and the INSEAD Centre for Organisational Research.
Canada · Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR)
The Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, in the Faculty of Arts and Science, brings together faculty from many departments to teach and research the workplace and employment relationships. It offers the Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resources (MIRHR) and a PhD. The MIRHR covers HR management, collective bargaining, dispute resolution and labour market policy.
This list is for guidance. These universities are widely known for Human Resources. Earth5R has no admissions arrangement with them, and admission decisions rest with each university. Fellows get help researching universities, scholarships and applications, depending on the programme.
What your fellowship fee pays for
An internship fellowship at Earth5R is time and attention from senior researchers and leaders. Each part below takes staff time and resources that we set aside for every fellow.
Live mentoring with experts
One-to-one mentoring in most fellowships, with regular check-ins on your project.
Dialogues with global researchers
Academics from international universities and renowned scientists, who answer your questions and discuss your work.
Support in the field
Guidance while you collect data and work on your project in the field.
References for your next step
References when you apply for jobs, higher studies and research programmes.
Your work, hosted for life
Your work and data stay on Earth5R’s website and servers for life, where universities and employers can check them.
Time from senior people
Each fellow receives time and attention from senior researchers and leaders, set aside for them.
Fee details available on request.
Choose your fellowship
The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details available on request.
HR internship: common questions
What does an HR internship have to do with sustainability?
Many companies run employee volunteering, sustainability training and green workplace policies through their people teams. You learn how HR plans these programmes and checks whether staff took part and learned something, using Earth5R’s work with companies and communities as the base.
Will I work with real employees?
Yes. You interview working adults and test your survey or training module with small groups. Field work happens near where you live, and your mentor reviews what you collect at each step before it goes into your report.
Can an HR internship help with an MBA or HR Master’s application?
It gives you a programme design and real feedback data to describe in essays and interviews, with a verified record on earth5r.org that admissions teams can check. Admission decisions rest with each university.
Is the HR internship fellowship paid?
Yes. It is a paid, mentored internship fellowship. The fee pays for live mentoring, dialogues with global researchers, support in the field, references and lifelong hosting of your work. Fee details are available on request.
Can I do this HR internship online?
Yes. FIELDWORK runs online, and your field work takes place near where you live. Your mentor guides you through each step.
Who can apply?
School and university students from India and other countries. The fellowship prepares you for university, postgraduate study and work.
What do I get at the end?
A certificate, a letter of recommendation, a project report and a verified profile on earth5r.org, where universities and employers can check your work.
Related internship fellowships
Apply for the HR internship fellowship
Work on a live Earth5R project in Human Resources with a mentor, take part in research conversations with global researchers, and build a verified record of your work. Fee details available on request.
