• There are numerous ways to get career-related experience during college.
• Most students had more than one type of experience during college. See right sidebar.
• Even so, over a quarter of VT graduates say they wished they'd gotten more experience!
• Whether you plan to work indoors or out, at a desk or not, with coworkers and clients or mostly alone, get experience!
• Freshman year is not too early to start!
• The kinds of opportunities available vary by career field.
• Descriptions below, with links to more information.

Externships

• These are short-term (a few hours to a few days in duration) shadowing experiences. You have a pre-arranged visit to a work environment to watch and learn from people in the career field or type of work environment that interests you. Individuals and organizations who host externs are contributing their valuable time to give you a free learning experience; you don't get paid. Externships are mostly for the purpose of learning more about a career field or work environment, but if you make a very good impression on the people you meet, it could open the door to another experience (internship, co-op, summer job, etc.) later.
• Career Services offers an Externship Program. You can also arrange your own externship, during various times of the year, by contacting professionals in the field that interests you.

Internships

• Internships are usually one-term experiences and are often in the summer, though not always. Internships can be paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time, and are sometimes for academic credit; these factors vary by career field and employer. Internship eligibility varies by employer; some offer internships to students who are freshmen; others require a higher academic level. Note that academic credit can only be granted by an academic department, and involves paying tuition.
• Learn more about internships.

Cooperative Education, a.k.a. co-op

• Co-ops are typically full-time, multi-term work agreements with one organization. For example you might work for your employer the summer after your sophomore year, and the following spring and fall semesters. You might change departments or projects within your organization. Note that some employers use the term co-op to refer to other kinds of work arrangements. Read and listen carefully for these details as you search for co-op positions. At Virginia Tech, over 90% of the students in the co-op program are engineering majors and 5% are business majors. Students in other majors do occasionally co-op, but most get their experience in other ways.
• Learn more about the Undergraduate Co-op Program at Virginia Tech.

Volunteering

• This is sometimes students' first way to get a foot in the door of an organization or career field. Volunteer work can be something you do as an individual, or something you do because a club or organization to which you belong takes on a volunteer project. Volunteering can develop skills and experience that you can list on your resume and thus can be a stepping stone to help you get other kinds of experience. Volunteering shows initiative; always a good thing.

Field study

• These are typically done through your academic department, for academic credit, and are sometimes required for certain majors. Consult your academic department to see if field studies are offered or required.

Undergraduate research

• This is usually a one-on-one arrangement between you and a faculty member, usually in your academic department, and typically is for academic credit. However, some organizations, such as research centers, also offer these programs, and students apply just as you might apply for an internship. Professors may advertise undergraduate research opportunities, but don't wait for this to happen. If you're interested, approach professors whose research topics interest you. Undergraduate research is strongly recommended for students who are thinking about applying to graduate school.
• Formalized undergraduate research opportunities are growing within the university. As we learn of additional programs and opportunties, we'll list and link them here. Others we should list? Please send title and web address with complete information (no PDFs or other attachments, please) to copeland@vt.edu.
  • Undergraduate research in various offices, colleges and departments at Virginia Tech
  • Office of the Vice President for Research: Undergraduate research opportunities
  • Read about individual students' undergraduate research projeccts at Virginia Tech
  • College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences Undergraduate Research Institute
  • Multicultural Academic Opportunities Program (MAOP) Undergraduate summer research
  • Student Engineers Council Undergraduate Research and Design Opportunity Fair
  • Center for Academic Enrichment and Excellence Diversity Grants for Undergraduate Research
  • Biomedical engineering and bioinformatics summer undergraduate student research
  • Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Power Electronics
  • Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Research
  • Virginia Water Resources Research Center undergraduate research programs
  • Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute Research Experience for Undergraduates

Part-time and summer jobs

• Part-time jobs and summer jobs can be important ways to get experience; a job does not have to be labelled as an internship or a co-op to be valuable. What's important are the job's relevance to your career field or industry, the skills you develop, and the level of responsibility you earn.

Leadership and involvement in student and community organizations

• Leadership in student and community organizations is viewed very favorably by employers, and is sometimes considered an essential qualification for certain types of work and career paths. You don't have to be president to be a leader. You could be the volunteer recruiter, the fundraising chair, or an event planner. The important things are what you accomplish and the skills you use and develop.