Oregon State University Internships: Launching Pad for Career Success
Oregon State University (OSU) offers a multitude of internship opportunities designed to provide students with meaningful, practical, and valuable learning experiences. These internships help students become more confident and competitive for jobs, graduate school, and other post-graduation goals. Internships are any temporary, paid or unpaid, student training experiences at a company or organization in your field that help you gain skills and qualifications for your career.
The Value of Internships
Internships offer students the unique opportunity to apply skills and knowledge from the classroom to gain meaningful, practical and valuable learning experience and help students become more confident and competitive for jobs, graduate school, and other post-graduation goals. Internships help students clarify their career interests and goals, provide them with occupation-specific skills, and expand their professional network. Internships allow students to apply knowledge acquired in the classroom to real life scenarios. Internships may provide the core experiential learning needed to successfully complete educational programs at all levels. An internship is an opportunity to gain exposure to and experience in a career field of interest. Depending on the position, internships may be paid or unpaid, full-time or part-time and may fulfill academic requirements.
Internships help students clarify their career interests and goals, provide them with occupation-specific skills, and expand their professional network. These experiences can help you figure out what jobs interest you, since they're hands-on and embedded in real life. In a recent survey, more than half of all college graduates said that an internship got them a job after graduation. Internships help you gain professional skills to land your first job.
Studies show that a post-college candidate is much more likely to land a full-time, rewarding career after completing an internship. Employers and hiring managers tend to look more favorably on job candidates with internship experiences. Internships not only help build your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, they also make you attractive to employers and help you stand out from other job applicants.
Internship Requirements at OSU
Many programs at Oregon State require you to complete an internship or research experience in order to graduate. Many degree programs at OSU-Cascades require internships as part of the curriculum for graduation. Reference your academic program webpage to find out if your major requires an internship! If you major does not require an internship for graduation, you may still do an internship and receive academic credit. Internships are a great opportunity for students to gain skills and qualifications for your career and are highly recommended, even if not for academic credits!
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The University approves the internship. An Affiliation Agreement between Oregon State University and the training site/internship host is the preferred method to document the relationship, establish the responsibilities of all parties, and define the education objectives of the experience. In many instances, students seek out their own internships without the university’s involvement, perhaps they find an internship opportunity on a physical or electronic bulletin board. Such postings are not considered to be an internship that has been arranged or approved by the University.
Each of OSU's majors and programs of study awards credit differently for internship and work experiences.
Internship Opportunities at OSU
OSU is a globally ranked research institution and land grant university whose faculty and students are working as a team to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Do you want to make an impact on these problems? The Office of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and the Arts (URSA) facilitates undergraduate involvement in scholarly projects mentored by faculty across Oregon State disciplines.
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program at CEOAS
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program offers students the unique opportunity to work on individual research projects, and participate in group field trips, seminars and science colloquia over a nine week period at CEOAS under the guidance of university scientists, who serve as mentors. CEOAS offers a broad range of undergraduate research opportunities and engineering applications in the physics, chemistry, geology, and biology of the Earth, oceans, and atmosphere. CEOAS research areas include ocean ecology, biogeochemistry, geomicrobiology, fisheries oceanography, physical oceanography, autonomous ocean observing, atmospheric science, climate modeling, marine geology, sedimentology, paleoclimatology, and geophysics. If you want to apply what you've learned in the classroom to real world problems, then a research experience in the earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences at CEOAS may be right for you. The earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences are applied sciences - we draw on knowledge from a variety of academic backgrounds to solve real-world problems. Students are paired with research mentors in their area of interest and gain experience in research design, data collection and analysis techniques, and interpretation and publication of results. Opportunities abound to gain field and lab experience within individual and related projects, including sea-going experience on a research vessel. Students selected for this program will work closely with research mentors in their chosen fields of interest, gaining hands-on experience in every stage of the scientific process, from data collection to analysis, interpretation, and communication of results. Beyond their research, students become part of a vibrant scientific community, connecting with peers and professionals across CEOAS, other OSU departments, and the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.
Students pursuing an undergraduate degree at a two- or four-year college who are not graduating seniors are eligible to apply. citizens or permanent residents. We welcome students with varied life experiences, including first-generation, non-traditional, transfer, and community college students-no prior research experience is required to thrive here. We are particularly interested in applications from students who have had limited opportunities to conduct research but would like to pursue a career in the earth, ocean, and atmospheric sciences. On your application, please list the faculty mentors and Potential Projects that interest you. See the list below. The application will ask you to provide the name, title and institution, and contact information for two professional references. Applicants are responsible for contacting their references and asking them to submit their recommendations.
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All OCE-funded REU Sites must give students a minimum of March 15th or LATER to accept their offers regardless of the application deadline. For more information specific to the CEOAS internships, please contact Kelsey Lane. Summer research internships in marine and estuarine science are also available at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center. Funding for this REU site is provided by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Ocean Sciences located in Alexandria, VA. (NSF OCE-2148655) The NSF contact for this program is Elizabeth Rom. NSF does not handle REU applications; please contact each REU site directly for application information. All students who are offered a position at this REU site have until March 15th or later to accept or reject the offer.
Robotics Program Summer Research Opportunities
The Robotics program at Oregon State University has offered summer research opportunities for ten years (with past support from the National Science Foundation under award 1359480, years 2014-2016, and award 1659746, years 2017-2019). Our students have pursued projects in a variety of areas of robotics that deal with the real world; from remote marine sensing, to building and controlling legged robots, to picking up and manipulating objects, to managing swarms of robots, and to how we can incorporate robots into our daily lives.
Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences (FWCS) Internships
Two internship courses are required to graduate with a degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Sciences (FWCS): a 25-hour Exploratory Internship with an accompanying 1-credit class of FW 310, and a 150-hour Intensive Internship with a 3-credit class of FW 410. Our students have completed their internship requirements through such a wide variety of professional experiences within the fisheries, wildlife, and conservation science fields. Whether paid or volunteer, full- or part-time, in-person or remote, or with position title "Intern" or otherwise, any professional experience that advances you towards your career goals, and meets the minimum hour requirements, may be approved to count towards the internship requirements. Our internship program is flexible and adaptive so that it can help launch all our students, with their diverse range of career interests and life circumstances, towards their unique career goals.
PLEASE NOTE that all internships must be approved in advance by the FWCS Internship Coordinator to count as a degree requirement. An exploratory internship involves completing a professional experience of at least 25 hours of learning time in a fish, wildlife, or conservation setting, while completing the associated 1-credit canvas course of FW310 Exploratory Internship. About half of FWCS students will complete their exploratory internship by attending a multi-day conference. Students can do so by contacting the Internship Coordinator for approval of their conference plan, registering with the conference organization (and paying any associated fees), registering for the FW 310 course, and then attending the conference and completing the canvas assignments. Our Department is deeply involved with The Wildlife Society and the American Fisheries Society. Attending a state chapter meeting of TWS or AFS offers incredible networking and career opportunities; we encourage students to search for your state or regional TWS Chapter or AFS Chapter and find details on their annual meeting and workshops. If you live in Oregon, we encourage you to join us and attend the Annual Meetings of the Oregon Chapter of The Wildlife Society or the Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, which occur in February each year! Other students will complete their exploratory internship by doing 25-hours of work or skills-training within the FWCS field, such as volunteering or job shadowing.
An intensive internship involves completing a 150+ hour professional experience with a fisheries, wildlife, or conservation organization that is relevant to your unique career interests, and completing the associated 3-credit canvas course of FW 410 Intensive Internship. While many students complete their intensive internship by participating in a full-time, seasonal position, many others complete part-time, longer-term, and even fully remote internships. Intern Abroad! Students can complete an international intensive internship with an OSU GO program such as an IE3 international internship or field-based study abroad program. OSU GO hosts dozens of FWCS-focused internships across the globe; check out their programs (eg. this blog on a FWCS student's internship with the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia) and financial support! Are you entering this degree with previous FWCS work experience? If in the two years before starting the FWCS degree, you completed a 150+ hour internship or job in the FWCS field, please review the form at the top of the page to see if your experience could fulfill the intensive internship requirement. Are you concerned about how you will fit in an intensive internship into your already busy schedule? Please know that every single student graduating from our degree program, including thousands of Ecampus students with life responsibilities like families and full-time jobs, has been able to complete the internship requirements. These students often find and complete intensive internships that are part time and longer-term, and even remote. Examples of these abound, including students who set up internships with local wildlife biologists for 5 hours per week over 6 months, or students who worked remotely with a FWCS faculty member to analyze data and write up research reports. Apply for internship/job positions. Enjoy your Internships and complete all assignments in the canvas course. the FWCS Internship & Travel Awards to support their intensive internship or travel to present their research at a conference. the E.R.
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Additional Opportunities
- IE3 Global Internships: OSU's Office of Global Opportunities has been offering dynamic, full-time international internships for more than 20 years. Partnering with over 130 businesses, organizations and agencies worldwide, interns build marketable, professional and cross-cultural skills while experiencing significant personal growth throughout the world. Get Experience. Get Paid. Contact the IE3 Global office for more information.
- Handshake: All Oregon State students have access to Handshake, a powerful job search tool for college students with thousands of internship, research and career opportunities. Not sure where to start looking for a job?
- Parker Dewey: Explore career paths and build your professional network by completing short-term work projects that employers post on the Parker Dewey platform.
- On-Campus Employment: On-campus employment is flexible and convenient for students’ busy schedules, usually doesn’t require transportation and is a great way to get experience. There are many types of on-campus employment, including internships, office jobs, customer service, lab and research positions, and assistantships.
- Direct Arrangements with Faculty: Many students also make arrangements directly with faculty to volunteer in labs or assist with research. If there is a professor whose work interests you, reach out to them to inquire about possible paid or unpaid opportunities coming up.
Tips for Finding and Securing Internships
We encourage students to get creative and be proactive in their internship search. Many students, especially those with schedule or location constraints, will find their internship not by just looking for advertised positions, but by reaching out to organizations and professionals and starting a conversation about setting up an internship or volunteer opportunity. Make a broad list of all potential employers in your area, which may include public lands at the city, county, state, or federal level, local non-profits such as watershed councils and wildlife rehabilitation centers, sustainability organizations, and environmental consulting companies. You can also research FWCS faculty who do research that interests you; perhaps they have graduate students who could use your help with remote data analysis or even field work. Remember, we want your internship to advance you towards your unique career goals, and so we encourage you to get creative, be proactive, and find opportunities that work well for your unique interests and situation! We encourage you to consider and apply for many, many potential options. Remember, if the opportunity meets our hour requirements, is generally within FWCS fields, and will advance you towards your career goals, it will likely be approved. Are you completing a second FWCS internship? You may be able to take FW 310/410 a second time and apply these additional credits to your Specialization. Have you completed your internships and are engaging in research with an OSU faculty member? You have the option to enroll in FW 401 Research Credit and apply these credits to your Specialization. Students should first review the FW 401 Research Syllabus, and then discuss with their faculty mentor the project expectations, workload and schedule. Still have questions after reading this and the FWCS Careers Page? Have questions about FWCS Curriculum? ~ Our students excel in the fisheries, wildlife, and conservation sciences fields, and often, their internships are a launching pad. We are so proud of what our students learn and accomplish on their internships!
Legal Considerations
To prevent misuse of temporary labor, U.S Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) outlines clear guidelines on an employer’s ability to use unpaid interns and trainees. It does not limit an employer’s ability to hire paid interns (as long as those interns make the minimum wage). The University provides the insurance for students in health professional clinical placements as required by Oregon Administrative Rule Chapter 409, division 30 (OAR 409-030), subject to Insurance and Internship Documentation criteria above. The Emerging Leaders Internship program matches college students and recent graduates of color with paid internships at top companies throughout the Portland metro area.
Opportunities for International Students
If you are an international student and want to work on or off-campus, contact the Office of International Services to ask about working permits and your eligibility. International students are typically able to do off-campus internships while earning their degrees. Any off-campus work requires additional authorization for international students. Once you have a job offer and authorization documents, you can apply for a social security number if you don't have one.
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