Although the fall semester began just a month ago, many students at the University have already begun applying for summer 2026 internships. In this era’s hypercompetitive job market, students and administrators alike emphasize the impact that internships can have on students’ future careers and stress the importance of applying to them early.
Nicole Hall, senior associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students, said that in her experience working with college students, internships can be used either to convert into a full-time position or to develop employable skills. Hall sees both uses as beneficial for students.
“There are companies … that intend to hire a number of interns, see how they perform and then, assuming it is a good fit, look to extend the offer [of full-time employment],” Hall said. “But an internship, isolated by itself … is still very beneficial because [students] are able to take that experience, as they are looking for a full-time job later, they can talk about the rich experience they had.”
While some see the immediate start to the internship search process as an opportunity for growth, others see it as a stress overload. On top of classes and extracurriculars, the process can add a lot to students’ plates in the fall semester.
Second-year Commerce student Megan Lamberson emphasized the pressure surrounding internships the summer before students’ fourth years, because those positions can become full-time offers. Although Lamberson is only a second-year, the search for that internship is already weighing on her mind.
“There’s definitely a pressure for the summer before fourth year to have a big internship, just because a lot of those internships are the ones that turn into full-time offers,” Lamberson said.
Lamberson began her search for a summer 2025 internship last spring, where she learned that by that time of year, a lot of intern classes for companies are already filled. This led her to start her summer 2026 internship right when she stepped onto Grounds this semester. She spent this summer as a finance and accounting intern with Cii Service, an HVAC company based in Richmond.
According to second-year College student Jessica Wu, each year the search process becomes more time-sensitive and more stressful as the job market changes.
“I feel like every single year [the internship search] gets worse and worse with timelines and things like that,” Wu said. “Every year it gets more competitive, and even more pressurized … I feel that my parents’ generation was way more lax about [internships].”
Second-year Data Science student Raunak Hota described a similar feeling of stress from various sources — his peers, his family and his own ambition.
“People in my family are so highly qualified, they're so successful in their field[s] and I really do want to meet their expectations, not just for them but for myself as well,” Hota said. “I have really high ambitions for myself.”
To navigate the high-stress feeling of searching for internships, Hall emphasized the importance of students remaining organized throughout the process. She recommended tracking all applications, along with their important dates and deadlines in a spreadsheet.
In addition to keeping materials organized, Hall also highlighted the importance of networking and how it can assist during the internship search.
“I recognize it can feel daunting to reach out to strangers and to try to make connections,” Hall said. “I would encourage students to attend speaker events, career fairs, events hosted by clubs to use as ways to have conversations with people who are working in the industry.”
Christian Garcia, associate vice president of career and professional development, echoed this sentiment, saying that networking is becoming essential for navigating a complex job and internship market. Garcia also said that internships themselves are a great way for students to build their networks.
“That’s another beautiful thing about internships … students who are really savvy take the time to not just interact with their supervisor but take the time to meet other leaders or other people that work in that organization,” Garcia said.
Some students, like Hota, utilize these personal networks when searching for internships. Hota advises other students to ask as many questions as possible when speaking with people who hold a position they may want or work in a field that interests them.
Because internships are particularly valuable experiences to have before seeking full-time employment or applying to graduate school, students in more competitive fields may need to apply to a broader variety of positions, according to Garcia.
“The wider you cast your net in terms of job function or industry, the more results you’re probably going to get,” Garcia said.
The University Career Center offers a number of resources and tools that students can use to aid in their internship search, such as counseling services and advising appointments. The Career Center also organizes career fairs and speaker events in addition to facilitating visits from employers. Students can sign up for Career Center events on Handshake.
“[Career services] help[s] students anywhere from choosing a major and trying to figure out what they want to do, all the way to finding an internship [and] applying to law school or medical school,” Garcia said. “We have a career communities model where students can, depending on what their interests are, [be] assigned to a different community.”
Career communities are smaller groups of students, alumni, faculty and Career Center staff that are interested in specific industries or job functions, offering resources and programs. All career communities have a dedicated newsletter and a page on Handshake.
In addition to the Career Center’s resources, individual schools also have resources available to students for their internship searches. Lamberson said that as a Commerce student, she has access to the McIntire School of Commerce’s many career resources.
“There’s a lot of walk-in hours, they’ll go over your resume, they’ll have mock interviews with you,” Lamberson said. “There’s also a lot of events and opportunities … they’ll bring in companies and you can have networking events with them.”
Beyond McIntire, all of the schools within the University similarly provide career services to their students, such as the School of Engineering has a Center for Engineering Career Development which hosts career fairs and offers resume and cover letter reviews.
Over the years, internships have assumed a more significant role for students preparing to enter the workforce compared to 10 years ago, according to Garcia and Hall. Garcia attributes their rise in significance to them being closer to full-time jobs in terms of commitment and responsibility compared to in the past.
“Internships in the past were about certain students being placed into [them] because of their family connections and were seen as just getting coffee or running errands,” Garcia said. “That has really transformed into ‘this is actual work.’ You are learning great skills [and] you’re putting [them] to the test.”
In all, Hall sees internships as great opportunities for students to learn and grow, potentially propelling them into a career.
“As students are moving forward and trying to ultimately launch their careers, employers are looking to see what tangible skills they have,” Hall said. “[Internships] are one of the meaningful ways that students can build skills, where they can then later show that they know how to do something.”
Lamberson emphasized the importance of remembering that, no matter how valuable they may be, internships do not necessarily determine the fate of your career. Despite the occasional stress that surrounds the process, staying level-headed throughout will yield positive results.
“It’s not life or death … internships, at the end of the day, are a learning opportunity,” Lamberson said.
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