Internships and career opportunities
Full-time career opportunities
The variety of industries interested in our department's students are very broad. It includes numerous business sectors including design, business, marketing, engineering, and material-based manufacturing industries. Numerous career fairs throughout each school year offer our students the opportunity to network with companies who are looking for interns and employees.
We help our students to find jobs through close collaboration with the College of Natural Resources and Environment and other colleges, such as Pamplin College of Business and the College of Engineering, which are recognized as hosting some of best career fairs in the country by evaluations from recruiters who attend.
Many of our department students receive job offers prior to graduation - in fact, our Packaging Systems and Design major boasts a 90% employment rate within six months of graduation! This percentage increases when students participate in career fairs and internships.
Check out the links below for more information regarding VT's regular job fairs and additional websites that are used by industry members to hire our department graduates.
Internships and Co-ops
summer interns
An internship or co-op isn't just a line on your resume — it's where classroom knowledge transforms into career momentum.
While our programs don't require students participate in internships/co-ops, we strongly encourage every student to get out there and gain hands-on industry experience before graduation. And our students listen!
For the past several years, the majority have landed summer internships or semester-long co-ops during their junior and senior years. The payoff? Many walk across the graduation stage with a job offer already in hand — from the same companies where they proved themselves as interns.
Your degree opens the door. Experience is what gets you hired.