Eager to get a headstart on your career? Looking for ways to explore different paths before graduation? Internships and short-term employment positions are terrific ways to gain practical work experience and build skills for post-graduation employment.

Why should you try an internship?

Internships provide an opportunity to explore possible career paths and build a network with future colleagues. The School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the Environmental Science program have partnerships with local and regional groups to help connect our majors to direct, hands-on experiences in their interest areas! 

We strive to connect students with opportunities in local government, academic and industry. Recent positions we have advertised to our students include positions at National Weather Service, Department of Energy, Department of Natural Resources – Ambient Monitoring Meteorology unit, GT CEISMC Summer Fellowships for Teachers program, the New York Climate Exchange, Allen Institute for AI, U.S. Geological Survey, NASA Europa ICONS, and Fox Environmental LLC.

Georgia Tech’s Cooperative Education Program is a five-year academic program in which students alternate semesters as a full-time student with semesters of full-time work.  In addition to providing experiences outside of academia, the Co-op program can provide the student with full-time research work within a Georgia Tech faculty member’s lab if the faculty member is agreeable. To explore Co-op partnerships, check out the webpage and schedule an appointment with the College of Sciences Career Educator, James Stringfellow.

How do you find, apply, and accept an internship?

You should begin searching for internship opportunities as early as six months prior to the semester of interest, although there are often late-breaking positions that arise. Advertisements for interns can appear on the industry group’s website, government listing (usajobs.gov), GT portals such as CareerBuzz and https://cosinfo.gatech.edu/, and our weekly opportunities email. Applications typically include a cover letter, resume, and possibly a written essay or transcript. For questions and advice during the application process, you can seek out your advisor, Dr. Green, or the Career Center. 

Upon accepting your internship position, you should register your internship with the Career Center. This process will add the internship to your transcript, allow for continued enrollment status, pause on your housing contract, and ongoing support from the Career Center during your internship. More details on registration are here.  

To share internship opportunities with our undergraduates, email Dr. Linda Green, linda.green@gatech.edu. Additional campus resources at https://cosinfo.gatech.edu/ and https://career.gatech.edu/apply-for-co-ops-and-internships/.