UCSD - University of California - San Diego

02/26/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/26/2026 10:05

Do You Need An Internship in College? Maybe Not

Published Date

February 26, 2026

Article Content

Now that you've gotten into UC San Diego, settled into classes and made new friends, the next big task feels like the need to find an internship. Or is it? On campus student employment can play an integral role in helping students gain experiential skills.

The Student Employment Office at UC San Diego helps guide students who want to find jobs on campus for financial well-being, work experience or career exploration. These part-time positions allow students to learn invaluable skills and techniques that apply to their future careers, gaining "experience on purpose" as the office puts it.

"Recent statistics on internship participation indicate that 8.2 million college students across the U.S. want to do an internship and less than half were actually able to do an internship," says Tod Oliviere, director of student employment and career development. Because many internships are unpaid, students without the financial means to participate are often left out of these experiences as well, and demand for experiential learning continues to outpace access.

But there is a solution. "Student employment programs can serve as a critical pathway for students to gain meaningful, paid, work-based learning experiences that support career readiness and prepare students for an ever-changing world of work," Oliviere explains.

And that's where the Student Employment Office steps in.

A key component of student employment at UC San Diego is its integration with the Co-Curricular Record, an official, verified record of learning beyond the classroom. This integration allows student employees to document and validate the career-ready skills they develop on the job, creating a professional record that can be shared with employers and graduate programs as part of a broader career portfolio.

In addition, mentorship from supervisors serves as an invaluable part of the program and a fundamental aspect of what it means to work as a student employee. To this end, the Student Employment Office provides supervisors with tools and resources to foster a student-centered learning environment that builds transferable skills, promotes career readiness, and supports workplace success.

With more than 6,000 paid positions on campus and 210 departments that hire students, there are many opportunities for students to find a position on campus, regardless of their major or career trajectory.

Meet four UC San Diego students who did just that.

Rachel Handa

Rachel Handa plans to work in community development and organizational policy. And she found student employment that furthered those career aspirations in an unlikely place: as a research assistant for UC San Diego Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute.

At the institute, Handa - who is a third-year sociology major with minors in ethnic and urban studies - works on outreach and awareness about student food resources. From CalFresh to the Triton Food Pantry, Handa partners with student resource centers to increase their ability to give out information about these resources.

"In a social work aspect, the position helps me understand how to map out the needs of communities I'm working with," Handa says. "I'm able to provide different frameworks, experiences and skills to effectively communicate in and deliver on certain initiatives."

In contacting student leaders, taking weekly meetings to strategize interventions and posting creative content on social media, Handa hopes to facilitate long-term collaborations to advocate for further changes when it comes to ensuring food security for all.

"A lot of students are excluding themselves from the definitions of food insecurity when they don't have to," Handa says. "My message would be to take up space and use what's available to you."

As a research assistant, Handa also gathered qualitative data on the opinions of student leaders working in food security. She interviewed student leaders, facilitated focus groups and published her team's report at the conclusion of the study in December 2025.

"Getting to be a part of this entire experience has given me so many professional skills and even soft skills that will definitely help my chances of finding a good career," Handa says.

Rachel Handa with a co-worker presenting awareness and outreach about student food resources to student leaders. (Photo Courtesy of Rachel Handa)

Italia Clark

Third-year dance major Italia 'Italy' Clark's experiences showcase how combining work and passion can be a career-defining venture. As a student assistant for the Office of the Registrar, Clark provides transcripts, updates academic records and performs other vital administrative work, which at face value might seem to be far removed from dance.

Clark has found fulfillment in helping fellow students in such an important facet of their college experience.

At the registrar's office, "We are there to help students navigate the school and make significant financial and enrollment decisions," Clark says. "[But] we also go deeper, such as assisting [students] with dropping a class, re-enrolling, taking a gap year or going to school part-time."

Clark, who has danced for 18 years, has set her sights on helping other potential dance majors through her position on campus. As part of her role at work and with the support of her supervisor, Clark is currently planning a movement event where student dancers can connect with other artists to hone their craft and gain real-world experience. Clark wants to open the path for more artists to follow their passions.

"I was able to make some pretty solid connections and now I'm able to provide these opportunities for dancers because it's a way to give back," she says.

Clark plans to pursue a doctorate in dance and work as a choreographer and professor. Because of her experience working in the Office of the Registrar, "If I wanted to work in an office, work as a receptionist or as an event planner, I could," she says. "It has given me the opportunity so I can still chase my dream with a solid income."

Grace Guthart

Grace Guthart's student employment job is actually her dream job. She works as the only undergraduate urchin mariculture assistant at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, where she is responsible for the husbandry, that is animal care, of sea urchins within their system. Checking larvae, feeding them, cleaning tanks and observing for diseases and deaths, Guthart ensures the cleanliness and health of these important organisms.

A fourth-year marine biology student, Guthart aims to go into some form of husbandry, at a zoo, other labs or aquariums.

Guthart is grateful for the experience of being able to work directly with and be responsible for so many living organisms.

"I like working with animals," Guthart continues. "Anytime I question if I'm in the right major, I look at a tank and get excited because I get to see the creatures living in there."

She landed the job due to a Scripps Institution seminar. With her teaching assistant presenting the opportunity to become an 'urchin mom' over the summer, Guthart applied for the position. Taking that leap helped Guthart gain confidence in her ability to do what she loves.

"I've gained so much experience and have become more comfortable and confident," she says. "I've realized I enjoy doing this, and I have the skill set to continue doing this."

Oishani Bandopadhyay

International graduate student Oishani Bandopadhyay, from India, has an undergraduate degree from UC San Diego with a double major in Cognitive Science Machine Learning Specialization and Linguistics. She is now pursuing a Master of Science in Computational Social Science. While an undergraduate, Bandopadhyay worked as a writing consultant at the UC San Diego Writing Hub, where she met one-on-one with students to talk about their writing.

"I [would] ask them larger-scale questions such as: What are you trying to talk about? What does your prompt want you to talk about? How can you restructure this? A lot of it is just asking good questions and making people think critically about their writing to improve their essay," says Bandopadhyay. "I feel like a big part of my job wasn't even actually working with the writing, but rather getting them to be more comfortable or happy with writing."

Bandopadhyay eventually became the lead writing consultant, where she worked with supervisors, provided mentorship and represented the Writing Hub at campus events.

For Bandopadhyay, the job helped her develop interpersonal skills such as understanding how people can communicate better.

"That's generally a super useful skill, especially for research and technical writing," she says. "It's getting the hang of reading a lot of different people's writing and knowing what works and what doesn't."

"Working at the Writing Hub was a really fun experience. With the research I do as part of my graduate program, the writing stays alive," she says.

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And I'm another success story. When I first scrolled through Handshake, the primary career development platform used by student employment, to look for a job of my own, I never imagined I would see my name published on the UC San Diego Todaywebsite. But, what began as a casual idea of working as a student employee turned into an opportunity of a lifetime and before I knew it, I'd written my first article on the UC Diabetes Prevention Program. Since then, I've worked on many projects as a student writer and communications assistant for University Communications. Being able to publish work as a freshman and now a sophomore has impacted my life, giving me valuable work experience.

And, it's great to know I'm not alone in seeing the benefit of working on campus.

UCSD - University of California - San Diego published this content on February 26, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 26, 2026 at 16:05 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]