Experiential Opportunities

Experiential opportunities are hands-on learning experiences in real-life settings. For any career goal, whether you’re actively searching for a job or still narrowing down your interests, getting real-world experience is essential. You’ll learn how your skills work in action as you refine your knowledge about possible career paths.

Sharing the experiences you’ve completed on your application materials and in your interviews is an effective way to share your story as a candidate for internships, jobs, graduate school, professional school, or other goals. Use the links below for more details on experiential opportunities available for Rutgers students!

If you’re looking to view and apply for jobs and internships, click here!

Volunteering

Volunteer experience allows you to learn about an organization, much like a job shadow or field experience, while also making a difference in your community. There are some opportunities for civic engagement that are paid, but for the most part, these are unpaid opportunities that help you develop community-based knowledge, values, and skills. Students often wonder if they should list volunteer experiences on their resume, and the answer is almost always yes! Volunteer experience on your resume shows employers that you take initiative and care about your community—valuable attributes in any candidate!

Industry/Field Experiences

Many academic programs require some type of industry or field experience as part of a course or other graduation prerequisite. These hands-on experiences and the connections you make in fieldwork and job shadowing are fantastic ways to see a day in the life of a career or organization. If you are looking for short-term or virtual option, consider exploring a micro-internship! Even if the experience was short-term or required as part of a course, it’s important to still list it on your resume and talk about it in interviews.

If you’d like more information on internships or paid opportunities, click here!

Academic Experiences

There are so many opportunities to build your career skills through opportunities available at Rutgers. Here are a few examples of academic experiences that you can add to your resume to showcase your career readiness.

  1. Courses may count as experiential if they involve hands-on learning. Check with your academic advisor to see what options are available within your major!
  2. Study abroad is an opportunity to live and take classes in a foreign country, immerse in the culture, learn a language, and gain global perspective. What a great way to show an employer your ability to adapt to new settings and develop your cultural competency!
  3. Leadership programs provide skill-building activities that promote teamwork and networking opportunities. On-campus programs allow you to meet other students and university staff as you put career-readiness skills into action, while off-campus programs build your network with professional organizations and can provide a “sneak peek” into an organization.
  4. Research is often conducted through an academic department and can be paid or unpaid. Many students say that these experiences allowed them to get valuable advice from faculty while giving them practical experience in collaborating with a team to work towards a common goal.

Forage Experiences

Showcase your skills.

Find your career fit.

Forage offers bite-sized 5-6 hour virtual work experience programs that give you a genuine career advantage with Fortune 500 companies. These opportunities are completely free, with no prior experience or application needed to get started.

They're a great way to try out different fields and see what you like before applying for internships or jobs!

Fellowships

A fellowship is a way for students, typically graduate or doctoral students, to get funding to support their education and training. They are available for a range of academic areas and organizations, and often involve an application process in order for students to be selected based on certain criteria. See below for fellowships that you can apply for today!

Success Stories & Testimonials

Students like you are participating in all kinds of experiences, making the most of their time in college and preparing for whatever comes next! Read their stories to get the inside scoop on what they did and learned, then get inspired to find your next opportunity!

Career Resources


“Students from all majors can execute professional assignments to build and demonstrate skills while exploring a variety of career paths.”

Rutgers Scarlet Service Internship (RSSI) Program provides select students from Rutgers-Camden, Newark, and New Brunswick with an opportunity to earn …

Showcase your skills. Find your career fit.
At Forage, our virtual work experience programs give students the opportunity to learn …

Handshake helps students find the experiences they need to get career ready. From events like career fairs and workshops, to …


Community Builders

Our innovative program offers enhanced visibility for recruiters through direct engagement with our students and/or contributions. Levels of sponsorship are defined by a total touch point/dollar value. For more information about the Community Builders Sponsorship Program, please contact careers@newark.rutgers.edu.