Employ FST Students

Internships

Educating excellent food scientists is best accomplished in a partnership between academia and private industry. We teach them the science for 9 months each year, and industry teaches them the application for 3 months each year.

Together we can develop future leaders for our food and beverage industries along with knowledgeable inspectors and regulators, and academics with a practical understanding of the food industry.

Most importantly, our students win because they get a head start on a successful career.
 

How do you find an OSU food science student intern?
  1. Sign up for the FST Career Fair (February of each year), or
     
  2. Send a position description and a job announcement to Deborah Gould, Deborah.gould@oregonstate.edu, who will forward to our undergraduate and graduate students, and if appropriate - to our alumni.
     
What types of internships or summer jobs do our students normally get?

Official summer internship for credits:
This involves an official contract between employer, student, and FST department. We try to keep the paperwork at an absolute minimum to avoid inconveniencing the employer.

Our Internship Agreement lists our expectations for the student's internship experience.

(Few students use this option because they must pay for the credits to register for the internship.)

Summer job in food and beverage industry:
Although this does not involve official university credits, we still tend to call it a summer internship.

We look at this as an equally valuable learning experience – see Letter to Internship Supervisor for more details.


There are typically three types of summer employment:

  1. Project based summer job. A student is hired to focus on a particular task or solve a specific challenge such as a quality problem that nobody else seems to have the time to investigate.

    This is the gold standard for students as it provides a superb learning experience and is appropriate for a student the summer prior to graduating or for a graduate student.
     
  2. Seasonal supervisory type position. Typically works in QA or operations during the fruit and vegetable processing season.
     
  3. Line worker, sanitation worker, etc, or replacement for employees during their vacations. While not as attractive to the student, the learning opportunity is important.

    We all recognize the value of a future leader, who has experienced what it means to work night shift and/or can communicate with diverse groups of people. This may be an excellent opportunity for a younger student.
     
Should you pay your student intern?

Yes, absolutely – even for credited internships. A four year degree cost around $100,000 for tuition, fees, books and living expenses. Students need paying jobs in the summer to minimize their student debt.

Corvallis lodging typically requires a 1 year lease which means students may end up paying 2 lodging expenses during a summer internship.

Unless they are well paid, students may be forced to stay in Corvallis and take a local food service job and we all lose. For the same reason, it’s often much appreciated if you can identify free or cheaper lodging opportunities close to your business.  

It is our goal that all students have at least one summer internship. Two or three would be even better. This will only be possible with your help.

I sincerely thank you for partnering with OSU FST and offering summer internships/jobs to our students.

 

How to Share a Job/Post an Internship

Please submit a position description to Deborah.Gould@oregonstate.edu. Indicate your preference regarding the distribution of your posting to any or all of the following groups:

  • Current Undergraduate Students
  • Current Graduate Students
  • FST Alumni

We will also post the position to our jobs board, which all FST students can access at their convenience.

 

FST Career Fair

Food Science and Technology programs at Oregon State University produce highly skilled students in Food Science, Fermentation Science, and Enology.

The Food Science and Technology department hosts an annual FST Career Fair. The FST Career Fair provides an excellent opportunity for you to recruit FST students for internships and full-time positions.

OSU students from FST and other majors eagerly anticipate this opportunity to meet with professionals in the food industry.

If you would like to be added to our employer contact list for the next fair, please contact: Deborah.Gould@oregonstate.edu