Career Success

Handshake Login
Student in library looking at computer

Jobs, Internships, and Research Opportunities

On-campus jobs | Internships & fellowships | Off-campus jobs and internships

Undergraduate research | Service learning & volunteering

Capstone, field study, practicum, & project-based learning | Study abroad

Build experience and gain skills

Jobs and internships can provide you with valuable experience and help you develop career readiness skills, such as problem-solving, teamwork, and communication, while providing you with a paycheck. 

Use Handshake to search for jobs and internships

Search for jobs and internships and apply right in Handshake. Find an on-campus job or internship for this quarter or a full-time job to start your career. Check out the Overview video to learn what you can do in Handshake.

On-campus jobs

Handshake is the sole platform to search for on-campus student jobs, including Work-study positions. 

Tips for using Handshake

  • In the Jobs tab, search for “UCSC” as a keyword or use the “On Campus Student Employment” job filter. 
  • If you are eligible for work-study jobs, you can search for these jobs by using the “Work-study” job filter.

Learn more about work-study jobs and the onboarding process on the On-Campus Student Employment page.

Internships & fellowships

Internships help you explore the world of work in a professional setting, clarify your career goals, develop a professional network, enhance your marketability, and gain relevant hands-on experience that builds your resume. Fellowships are similar, though they tend to focus more on research.

Opportunities

There is a wide variety of internship opportunities available on and off campus. 

  • Consider Career Success programs: the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program (CUIP) and the NextGen Grant Opportunities in Agroecology
  • UC Center Sacramento: The University of California’s premier teaching, research, and public service site located one block from the State Capitol Building in Sacramento, California. Operated by UC Davis, UCCS offers a distinctive academic internship program in public policy, combining academics, research, and public service.
  • UCDC Washington Program: Expand your professional skillset and knowledge by participating in the UCDC (quarter in Washington, D.C.) Program, offering unparalleled access to internships within various industries alongside rigorous coursework, in addition to the opportunity to network with professionals and make invaluable connections for future career success.
  • Explore Global Internships: Explore your career goals, expand your professional network and skills, and gain real work experience by participating in an internship for an organization internationally. Internships are customized according to your career interests and major.
  • Forage provides meaningful projects submitted by companies designed to help you build meaningful experience and gain exposure to a variety of employers.
  • Parker Dewey connects students to microinternships, short-term, paid project-based opportunities. 

If you have specific questions about internships, fellowships, or other experiential learning opportunities, please contact ucscel@ucsc.edu.

Internship opportunities by academic division

Off-campus jobs and internships

In addition to hosting all on-campus jobs, Handshake also hosts off-campus jobs and internships.

Other job boards
We recommend diversifying the job search sites you use.

If you have specific companies in mind, search for entry-level jobs or internships on their respective careers pages on their websites.

Undergraduate research

Undergraduate research is another great way to gain experience, especially if you are interested in graduate school. Consider the following resources to find research opportunities:

Service learning & volunteering

Service learning

Service learning provides students with an opportunity to integrate their academic coursework with community involvement. Students gain valuable practical skills while giving back to the community. Courses that carry the PR-S GE designation provide supervised learning experiences where students reflect on, communicate, and integrate principles and theories from the classroom in real-world settings. Select the PR-S option in the GENERAL EDUCATION filter of the Class Search to find courses. 

Global Service-Learning Opportunities: Browse study abroad opportunities that embed service learning into the experience.

Volunteering

Some students may want to build experience and seek out unpaid volunteer opportunities. The links below are a great starting point to identify potential volunteer opportunities.

  • Non-Profit Connection provides a database of paid and unpaid opportunities at non-profits in Santa Cruz county.
  • Idealist provides a listing of non-profits across the world, including volunteer and paid opportunities.
  • Visit the Student Volunteer Center to find additional opportunities to get involved and gain experience.

Capstone, field study, practicum, & project-based learning

There are many opportunities to pursue experiential learning in the classroom. Field study and practicum courses provide you the opportunity to gain experience in the field with built-in reflection and integration of learning with your coursework. Capstone courses typically allow you to synthesize your learnings in a culminating project, thesis, and/or essay. Project-based learning occurs when courses feature meaningful projects that help you build experience, often in collaborative settings with community members. We highly recommend reviewing your course plan to integrate one or more of these opportunities.

Capstone

Capstone courses typically take place in your final year at UCSC and serve as a way to synthesize your discipline-based learning into a single project, essay, or thesis. Most capstone courses are built into specific areas of study.

Field study & practicum

UCSC offers a variety of course-based field study opportunities as well as practicum courses. Many UC Santa Cruz students complement their major programs with field experience or internships, which also provide opportunities to become involved in public service activities in the local community and throughout the world. Most of the field programs are open to students in a range of majors, although some are restricted to students pursuing a designated area of study. 

Project-based learning

Courses may integrate projects into the curriculum to enhance your learning, application, and reflection on course materials. Often, these are collaborative projects, and many also interact with or serve the community. For example, a course might offer a free consulting project for a local non-profit organization.

Study abroad

Study abroad is a great way to build your skillsets and experience the world. Visit Global Learning to learn more about the variety of options to study or intern abroad.

  • UC Education Abroad Program (UCEAP): The University of California’s official study abroad program provider and a global leader in international education for over 50 years. All the benefits of home—UC credit, grades, and financial aid—travel with you. 
  • Faculty-led Global Seminars: UC Santa Cruz courses taught abroad/away during summer, with excursions and cultural activities enhanced by the location
  • Partner Programs: Earn UC credit as a UC Santa Cruz undergraduate student by studying at an institution abroad for one quarter, two quarters, or a full academic year.
  • Global Classrooms: Discover the transformative power of cross-cultural learning and gain invaluable experience collaborating with students around the world through the Global Classrooms. These unique UC Santa Cruz courses offer accessible and immersive experiences for students to expand their perspectives.
  • Other UC Study Abroad/Away Programs: Enroll in study abroad/away and virtual programs facilitated by other UC campuses. All UC programs are built around UC courses and are led by UC faculty.

Last modified: Dec 19, 2025