An internship is still one of the best ways to land a full-time job.
Practicum, field placement, internship—no matter what you call it, work-based learning is a critical part of any student’s career preparation. Not only do these experiences introduce students to their chosen careers and help confirm or rule out job choices, they are the surest path to a full-time job. “Employers are more likely to convert interns to new hires than any other kind of positions,” says Saskia Campbell, executive director of University Career Services (UCS) at George Mason University. “That’s their recruitment strategy. That’s their pipeline.” And Campbell says George Mason students are in demand.
Beyond George Mason's job search platform, Handshake, students find internships by leveraging their personal connections and relationships with faculty who have close ties to federal agencies, government contractors, and nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C., area.
George Mason University Student Internships
- Digital marketing internship develops creativity, data analysis, and empathy for one Costello seniorAugust 26, 2026Jack Sorenson, a marketing major in the Costello College of Business, is one of the faces behind AARP's digital newsletters.
- August 21, 2026Siddartha Shakya spent his summer interning with the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and now he’s even more confident in the importance of balancing humans and machines.
- August 19, 2026When student Dominic Jones met the Bognet Construction team at one of George Mason's career fairs, he saw an opportunity to broaden his horizons.
- August 17, 2026George Mason hockey defenseman Zaakir Khan traded the ice for rugby, interning with Major League Rugby's Old Glory DC on their playoff run.
- August 13, 2026Gabriella Lemus, a sophomore accounting major, came into the Costello College of Business with a head start. Now she's tackling her first summer internship.
- August 4, 2026When Avery Cotham, MS Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’26, enrolled at George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, she was ready for a new challenge. For 15 years, Cotham worked as a vocalist and choral director in Colorado before the COVID-19 pandemic prompted her to rethink her career and search for a new way to serve her community.
- July 23, 2026When Hannah Dabney, BA Environmental and Sustainability Studies ’23, arrived at George Mason University, has just returned from Samoa where she served as a Peace Corps Ridge to Reef Resilience Promoter Volunteer, helping communities balance environmental protection with local development needs. The path between those two points wasn't linear, and Dabney couldn’t be happier about that.
- July 15, 2026Like many George Mason University students, business major Camryn Weldon is spending her summer doing an internship. Unlike many other students, Weldon is also a Division I athlete and is balancing her work at government contractor Leidos with the demands of collegiate volleyball. The George Mason setter is spending her summer preparing for the upcoming season while gaining valuable experience in business development.
- June 2, 2026Aayush Yadav co-authored a paper that received a Distinguished Paper Award from the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy, one of the industry’s premier conferences in the security field.
- May 15, 2026Senior information technology major Crystal Forson likes to joke that her parents have been in school with her the whole time—"just without the studying.” Their support, she said, has been constant, from eighth grade when she joined the George Mason University’s Early Identification Program (EIP), all the way through graduation this May.
- May 12, 2026In May 2026, Duong Thuy Nguyen is graduating with a 4.0 GPA, an Academic Excellence Award from her department, and a Capstone team leadership under her belt. In the fall, she’ll be back as a graduate student in George Mason’s accelerated bachelor’s-to-master’s program.
- May 12, 2026When George Mason University senior Avery Butler was 16, his family traveled to Cambodia to visit the Killing Fields, the massacre sites associated with the country’s brutal Khmer Rouge era. The experience would change Butler’s perspective on life and inspire him to pursue a professional career in peacebuilding.
Handshake is Mason's job search site, where you can find on-campus, part-time, work-study, internships, and full-time jobs related to your major, interests, and skills. Log in with your Mason credentials and get started by completing your profile.
“Employers are more likely to convert interns to new hires than any other kind of positions.”
~ Saskia Campbell, executive director, George Mason University Career Services