Hands-on internships bring education to life, often resulting in jobs for hardworking Saints.
Education is a vital part of building successful futures. But studying a specific career isn’t the same as actually getting your hands dirty, so to speak, and experiencing its daily duties firsthand. The Saint Martin’s University Center for Career and Calling operates an Internship Hub that helps students with everything from resumes to mock interviews, job searches to internship options. This helps build success even before they enter today’s competitive job market.
At Saint Martin’s, several degree paths require an internship, whether taken for credit or not. But no matter which major a student is pursuing, internships are recommended for all, and the Internship Hub is there to help every step of the way.
Internships give Saint Martin’s students real world experience
Studies show that college internships can double the odds of a job waiting for you after graduation. But finding opportunities while juggling schoolwork is tricky. The Saint Martin’s Center for Career and Calling offers an array of services at every stage of a student’s journey. They even offer a Professional Clothing Closet for free, interview-ready outfits.
The Internship Hub has two dedicated Internship Navigators, one for the College of Business, Engineering and Technology, and the other for the College of Arts, Sciences and Education and the School of Health and Allied Health.
Cecily Kiester, director of the University’s Center for Career and Calling, calls the internship process “a powerful addition to a student’s work experience that may just set them apart from a large pool of applicants.”
Olivia Rackham is the internship navigator and career coach for the Business, Engineering and Technology side. She appreciates that through the Hub, they can offer one-on-one appointments, both in-person or virtually. Rackham says the most common needs include the importance of cover letters in an application, mock interviews, and graduate school searches or preparation.
A student perspective on how the Center for Career and Calling helps with today’s daunting job search
Sirena Jove is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and minoring in computer science. She acknowledges that these are high-demand fields but also ones facing a high supply of recent and near-future graduates.
Jove admits that she didn’t have much luck applying for internships on her own, so in her junior year she “decided to be on top of things and use the Hub to see what I could do differently or fix what I was doing wrong.” Because of her studies, Rackham was her point of contact, and they quickly got to work.
With Rackham’s help, Jove says she set concrete goals and diligently worked through them. “Olivia gave me really good tips,” Jove recalls. “It was disappointing not to hear back from some of the internships I first applied for, but I kept applying. It was a lot of work and I was losing hope, but then heard back from Sierra Pacific Industries for an interview. I didn’t want to waste that opportunity, so I asked Olivia for a mock interview and eventually got the position. It was a very satisfying and exciting feeling. I know all of Olivia’s help got me to this point.”
Jove started with Sierra Pacific in June 2026 and has continued working there part-time through the school year. She says she’d definitely continue after graduation if they offer, and credits both Rackham and the Center for Career and Calling for her position. “I’m full of thanks and gratitude because I’m in a good place and now more confident in my abilities during my senior year,” says Jove.
Saint Martin’s alumni help provide internship opportunities to current and future students
Rackham says that alumni partnerships are tremendously vital to their work. Alumni in the Pacific Northwest who might be able to provide opportunities for hardworking Saints are invited to attend an upcoming Job and Internship Fair or reach out to careers@stmartin.edu. These jobs are posted via the school’s Handshake portal. The school also reaches out to local businesses and will even work with employers who might want to start offering internships for the first time.
The Internship Hub is also available to Saint Martin’s alumni looking for a boost. The Center for Career and Calling’s services are available to alumni for life. Soon-to-be grads can simply switch their Handshake account to a personal email address for continued access and older alums can reach out to the career center to be added to the system.
“Internships strengthen the goodwill between the academic institution and employers,” says Kiester. “It takes a lot of work for employers to provide internships, process applications and supervise intern learning and outcomes. These partnerships are important and sometimes create a direct pipeline of skilled employees after they graduate from Saint Martin’s.”
She also believes internships are a low-risk way to get a sneak peek into today’s job market or even find out which jobs are not for you. “Now is the time for students to learn about themselves and understand how they work best, what they need to succeed and where their strengths best serve them in the workforce,” believes Kiester. “Internships are a great trial run.”
The Center for Career and Calling and Internship Hub are located on the lower level of the O’Grady Library and open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, with after-hours appointments available as needed. Current students can reach out to their Internship Navigator with questions, schedule an in-person or Zoom appointment through Handshake, or simply stop by to chat.
Rooted in the Benedictine values of community, hospitality and lifelong learning, Saint Martin’s University is committed to helping students discover their strengths and prepare to contribute meaningfully to their professions and communities. Through the Center for Career and Calling’s Internship Hub, students can gain the experience, skills and confidence they need to take their next steps toward a successful career, putting their education into practice while exploring how their talents can serve others.
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