Messiah's career preparation programs
We want you to go into the real world feeling truly ready, which is why our Career and Professional Development Center offers numerous career preparation programs. Through participation in these programs, you'll network, meet mentors and perfect your skills so you're ready to go the moment you graduate.
Into the City Career Immersion Program
An intensive career exploration and immersion program, Into the City leverages the expertise of Messiah alumni, parents and friends to expose students to life and work in a major metropolitan context.
Rezumania is a themed day focused on reviewing student resumes to better prepare them for entry into the workforce.
"Pizza with Professionals" is an information session where students learn more about careers and organizations in specific industries and pizza is served, of course!
Coordinated in partnership with the Office of Academic Advising, this luncheon features an alumni panel that addresses students who are considering graduate school.
Learning by doing
Learning in the classroom is important but actually applying that knowledge in a hands-on way can make all the difference. At Messiah University, the Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) allows Messiah to take this hands-on learning to a new level by giving students the opportunity to apply what they have learned to various real world contexts--such as an internship/practica, service learning, off-campus program, holding a student leadership position, or participating in undergraduate research.
Internships
An internship during your undergraduate years helps you further clarify your vocational decisions, build career contacts and experience, increase the likelihood of getting into graduate school and expand your confidence in your chosen field.
The Internship Program in Messiah's Career and Professional Development Center is nationally recognized for its excellence and cutting edge training for today's workforce. In fact, hundreds of colleges, universities and businesses use Messiah's materials or model their internship program after ours.
Through internships and other experiences, Messiah students are widely-known to be prepared for their careers upon graduation. This is is why more than 400 employers and some of the nation's best graduate schools eagerly welcome Messiah graduates into their organizations.
To find out more about internship opportunities at Messiah University, visit our career and internship center.
Popular internships for Messiah University students
- andCulture
- Bravo Group
- Central PA Youth Ballet
- Duck Donuts
- Fulton Financial
- Gannett Fleming
- Harley-Davidson
- Harrisburg City Islanders
- Harrisburg Magazine
- HOPE International
- IBM
- LifeGuide Financial Advisors
- Nashville Predators
- National Association of Social Workers
- Office of Public Defender
- PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
- PA House of Representatives
- Pavone
- Philhaven Behavioral Health Services
- Phoenix Contact
- Purdue University
- Smithsonian - National Air & Space Museum
- Soccer Shots
- Stanley Black & Decker
- Susquehanna Art Museum
- Swatara Township Police Department
- U.S. Marshal
- U.S. Navy
- UTZ Quality Foods
- Walt Disney World
- Whitaker Center
- WGAL TV
- WHTM/abc27
- Winding Hill Veterinary Clinic
- WITF
Service learning
Messiah is an academic community profoundly committed to worshipping God. And as we stand before God and hear His voice, we feel strongly called to care for others. As a Messiah student, you participate in a truly remarkable network of service connections that reach around the world and that respond to many different human difficulties: hunger, illiteracy, illness, loneliness, disability, delinquency, exploitation and abuse.
Through participation in outreach teams, service "plunge days," ministry groups and community agencies, you start to realize that not only do you give back to others, but others give back to you. The blessing travels in both directions.
Each year, Messiah students collectively volunteer thousands of hours to community service—locally, nationally and globally. The Agape Center for Local and Global Engagement provides opportunities for you in and out of the classroom and offers service-learning resources to all our faculty.
To find out more information about service learning at Messiah University visit the Agape Center.
Off-campus programs
What may look like a quiet, suburban campus in central Pennsylvania is really six continents and 24 time zones. At Messiah, your college experience expands beyond our Mechanicsburg campus and reaches around the globe. You can choose to study or serve in countries around the world, strengthening the groundwork you've been laying at Messiah all along: how to hear differing perspectives and to weave new insights into a vision that is your own.
Spend three weeks in Zambia studying health care in the developing world. Spend spring break serving with our sister community in Bolivia. Spend a semester in Italy honing your artistic skills. Go to the Middle East and discover a passion for tutoring children. Whether it's Germany, Australia, India or Costa Rica, you see yourself through the eyes of others and understand yourself in new ways.
For more information on off-campus programs click the link below.
Leadership
Messiah's campus is an active, busy place. Throughout your time here, you will find many opportunities to "belong" and meet people who share your interests and hobbies, or who challenge you to stretch yourself and try new things.
One of the ways you might stretch yourself during your time at Messiah is by holding an on-campus leadership position to strengthen the Messiah community, bring new resources or programs to campus or evoke change. There are nearly 160 leadership positions at Messiah that are eligible for meeting a student's experiential learning requirement. These positions are available through offices such as Residence Life, Campus Ministries, Student Involvement and Leadership Programs, Office of Alumni and Parent Relations, The Collaboratory, Agape Center, The Pulse (Messiah’s student-run media hub), and Sustainability Office.
Undergraduate research
There's an old idea that you get a college education, and then you go out into the world to use it. At Messiah, getting a college education includes using it in the world right now.
Messiah University offers a wide range of exciting and meaningful research opportunities across all academic programs. Our low faculty-to-student ratio makes Messiah an ideal place for you to collaborate with classmates; faculty; alumni; and regional, national and global organizations. Together you’ll work to identify and create solutions to real-world problems and to contribute significant research in your areas of scholarship and interest.
The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research is just one of the many ways Messiah helps you put something new you've learned into action. Through the Collaboratory, you can partner with international mission agencies, such as World Vision, to offer your growing expertise to underserved communities throughout the world.
See your career anew
Hear personal perspectives about how Messiah helps prepare students for meaningful careers.
Rodney Sauder, professor
Christian Valen, alumni
Lauren Steffy, student
