Last updated: September 2026
FirstEnergy (NYSE: FE) has not opened its Summer 2027 internships yet. As of early September 2026, the company’s Oracle careers board carried exactly two student requisitions out of 327 total openings, both for the current academic year, and a keyword search for "2027" returned zero results. That is the honest starting point, and the value of this page is telling you what the program is, what it pays, what it screens on, and exactly where to watch so you see postings the day they appear. The company behind the program is one of the largest investor-owned electric systems in the United States: headquartered in Akron, Ohio, serving more than 6 million customers across six states, operating more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines connecting the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, and managing a regulated generating fleet of more than 3,500 megawatts. FirstEnergy reported $15.1 billion in revenue and $1.02 billion in GAAP earnings for 2025, and has committed to a $36 billion capital plan for 2026–2030 after deploying $5.6 billion in system investments in 2025. Vault ranks FirstEnergy’s co-op/intern program #5 among Best Energy & Renewables Internships for 2026, placing 51 to 100 interns per year across spring, summer and fall sessions. For an engineering student, an internship here is not a desk exercise: it is a working power grid, device configuration in the field, and design-document review for real infrastructure updates.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | careers.firstenergycorp.com (filter Job Function = Student and Development). Also check the Yello campus events board for recruiting events |
| Application window (2027–28) | Summer 2027 postings have not opened as of September 2026. FirstEnergy publishes no recruiting calendar. Prior-cycle evidence suggests winter to early spring posting for a May start |
| Rolling? | Yes. FirstEnergy runs internships across spring, summer and fall sessions and reviews on a rolling basis within each |
| Eligibility | Currently enrolled student; the live HR internship requires a minimum 3.0 GPA and relevant major. Legal work authorization required (sponsorship status unaddressed) |
| Duration | 3 to 6 months (Vault); FirstEnergy’s preference is to retain interns for 1–2 years across their studies with 20 or 40 hours per week during term, 40 in summer |
| Compensation | Paid (confirmed). No employer-published rate. Indeed estimates ~$21.61/hr average from 7 postings; Engineering Intern ~$26.28/hr. Vault reports a program band of roughly $13.50–$26.00/hr |
| Return offers | No published conversion rate. FirstEnergy states the program lets it "develop and hire the next generation of our workforce" and describes the internship as "a pipeline for future full-time opportunities" |
| Locations | Akron, OH (HQ, primary); prior-cycle interns placed at sites across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland. FirstEnergy is overwhelmingly on-site (179 of 180 postings) |
The two things that matter right now: Summer 2027 postings have not appeared yet, and FirstEnergy publishes no recruiting calendar. Join the Talent Community and check both the Oracle careers site and the hidden Yello campus events board weekly starting this autumn.
Externships are short, remote professional experience programs where you finish a real project with a real company. The EIC Energy Transition Venture Capital Market Research Externship builds the energy-sector fluency FirstEnergy’s own application guide asks for when it tells you to "research the company." The Hydroficient IoT Cyber Defense Externship maps directly to the grid device configuration and industrial networking that a Vault intern described as their daily work. Explore all Externships.
What Is a FirstEnergy Internship?
A FirstEnergy internship is a paid, multi-session placement that puts students into real roles across a $15.1 billion regulated electric utility serving more than 6 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. Unlike a standard ten-week summer sprint, FirstEnergy’s model is built around longer engagement: the company runs internships in spring, summer and fall sessions, offers flexible scheduling at 20 or 40 hours per week during the academic year, and states its "preference is to retain the successful candidate for 1–2 years" across their studies. Vault places the program at #5 among Best Energy & Renewables Internships for 2026 and reports 51 to 100 interns annually, with work ranging from HR compliance and contract review at headquarters in Akron to field device preparation, configuration and design-document review across the grid. Interns are assigned coaches from their work groups, participate in development sessions, and the company describes its student programs as the mechanism to "develop and hire the next generation of our workforce." FirstEnergy operates through ten regulated utility companies, including Ohio Edison, Cleveland Electric Illuminating, Jersey Central Power & Light, Potomac Edison and others, but corporate internships sit with FirstEnergy Service Company, the shared-services entity at headquarters.
When Do FirstEnergy Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
FirstEnergy does not publish a recruiting calendar, and Summer 2027 internship postings have not appeared as of early September 2026. What the evidence shows is that the company posts intern requisitions on a rolling basis, runs three sessions per year (spring, summer and fall), and fills seats progressively. The most recent first-hand recruiting evidence is from January 2026, when a candidate reported reaching the phone-interview stage for a Process Control Engineering Intern role. Based on prior-cycle patterns, students targeting Summer 2027 should watch the board from roughly December 2026 through April 2027. FirstEnergy also runs a second, campus-specific platform through Yello that most applicants never find, and maintains a Talent Community that sends email alerts when new student roles appear. One current-cycle requisition carries a hard employer-set deadline: the Human Resources Professional Intern closes on 18 September 2026.
Summer 2027 internships have not opened. However, one current-cycle HR Professional Intern requisition is live with an employer-set close date of 18 September 2026. If you are an HR or business student, apply before that deadline. For everyone else, join the Talent Community and set alerts on both the Oracle careers site and the Yello campus events board.
Summer 2027 intern requisitions expected to appear on the Oracle board, based on a January 2026 phone-interview report for the Process Control Engineering Intern role. FirstEnergy reviews on a rolling basis, so apply in the first week postings appear.
Phone screens and on-site interviews. FirstEnergy publishes STAR-format behavioural interview guidance and says its goal is to "discover your strengths, interests and your approach to work on teams." A prior-cycle offer landed in mid-March for a May start.
Offers extended; background check and onsite physical exam follow acceptance. FirstEnergy is a drug-free workplace. The gap between offer and start can be as short as six weeks.
Internship runs. Sessions span 3 to 6 months depending on track. Full-time (40 hours) during summer, with the option to continue part-time during the academic year if retained.
How to read this page: our dates come from tracking previous recruiting cycles and daily posting data. Treat them as informed estimates based on historical patterns, not confirmed dates. The company's official careers page is always the most current source. If a role is posted there, go by that, even if this page suggests the window hasn't opened yet.
Why You Must Apply the Week Applications Open
FirstEnergy places 51 to 100 interns across three annual sessions, which means each session’s class is genuinely small. Rolling review fills seats progressively, and the company has stated its preference to keep successful interns for one to two years, so early applicants who prove themselves in the first session have a structural advantage over candidates who apply later. A prior-cycle intern received an offer in mid-March for a 12 May start, which means the decision window is short once interviews begin. The company also runs a second, campus-specific recruiting platform through Yello that showed zero events in early September 2026. When events do appear, attending a campus visit is a documented shortcut: the strongest hiring account available (from a Vault intern reviewer) describes getting an interview at a career fair and receiving an offer after a single one-hour interview. That is a short funnel, and meeting a recruiter in person is plausibly what shortens it. Do not wait for January to start preparing. By then, the fastest-moving candidates will already be in the phone-screen stage.
Which FirstEnergy Internship Programs Should You Target?
FirstEnergy offers several pathways for students, from multi-semester co-ops to the craft-career Technical School Alliances track. Understanding which one you qualify for is the first step, because conflating the engineering co-op with the line-worker apprenticeship is the most common mistake applicants make.
| Program | Focus | Duration | Key details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Co-op / Intern Program | Project-based work across Engineering, HR, Supply Chain, Legal, Finance, IT and other corporate functions | 3–6 months per session; spring, summer and fall | Paid; primarily at Akron HQ; coaches from work groups; development sessions; stated pipeline to full-time |
| Multi-Semester Retention | Extended placement across academic year and summer with increasing responsibility | 1–2 years (FirstEnergy’s stated preference) | 20 hrs/week during term or 40 hrs/week; transitions to full-time in summer; described as a pipeline for future full-time employment |
| Technical School Alliances | Two-year classroom education combined with hands-on training for line, substation, power plant or nuclear worker careers | 2 years | Separate craft-career track through community colleges and universities in FirstEnergy’s service territory; NOT the co-op/intern program |
| Apprenticeship Program | On-the-job training for skilled trades positions | Varies | Separate from the degree-student program; postings are rare according to linemen in the community |
See all openings on the FirstEnergy careers site (filter Job Function = Student and Development). The co-op/intern program is the primary entry point for college students. Also check FirstEnergy’s Yello campus events board for recruiting events, which most applicants never find.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
FirstEnergy’s eligibility requirements come from two sources: its live student requisitions and its published student pages. The two live requisitions target different profiles, so requirements vary by track:
• Enrollment: currently enrolled in an accredited undergraduate or graduate degree program. FirstEnergy’s student page broadly covers students "who are currently enrolled in college, approaching graduation or looking to begin their technical education."
• GPA: the live HR internship states a minimum 3.0 GPA. The Supply Chain internship does not list a GPA. Whether 3.0 is a program-wide floor is not stated; treat it as the safe planning assumption.
• Majors (HR track): Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Labor Relations or a related field preferred.
• Majors (Supply Chain track): Associate Degree in Paralegal Studies plus a bachelor’s in progress; or a Paralegal Certificate plus a bachelor’s or graduate degree; or currently enrolled in Legal Studies, Paralegal Studies, Pre-Law or Business; or currently enrolled in an accredited J.D. program.
• Work authorization: not explicitly addressed in either live requisition or on the student pages. Neither confirms nor denies visa sponsorship. Ask a recruiter directly.
• Pre-employment screening: FirstEnergy’s hiring process page states that after an accepted offer, "a background check and an onsite physical exam (including urinalysis and hair follicle drug test) will follow."
Does FirstEnergy Have a Hard GPA Cutoff?
Not confirmed as a program-wide rule. The live HR internship states "Minimum 3.0 GPA" as a qualification, but the Supply Chain internship lists no GPA, and neither the Student Opportunities page nor the Co-op & Intern Program page publishes one. FirstEnergy’s own application guide tells students without work experience to "include activities that exhibit leadership experiences as an alternative" and emphasises that it considers "all qualified applicants." If your GPA is below 3.0 but you have relevant project work, leadership experience, or a completed externship in energy or operations, that evidence will carry weight. Apply to roles that do not list a GPA threshold and let your experience speak.
What Skills Does FirstEnergy Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
FirstEnergy sits at the intersection of regulated utility operations and a massive $36 billion infrastructure investment cycle, and its intern hiring reflects both. The two live student requisitions emphasise attention to detail, confidentiality, written and verbal communication, Microsoft Office proficiency, prioritisation and deadline management, and the ability to work independently. The company’s own application guide adds a behavioural dimension: interviewers use STAR-format questions to assess problem solving, teamwork and leadership, and FirstEnergy says its goal is to "discover your strengths, interests and your approach to work on teams." Safety is a cultural competency, not just a policy: one former intern on Indeed described the environment as "centered around educating the personnel for the sake of safety" and said they would not recommend FirstEnergy to anyone without a safety-focused mindset.
Note: No skill-frequency chart is available for FirstEnergy. The hiring.cafe data source was inaccessible (HTTP 403), and as of September 2026 there are zero live intern requisitions to sample. The skills above are quoted from two current-cycle student requisitions (HR and Supply Chain) and from FirstEnergy’s published application guide.
How Is Demand for Utility & Energy Interns Moving Right Now?
Utility & energy intern hiring right now: September 2026
Across US electric utility and energy intern postings tracked this month · aggregate market data, all employers
September 2026 is this tracker’s baseline month. The signal for utilities is infrastructure-driven growth: companies with multi-billion-dollar capital plans need engineers and analysts, and their intern programs are the front end of that pipeline. FirstEnergy’s $36 billion 2026–2030 plan is the largest in this set.
Method: aggregate analysis of US electric utility and energy intern postings, September 2026 baseline. Sample indexes under half of all US postings; figures show direction and relative level, not total market share.
Build These Skills Before You Apply
And every skill FirstEnergy screens for maps to a remote Externship where you finish a real company project before the posting window opens.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Energy-sector fluency & research | FirstEnergy’s application guide: "Research the company." The $36B capital plan, regulated utility economics, energy transition | EIC Energy Transition Venture Capital Market Research |
| Grid systems & industrial networking | Vault intern: device configuration, field deployment prep, design-document review for grid updates. Process control and automation | Hydroficient IoT Cyber Defense |
| Supply chain & operations coordination | Supply Chain intern: contract review, procurement coordination, cross-functional stakeholder work across Supply Chain, Legal, Risk and business groups | Amazon Fulfillment Center Operational Strategy |
How close is the overlap? The EIC project builds the energy-sector fluency FirstEnergy’s own application guide asks for when it tells students to "research the company." The Hydroficient project maps to the grid device configuration and industrial networking a Vault intern described as their daily work. And the Amazon operations project builds the cross-functional coordination and process-improvement reasoning that the Supply Chain internship requires.
What Is the FirstEnergy Application and Interview Process Like?
FirstEnergy publishes a student-specific application guide with clear steps, which is rarer and more useful than most employers provide:
1. Watch two boards, not one. The Oracle careers site at careers.firstenergycorp.com (filter Job Function = Student and Development) for requisitions, and the Yello board for campus recruiting events. Most applicants never find the second one.
2. Join the Talent Community while Summer 2027 is unposted. FirstEnergy names this itself as the mechanism: "join our talent community to receive email alerts about new job postings in your area of interest."
3. Upload your resume through the Oracle system when a matching requisition appears. FirstEnergy says: "use our online application system to upload your resume, then use the system to track the status of your application." Lead with leadership evidence if your resume is thin: "If a resume lacks work experience, include activities that exhibit leadership experiences as an alternative."
4. Prepare for a behavioural interview using STAR. FirstEnergy says so explicitly: "Interviewers may ask behavioral questions to understand how you solved problems, interacted with team members and demonstrated leadership. The STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action and Results) can assist you." Come with questions: "The interview process is a two-way exchange."
5. Accept the offer and complete pre-employment screening. After acceptance, FirstEnergy runs "a background check and an onsite physical exam (including urinalysis and hair follicle drug test)." A hair follicle test has a detection window measured in months, not days.
The strongest hiring account available (a Vault intern reviewer) describes the shortest possible funnel: "I got an interview from talking to employers at a career fair and got an offer after one hour-long interview." FirstEnergy also publishes sample resumes on its application guide page, which very few employers do. Our HireVue question guide with a free AI mock tool covers the same STAR-format behavioural questions FirstEnergy says to expect.
What the Community Says
FirstEnergy has limited Reddit coverage for internships specifically, but the threads that do exist reveal useful patterns about the company’s culture, hiring process and how the broader workforce views the employer.
A student who accepted a FirstEnergy engineering internship waited weeks for the written offer with no reply from HR. The community’s advice: chase it directly by phone rather than waiting. Treat a verbal FirstEnergy offer as unconfirmed until the written one arrives, and follow up proactively.
Long-tenured FirstEnergy employees in r/akron describe it as a good company overall, but say your experience is highly department- and manager-dependent. One candidate went through three interview rounds before a salary mismatch ended it. Ask about the specific team early, and confirm expectations before the final round.
Linemen say FirstEnergy apprenticeship postings appear so rarely that experienced candidates notice the day they go up. For the craft track (not the college internship), set an alert and contact a recruiter directly rather than waiting to spot a posting.
How Do You Stand Out When Nothing Is Posted Yet?
Three moves, all executable right now. First, join the Talent Community and watch both boards (the Oracle careers site and the Yello campus events platform). When a Summer 2027 requisition appears, apply in the first week. FirstEnergy reviews rolling and its small class of 51 to 100 interns per year fills progressively. Second, show you understand the system you would be working on. FirstEnergy operates more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines and is spending $36 billion over 2026–2030 on grid investment. A candidate who can talk about regulated utility economics, grid modernisation or energy transition with evidence (not just enthusiasm) is speaking the company’s language. Third, prepare for what FirstEnergy says it is looking for. The company publishes STAR interview guidance, sample resumes, and tells students that its interviewers want to "discover your strengths, interests and your approach to work on teams." Mean it about safety, because FirstEnergy lists it second among its four core values and a former intern said outright: "I would not recommend a job with FirstEnergy with anyone who does not have a mindset focused on safety." And consider the multi-semester angle: the live Supply Chain requisition says FirstEnergy’s preference is to keep an intern for one to two years. If you can commit across semesters, say so, because it is an explicit preference stated in the requisition itself.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
FirstEnergy’s peer set spans large US investor-owned electric utilities that recruit from the same engineering and business student pools and run comparable co-op and internship programs.
- PPL Corporationmulti-state regulated T&D utility with a heavy Pennsylvania footprint, competing for the same PA engineering students FirstEnergy recruitsGuide →
- Exelonlarge multi-state regulated T&D holding company with named operating utilities and a well-known internship programGuide →
- Duke Energymajor investor-owned utility with a large, well-documented intern and co-op program; the standard alternative application for utility-focused studentsGuide →
- Dominion EnergyMid-Atlantic investor-owned utility overlapping FirstEnergy’s West Virginia and Maryland territory with a structured student programGuide →
Our engineering internships summer 2027 guide maps the full landscape of utility and engineering opportunities, timeline by timeline.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 FirstEnergy internship?
No. The current-cycle student requisitions are for fall 2026 and academic-year roles, not summer 2026. The next open summer cycle is Summer 2027, and those postings have not appeared yet. FirstEnergy publishes no recruiting calendar, so the practical move is to join the Talent Community and check both the Oracle careers site and the Yello campus events board weekly.
How much do FirstEnergy interns get paid?
FirstEnergy does not publish an intern pay rate. Its requisitions carry no salary fields and say only that the internship is paid. Third-party estimates cluster in the low-to-mid $20s per hour: Indeed estimates $21.61 per hour for "Intern" and $26.28 for "Engineering Intern," both derived from job postings. Vault reports a program band of roughly $13.50 to $26.00 per hour. Treat all of these as estimates, not as FirstEnergy’s figure.
What GPA does FirstEnergy require?
The currently posted HR internship states a minimum 3.0 GPA. The Supply Chain internship states no GPA, and neither student page publishes a program-wide floor. Treat 3.0 as the safe planning assumption without assuming it applies everywhere.
Where are FirstEnergy internships located?
Both currently posted student roles are in Akron, Ohio, the HR role on-site at headquarters and the Supply Chain role listed as Akron (hybrid as applicable). Vault reports the wider program runs across Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland. Former interns on Indeed describe placements in Beaver County PA, Akron OH and at the Fort Martin power plant in Maidsville WV. FirstEnergy’s job board is 179 on-site to 1 remote, so plan for on-site.
How long is a FirstEnergy internship?
Longer and more flexible than a standard summer program. Vault records durations of three to six months across spring, summer and fall sessions. The live Supply Chain requisition offers 20 or 40 hours per week during term, moving to 40 in summer, and FirstEnergy states its preference is to retain the successful candidate for one to two years across their studies.
What is the interview like?
FirstEnergy publishes guidance for students and says interviewers may ask behavioural questions using the STAR technique to assess problem solving, teamwork and leadership. It adds that its goal is "to discover your strengths, interests and your approach to work on teams." One Vault reviewer described getting an interview at a career fair and an offer after a single hour-long interview. Another noted that FirstEnergy "did not try to ask me tons of technical questions."
Does FirstEnergy sponsor international students?
Neither live student requisition mentions visa sponsorship, citizenship or work authorisation, and neither student page addresses it. Because FirstEnergy is silent, ask a recruiter directly rather than assuming either answer.
What is the Yello campus events board?
FirstEnergy runs a second recruiting platform at firstenergy.yello.co for campus recruiting events, linked from its student pages under "Learn more." It showed zero events in early September 2026, so check it repeatedly through the autumn. Almost no applicant knows it exists, and career-fair contact appears to be the fastest path into the program.
FirstEnergy’s Summer 2027 postings have not appeared yet, and when they do, the small class fills fast on rolling review. Use the runway to build proof: a remote Externship turns "interested in energy infrastructure" into a finished project a winter 2026 application can point at.
About the Author
Bifei Wang has spent 17 years focused on human flow and the growth of young professionals, spanning international education, career training and coaching, and recruitment process outsourcing. Over 7 years at Extern, he has had one-on-one sessions with thousands of students exploring careers in consulting, finance, tech, marketing, and data, giving him a firsthand view of how the job market has shifted for early-career professionals and what it actually takes to break in.
