Last updated: September 2026
Huntington Ingalls Industries is the only company in the United States that builds nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and one of only two that build nuclear submarines. HII's own recruiting language puts the stakes plainly: "the carrier you contribute to as an intern may still be at sea 50 years from now." Spun off from Northrop Grumman in 2011 and headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII (NYSE: HII) reported $12.5 billion in 2025 revenue with roughly 44,000 employees across three divisions and a corporate office. As of September 7, 2026, five Summer 2027 internships are live: four at Newport News Shipbuilding with stated salary ranges from $39,000 to $75,000, and a fifth at Mission Technologies in Columbia, Maryland listing intern hourly rates of $28.40, $32.76, and $37.13 by level. HII has been named a Top 100 Internship Program by WayUp and received the Top Virginia Employers for Interns award. The GPA bar is 2.5 at the shipbuilding divisions, and interns across multiple years consistently report free company-paid housing at nearby Christopher Newport University.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | Two boards: careers.huntingtoningalls.com (Newport News, Ingalls, Corporate) and jobs.hii-tsd.com (Mission Technologies). Filter out SkillBridge postings, which are for separating service members, not students |
| Application window (2027–28) | Four Newport News Shipbuilding internships posted 2026-08-28; Mission Technologies software role posted 2026-09-01. Corporate 2027 details pending (2026 window closed). Mission Technologies hires year-round |
| Rolling? | Yes. No requisition contains a deadline. HII states that Corporate roles close end of October, while Mission Technologies hires on a rolling basis year-round. Deadlines vary by division |
| Eligibility | US citizen (required, no exceptions); enrolled in a 4-year college, 2+2 program, or master's; minimum GPA 2.5 (shipbuilding) or 3.0 (Corporate & Mission Technologies); unofficial transcript must be uploaded at time of application or automatic disqualification |
| Duration | 10 consecutive weeks, 40 hours per week, full-time, on-site, during the summer |
| Compensation | Mission Technologies: $28.40/hr (Level 2), $32.76/hr (Level 3), $37.13/hr (Level 4). Newport News publishes annualized ranges: Engineering $49K–$75K, IT $42K–$66K, Supply Chain $46K–$60K, Business $39K–$60K |
| Return offers | HII states “many interns move on to Co-ops or full-time offers after graduation.” Community reports consistently say rising-senior interns receive return offers during or after the internship |
| Locations | Newport News, VA (four 2027 internships); Columbia, MD (Mission Technologies software); Arlington, VA (Corporate, when posted); Pascagoula, MS (Ingalls, none posted today) |
The two numbers that matter: a 2.5 GPA floor at the shipbuilding divisions (unusually accessible for defense) and $28.40–$37.13/hr published hourly rates at Mission Technologies. All five 2027 internships are live right now, posted in the last ten days.
Externships are short, remote professional experience programs where you finish a real project with a real company. The Wayfair AI Agent Engineering for Business Intelligence Externship and the Hydroficient IoT Cyber Defense Externship build exactly the machine learning and cybersecurity evidence an HII Mission Technologies application needs. Explore all Externships.
What Is a Huntington Ingalls Industries Internship?
An HII internship is a paid, 10-week, full-time summer placement that puts college students into real roles across engineering, IT, supply chain, business management, and software engineering at the sole designer, builder, and refueler of US Navy nuclear aircraft carriers. The company operates through three divisions: Newport News Shipbuilding (25,000+ employees, Virginia's largest industrial employer), Ingalls Shipbuilding (11,000+ in Pascagoula, Mississippi's largest manufacturer), and Mission Technologies (7,000+ professionals across 45 states, focused on C5ISR, cyber, unmanned systems, and AI). HII invests $110 million annually in workforce development, runs The Apprentice School (founded 1919) at Newport News, and has been named a Top 100 Internship Program by WayUp. The internship is fully on-site with no telework option, and every role requires US citizenship.
When Do Huntington Ingalls Industries Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
HII's internship cycle follows a consistent pattern: Newport News Shipbuilding posts summer roles in late August or early September for the following summer, Corporate closes applications by the end of October, and Mission Technologies accepts applications year-round. The four Newport News 2027 internships went live on August 28, 2026, and the Mission Technologies software role posted September 1. Applicants consistently report a one-way recorded video interview in the autumn followed by a decision between December and late February. The 10-week, 40-hour-per-week internship runs during the summer months at Newport News, VA or Columbia, MD, fully on-site with no telework.
Five Summer 2027 internships are live right now: four at Newport News Shipbuilding (Engineering, IT, Supply Chain, Business Management, all posted August 28) and one at Mission Technologies in Columbia, MD (Software Engineer, posted September 1). Apply now and upload your unofficial transcript with the application, as missing it triggers automatic disqualification at Newport News.
HII Corporate internship applications close at the end of October. Corporate 2027 details had not been published as of September 7, 2026, so check hii.com/careers/students-early-career for updates. Mission Technologies hires year-round and is not affected by this deadline.
One-way recorded video interview. Applicants across multiple cycles describe roughly eight questions, each answered in a separate 30-second video, with two recording attempts per question. Expect questions about what interests you about HII, projects you have done, and your degree and graduation year.
Decisions. Four independent applicant reports across three cycles put the decision window here. One applicant was told directly to expect news by February 28.
10 consecutive weeks, 40 hours per week, fully on-site at Newport News, VA or Columbia, MD. Interns consistently report free company-arranged housing at nearby Christopher Newport University.
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
HII posted four Newport News 2027 internships on August 28, 2026, and a Mission Technologies role on September 1. The window is open right now. Rolling review means early applicants get the most seats, and HII's own student page confirms that deadlines vary by division and position. The transcript upload requirement is an automatic disqualification if missed, which means every day you delay is a day closer to the kind of small mistake that ends your application before a human sees it. Mission Technologies hires year-round, but the Newport News roles are the ones with a finite window. The community pattern is consistent: apply in the autumn, do the video interview, and hear back between December and February. By February, the class is largely set. Do not wait until January to apply for something that posted in August.
Which Huntington Ingalls Industries Internship Programs Should You Target?
HII offers paid summer internships at its Corporate office and all three divisions. The programs differ in GPA requirements, pay structure, and eligibility, so picking the right one matters.
| Program | Focus | Duration | Key details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport News Shipbuilding Summer Internship | Engineering, IT, Supply Chain, Business Management across nuclear carrier and submarine programs | 10 weeks | Paid (annualized ranges $39K–$75K); GPA 2.5; ABET required for engineering; on-site Newport News, VA |
| Mission Technologies Internship | Software engineering supporting Minotaur surveillance systems, C5ISR, cyber, AI/ML | 10 weeks | Hourly: $28.40–$37.13 by level; GPA 3.0; year-round hiring; on-site Columbia, MD |
| HII Corporate Internship | Exposure to corporate functional departments at Arlington and Newport News offices | 10 weeks | GPA 3.0; application window closes end of October; 2027 details pending |
| Co-op Program | Extended multi-semester rotations building on internship experience | Varies | Many interns progress to co-ops; a Fall 2026 Designer Co-op is live at Newport News |
| The Apprentice School | Skilled-trades apprenticeships in nineteen shipbuilding disciplines at Newport News (founded 1919) | 4–8 years | Paid while learning; accredited; not a college internship but a parallel entry path |
See all openings on the Newport News / Ingalls / Corporate board and the Mission Technologies board. Filter out SkillBridge postings (for separating service members, not students) by looking for titles that start with “2027” or contain “Summer Internship.”
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
HII publishes its requirements clearly, and they are unusually strict on some points and unusually generous on others:
• US citizenship: required for every HII internship. No exceptions, no sponsorship path. Every requisition states it.
• GPA: minimum 2.5 for the shipbuilding divisions (Newport News and Ingalls), 3.0 for Corporate and Mission Technologies. The 2.5 floor at Newport News is unusually accessible for a defense employer.
• Enrollment: must be enrolled in a 4-year college or university, a 2+2 program, or a master's degree program for Fall 2027. Mission Technologies opens at just 20% of degree credits completed (Level 2).
• Transcript: unofficial transcripts must be uploaded at the time of application. Newport News requisitions state that failure to upload results in automatic disqualification.
• ABET accreditation: engineering majors at Newport News must be in an ABET-accredited program.
• On-site: all internships are fully on-site, no telework. Newport News engineering roles may require climbing inclined ladders aboard ships under construction.
Does HII Have a Hard GPA Cutoff?
Yes, and it is published. The shipbuilding divisions require a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or greater, and Corporate and Mission Technologies require 3.0. These are stated in the requisitions and on HII's student page. The 2.5 floor at Newport News is the more accessible path and the one with the most open seats right now. Mission Technologies compensates for its higher GPA bar by offering the most generous eligibility ladder in the company: Level 2 opens at only 20% of degree credits completed, meaning a student early in their program can qualify.
What Skills Does Huntington Ingalls Industries Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
HII's four Newport News requisitions are almost entirely eligibility-gated rather than skills-gated: citizenship, GPA, ABET, transcript upload, and physical access. They name no software, no tool, no programming language. All the technical specificity in HII's live intern corpus sits in the single Mission Technologies requisition, which asks for C++, Java, or JavaScript proficiency, Linux development experience, and machine learning and AI capabilities. That asymmetry tells you exactly where to aim if you want a technical internship at HII, and it tells you that the Newport News interview is about fit and attitude, not about a tool checklist.
What Huntington Ingalls Industries looks for in interns
Skills across 5 Huntington Ingalls Industries intern & analyst job descriptions · 2027 cycle job descriptions from both HII career boards, verified 2026-09-07
Method: hand-counted across all 5 live Summer 2027 intern requisitions (4 Newport News Shipbuilding, 1 Mission Technologies). The 28 + 24 SkillBridge postings were excluded because they are for separating service members, not students.
How Is Demand for Defense & Shipbuilding Interns Moving Right Now?
Defense & shipbuilding intern hiring right now: September 2026
Across US defense and shipbuilding intern postings tracked this week · aggregate market data, all employers
September 2026 is this tracker's baseline month. The signal now is naval construction spending: multi-decade programmes with firm backlog mean these internship slots are structurally funded, not cyclical. The constraint is cleared talent, not budget.
Method: aggregate analysis of US defense and shipbuilding 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 in the chart maps to a remote Externship where you finish a real company project before the video interview.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Machine learning & AI engineering | Mission Technologies: developing ML/AI solutions for high-priority operational challenges using signal processing and video analytics | Wayfair AI Agent Engineering for Business Intelligence |
| Cybersecurity & mission IT | Warfare Systems: cyber and mission IT, electronic warfare, C5ISR systems; clearance required for substantive work | Hydroficient IoT Cyber Defense |
| Supply chain & operations | Supply Chain Management track: logistics and procurement across multi-decade shipbuilding programmes at Newport News | Amazon Fulfillment Center Operational Strategy |
How close is the overlap? The Wayfair AI engineering deliverable is machine learning applied to a real business problem, which is exactly what Mission Technologies' Minotaur team asks its interns to do. The Hydroficient project builds IoT cybersecurity evidence for the Warfare Systems group that explicitly hires into cyber and C5ISR. And the Amazon operations project maps directly to the supply chain internship's work on a large-scale physical logistics operation.
What Is the Huntington Ingalls Industries Application and Interview Process Like?
HII does not publish a detailed step-by-step hiring process, but the community record across multiple years is remarkably consistent:
1. Pick the right board and apply. Newport News, Ingalls and Corporate: careers.huntingtoningalls.com. Mission Technologies: jobs.hii-tsd.com. Filter out the ~52 SkillBridge postings by looking for titles starting with “2027.”
2. Upload your unofficial transcript with the application. Three of four Newport News requisitions state that failure to upload results in automatic disqualification. Do not submit without it.
3. Complete the one-way recorded video interview (weeks 1–4). Applicants across multiple cycles describe roughly eight questions, each answered in a separate 30-second recorded video, with two recording attempts per question. Questions include what interests you about HII, what projects you have done, and your degree and graduation year.
4. Wait for a decision (December 2026 to late February 2027). Four independent applicant reports across three cycles put decisions in that range. One applicant was told directly to expect news by February 28.
5. Accept the offer and complete onboarding. Onboarding includes a drug screen (urine test; at least one applicant reported a hair test). Interns consistently report that HII arranges free housing at Christopher Newport University or in local apartments, but HII does not confirm housing details until after the acceptance deadline.
The process is lighter than many defense employers: one recorded video interview, no technical whiteboard, and eligibility gating (citizenship, GPA, ABET, transcript) does most of the screening. Our HireVue question guide with a free AI mock tool covers the same recorded-video format.
What the Community Says
HII has an unusually rich and current Reddit footprint for a defense manufacturer, concentrated in r/HamptonRoads, r/NewportNews, and r/EngineeringStudents. Six threads and 85 comments provided first-hand intern and applicant accounts across 2023 to 2026.
HII screens intern applicants with a one-way recorded video interview: roughly eight questions, each answered in a separate 30-second video, two recording attempts per question. One applicant described the experience as not a real interview per se, with questions covering what interests you about Newport News Shipbuilding, what projects you have done, and your degree and graduation year. Decisions have landed anywhere from December to late February across recent cycles, with one applicant told directly to expect news by February 28.
Interns across multiple years report that HII paid for their housing in full, placing them in Christopher Newport University dorms about a ten-to-fifteen-minute drive from the shipyard, with free gym access. A parent of two NNS interns confirmed the arrangement. But HII does not publish this, and at least one applicant with a January offer deadline was told housing details would not be released until March. Ask the recruiter directly, in writing, before you accept.
Current and recent NNS interns describe the experience as department-dependent. One former intern and co-op said it is a mixed bag because the departments vary so much, and that some departments do not have much for interns to do, leaving them with busy work or reading documents. Another intern said that without clearance, you are limited to doing busy work. On the other side, an NNS engineer said interns in their department shadowed engineers extensively and got to work on unique problems, and a current intern said they are learning a lot and doing things they would never have been exposed to at school.
How Do You Stand Out in an 8-Question, 30-Second Video Interview?
Three moves, all executable before autumn 2026. First, apply the day you see the posting and upload your transcript. The transcript rule is an automatic disqualification and the single most common self-inflicted rejection at HII. Second, prepare 30-second answers to the known question types: what interests you about the company, what projects you have done, and your degree and graduation year. Practise out loud with a timer. Two attempts per question means you have one chance to recover from a bad take, not unlimited retries. Third, have a concrete project to talk about. HII's video interview reportedly asks "what projects have you done" by name. A finished Externship or capstone project gives you a specific, timed answer instead of a vague reference to coursework. And remember: the department you land in determines your summer. If you get to speak with a recruiter or engineer, ask which department the role sits in and what last summer's intern there did. That is the highest-value question a candidate can ask at this company.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
HII's peer set spans the US defense prime contractors, all competing for the same engineering and technology students who meet the citizenship requirement.
- General Dynamicsthe other builder of US Navy nuclear submarines (Electric Boat); the single closest peer in both product and intern poolGuide →
- Northrop GrummanHII's former parent company (spun off in 2011); a natural comparison for engineering students weighing defense optionsGuide →
- Lockheed Martinthe largest US defense contractor and the default alternative for the same engineering studentsGuide →
- BAE Systemsship repair and naval systems competitor that also competes with HII Mission Technologies across defense servicesGuide →
Our engineering internships summer 2027 guide maps the full landscape of defense and engineering opportunities, timeline by timeline.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Huntington Ingalls Industries internship?
No. The summer 2026 class has started and those postings are closed. The next open cycle is summer 2027: five internships are live right now, four at Newport News Shipbuilding (posted August 28, 2026) and one at Mission Technologies (posted September 1, 2026). Apply at careers.huntingtoningalls.com for Newport News and jobs.hii-tsd.com for Mission Technologies.
How much do HII interns get paid?
HII publishes ranges on the requisitions. Mission Technologies lists actual hourly rates: $28.40 (Level 2, 20-40% of degree credits), $32.76 (Level 3, 40-60%), and $37.13 (Level 4, 60%+). Newport News publishes annualized base-pay ranges: Engineering $49,000 to $75,000, IT $42,000 to $66,000, Supply Chain $46,000 to $60,000, and Business Management $39,000 to $60,000. These are annualized ranges on a 10-week internship template.
What GPA do I need for an HII internship?
Minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA for the shipbuilding divisions (Newport News and Ingalls), 3.0 for Corporate and Mission Technologies. Both numbers are published on HII's student page and in the requisitions. The 2.5 floor at Newport News is unusually accessible for a defense employer.
Can international students apply for an HII internship?
No. Every HII intern requisition requires US citizenship. There is no sponsorship route and no exception. If you are not a US citizen, HII is not an option.
Does HII provide housing for interns?
HII does not publish a housing policy, and the Newport News requisitions state no relocation assistance is available. However, interns across multiple years consistently report that the company paid for housing in full, placing them in Christopher Newport University dorms about ten to fifteen minutes from the shipyard or in shared apartments in Hampton and Newport News. Ask the recruiter directly before you accept, because at least one applicant was told details would not be released until March despite a January offer deadline.
What is the HII intern interview like?
HII does not publish the format. Applicants across several cycles describe a one-way recorded video interview with roughly eight questions, each answered in a separate 30-second video, with two recording attempts allowed. Reported questions include what interests you about the company, what projects you have worked on, and your degree and graduation year. There is no reported technical whiteboard or case interview.
Why do so many HII jobs say intern when they are not internships?
Because HII runs a large DoD SkillBridge programme. Roughly 52 postings across both job boards contain SkillBridge Intern in the title. SkillBridge is for US service members in their final 180 days of service, not for college students. Filter for titles starting with 2027 or containing Summer Internship.
Do HII internships lead to full-time jobs?
HII says many interns move on to co-ops or full-time offers after graduation, and the requisition says the internship could possibly lead to future full-time employment but is not guaranteed. Community reports are more specific: rising-senior interns are widely described as receiving return offers during or at the end of the internship, while junior-year interns typically continue into a co-op or another summer.
Five HII internships are live right now, four posted ten days ago with published pay ranges and a 2.5 GPA floor. The 30-second video interview asks what projects you have done. A remote Externship gives you a concrete, finished answer to that question before you press record.
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.
.png)
