Last updated: August 2026
Quest Diagnostics doesn't run one big every-September internship class the way some employers do. As of today, two corporate internships are posted and open on Quest's careers site, an HR Learning & Development intern in Tampa and an Organizational Development intern in Secaucus, and both are hiring right now, not "expected" months from now. That's because the nearly 57,000-employee, $11.04 billion Fortune 500 lab company posts internships the way it posts every other job: one requisition at a time, as a team needs the help. Layer on top of that two structured summer programs, the Quest for Health Equity internship built with the American Heart Association's HBCU and HSI Scholars partners, and a Summer Lab Internship Program inside its clinical and toxicology labs, and Quest's internship model looks less like a single funnel and more like three separate doors to watch. For the 2027–2028 cycle, that means checking often, not waiting for one date.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | careers.questdiagnostics.com students & early career. Sign up for job alerts so new postings reach you the day they go live |
| Application window (2027–28) | No single window. Corporate roles post individually year-round (2 open now); the Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort recruit once a year ahead of their own summer start |
| Rolling? | Yes for corporate roles: no printed deadline found on the postings we reviewed, so a requisition likely closes once it's filled |
| Eligibility | Varies by track. One corporate posting required a completed 3rd year of college; Quest for Health Equity recruits sophomores through grad students via AHA HBCU/HSI Scholars partnerships |
| Duration | Corporate roles vary by requisition; the Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort run roughly 10 weeks over the summer |
| Compensation | $18/hr (Summer Lab Internship Program) to $32 to $35/hr (Secaucus Organizational Development intern), employer-stated rates we could confirm |
| Return offers | No rate published for any track |
| Locations | Secaucus, NJ (HQ) and Tampa, FL for the corporate roles we found open; lab sites nationwide across Quest's employee base |
| # Programs | 3 known tracks: rolling corporate internships, the Summer Lab Internship Program, and Quest for Health Equity |
The number that matters most here isn't a date, it's the count: three separate internship doors (rolling corporate roles, the Summer Lab Internship Program, and Quest for Health Equity), none of which publishes one fixed application window.
Externships are short, remote professional experience programs where you finish a real project with a real company. The Healthcare Operations Consulting Externship and the Beats by Dre Data Analytics Externship build the stakeholder and reporting evidence Quest's own corporate postings ask for by name. Explore all Externships.
What Is a Quest Diagnostics Internship?
A Quest Diagnostics internship is a paid placement inside the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, spanning corporate functions like HR and Organizational Development, a Summer Lab Internship Program inside its clinical and toxicology labs, and the Quest for Health Equity program built for HBCU and HSI Scholars. Quest is a Fortune 500 company (NYSE: DGX) headquartered in Secaucus, NJ, with nearly 57,000 employees and about $11.04 billion in 2025 revenue, and FORTUNE named it to its World's Most Admired Companies list for the 11th consecutive year in 2025. Interns rate the program 5.0 out of 5 on Glassdoor with 99% saying they'd recommend it to a friend, though that rating is built on a small base of six reviews.
When Do Quest Diagnostics Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
Quest doesn't publish one fixed application window. Its corporate internships post individually on the same careers site as every other job opening, and two are live right now: an HR Learning & Development intern in Tampa and an Organizational Development intern in Secaucus, both posted August 19, 2026. Layered on top are two structured summer programs: the Summer Lab Internship Program inside Quest's clinical and toxicology labs, and Quest for Health Equity, which recruits through the American Heart Association's HBCU and HSI Scholars partnerships rather than a single public posting. For the 2027–2028 cycle, treat this as three doors to watch rather than one deadline to circle.
Two Quest Diagnostics corporate internships are open right now: an HR Learning & Development intern in Tampa and an Organizational Development intern in Secaucus. Quest posts these the way it posts every other job, one requisition at a time, so checking often matters more than waiting for a date.
Corporate roles in HR, Talent Acquisition, Organizational Development and other business functions keep posting individually as teams need help. Set a job alert on Quest's careers site rather than checking manually, since these requisitions don't announce themselves months ahead.
The Summer Lab Internship Program and the Quest for Health Equity cohort each run once a year on their own calendar and are expected to open sometime before their summer start. Neither publishes a fixed date, so treat this as the safest available estimate rather than a confirmed window.
Interviews and decisions for whichever Summer Lab Internship Program or Quest for Health Equity requisitions have posted tend to follow quickly, since neither runs a long publicized review period. Corporate HR and business-function postings keep appearing on the same rolling basis through this window too.
The Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort both run roughly 10 weeks on-site. Quest publishes no return-offer rate for any track, though its own careers page frames internships as the start of a longer career path, and interns rate the program 5.0 out of 5 on Glassdoor (99% would recommend), on a small base of six reviews.
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
Quest posts each corporate internship as an ordinary job requisition, the same as any other role at the company, and none of the postings we reviewed carried a stated application deadline. A requisition without a printed close date typically stays open only until someone is hired, so applying the same week a posting appears is the safer move rather than waiting. That's truer still for the seasonal programs: the Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort are smaller and less publicized than a single day's job list, and Quest doesn't say how many seats either one fills.
Which Quest Diagnostics Internship Programs Should You Target?
Quest runs internships through three distinct doors rather than one umbrella program, and which one fits you depends on your background as much as your major.
| Program | Focus | Duration | Key skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate & HR Internships | HR, Talent Acquisition, Organizational Development and other business functions, posted individually as roles open | Varies by requisition | Business fundamentals, sourcing & candidate development, MS Office, presenting to senior leaders |
| Summer Lab Internship Program | Hands-on experience in Quest's clinical and toxicology laboratory environments | About 10 to 12 weeks, summer | Lab safety, specimen handling, clinical & toxicology procedures |
| Quest for Health Equity (Q4HE) | Cross-functional work with medical, marketing and lab operations teams; recruited via the American Heart Association's HBCU and HSI Scholars partnerships | About 10 weeks, summer | Cross-functional collaboration, data & content work, presentations, mentorship |
| General early-career openings | Broader business-function placements described on Quest's students & early-career page but not individually detailed there | Varies | Not detailed in the postings we could review |
See what's currently open on the students & early career page and the internships search.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
Quest's eligibility bar shifts by track more than most employers in this guide:
• Enrollment: varies widely. The Talent Acquisition Intern posting we reviewed required a "completed 3rd year of college (rising senior)"; Quest for Health Equity instead recruits sophomores through graduate students through the American Heart Association's HBCU and HSI Scholars partnerships.
• GPA: no minimum appears on the postings we reviewed or on Quest's students & early-career page.
• Work authorization: not stated on the postings we reviewed. Confirm sponsorship policy on the specific requisition before applying.
• Format: corporate roles run hybrid or remote (the Secaucus Organizational Development intern is hybrid, the Tampa HR Learning & Development intern is remote); the Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort are in-person at Quest labs and offices.
Does Quest Diagnostics Have a GPA Cutoff?
Not that we could find. None of the postings we reviewed, including the full Talent Acquisition Intern job description, names a GPA minimum, and Quest's students & early-career page talks about "supportive managers and hands-on learning experiences" rather than a transcript bar. What actually seems to gate a Quest internship is class year and program fit: the corporate role we read in full wanted a rising senior, while Quest for Health Equity is built specifically around HBCU and HSI Scholars in the American Heart Association's partner network. Read the specific posting or program page before assuming either applies to you.
What Skills Does Quest Diagnostics Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
Quest doesn't publish one master job description for "intern." The clearest picture comes from four real sources: a full Talent Acquisition Intern posting, the Summer Lab Internship Program's own listing, five Quest for Health Equity intern profiles Quest published itself, and the students & early-career page. Across them, cross-functional collaboration shows up in every one, and communication plus analytical problem-solving each appear in three of four. What splits by track is the technical layer: the lab program wants clinical and toxicology exposure, Q4HE wants comfort moving between medical, marketing and lab-operations teams, and the corporate track wants business fundamentals and MS Office fluency.
What Quest Diagnostics looks for in interns
Skills across 4 Quest Diagnostics intern & analyst job descriptions · 4 real sources read in full: Talent Acquisition Intern JD, Summer Lab Internship Program listing, 5 Quest for Health Equity intern profiles (treated as one source), and Quest's students & early-career page, 2026, projecting 2027–2028
Method: read in full across four real sources rather than a large job-description sample: a Talent Acquisition Intern requisition, the Summer Lab Internship Program listing, five Quest for Health Equity intern profiles from Quest's own newsroom, and the students & early-career careers page. Quest posts internships individually rather than as one standardized program, so this base is smaller and more heterogeneous than a single-req company's; treat the rank order as directional, not a percentage of requirements.
How Is Demand for Healthcare Interns Moving Right Now?
Healthcare intern hiring right now: August 2026
Across ~343 US clinical-intern and ~211 healthcare-intern postings tracked this month · aggregate market data, all employers
August 2026 is this tracker's baseline month for healthcare-intern, so month-over-month shifts appear at the September update. The early signal: healthcare interning is overwhelmingly on-site, 44 ads already reference 2027, and Quest's own corporate-track postings price near or above the sampled corporate median.
Method: aggregate analysis of US clinical, healthcare, and medical-device intern postings via Adzuna, August 2026 baseline. Sample indexes under half of all US postings; figures show direction and relative level, not total market share. Healthcare pool split into a corporate/business track and a clinical/patient-facing track; corporate-track figures shown.
Build These Skills Before You Apply
And the skills the chart surfaces map to remote Externships that finish before you apply.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| Business operations & stakeholder collaboration | Talent Acquisition Intern JD: "highly collaborative" and "fundamental understanding of business methodologies" | Healthcare Operations Consulting |
| Data & content work for cross-functional teams | Quest for Health Equity intern profile: updated SharePoint reporting and worked with grant-funding data across Q4HE's partner organizations | Beats by Dre Data Analytics |
| Business & financial fundamentals | Talent Acquisition Intern JD: "fundamental understanding of business methodologies" and familiarity with "compensation trends" | Attronica FP&A & Private Company Valuation |
None of these Externships replace hands-on lab experience for the Summer Lab Internship Program, but all three build the business-operations and communication evidence Quest's own corporate postings ask for by name.
What Is the Quest Diagnostics Application and Interview Process Like?
Based on 10 Glassdoor-reported Intern interviews at Quest Diagnostics:
1. Apply on careers.questdiagnostics.com or through campus recruiting. 80% of Glassdoor-reporting Quest interns got their interview after applying online, 20% through campus recruiting.
2. Phone or recorded-video screen. One Glassdoor reviewer described a first round as "recorded interview" followed by a hiring-manager round over video, calling it a "super chill conversation."
3. One-on-one or panel interview, built around behavioral and personality questions: "Tell me about a time you had a conflict with someone you worked with" and "Provide examples of taking initiative" both appear in real Glassdoor-reported questions.
4. Some roles add a skills test, personality test, presentation, or background and drug check. Glassdoor's stage breakdown for the Intern role: phone interview and one-on-one interview each 17%, drug test and skills test each 13%, background check, personality test, IQ test and group panel each 8%.
Intern candidates rate the process "average" difficulty but 78% positive, above the company-wide 61%, and hiring takes about 18 days on average versus 22 days company-wide.
What Interns Say on Glassdoor
Repeated searches turned up no real Reddit thread from a Quest Diagnostics intern, so here's what interns say on Glassdoor instead.
The team was genuinely kind and invested in my career and knowledge goals, but there wasn't always a lot of assigned work. I had to go find my own projects, which other interns told me is pretty standard here.
Great people to work with and a flexible schedule, though things could feel unorganized from time to time.
It was a good way to get a foot in the door in the medical industry, though the day-to-day wasn't very challenging and new opportunities were limited.
How Do You Stand Out With No Deadline to Aim For?
Three moves work here. First, apply the day a posting appears. Quest's corporate internships behave like any other job requisition, with no printed deadline in the postings we reviewed and no guarantee the role stays open. Second, pick your door deliberately: the corporate and HR track wants business fundamentals and polish, the Summer Lab Internship Program wants comfort in a clinical and toxicology lab, and Quest for Health Equity wants a real tie to the American Heart Association's HBCU and HSI Scholars mission. Third, bring your own project plan. On Glassdoor, interns describe manageable but sometimes light workloads and say taking initiative to find your own projects is "pretty standard" at Quest, so show up with ideas already in hand rather than waiting to be assigned one.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
Quest's closest comparisons split between clinical-lab rivals and the wider diagnostics and health-services field.
- Labcorpthe direct clinical-diagnostics rival with the same lab-tech and phlebotomy career ladderGuide →
- CVS Healthretail health and pharmacy giant with a much larger, more structured intern classGuide →
- Thermo Fisher Scientificdiagnostics instruments and life-sciences tools maker, heavier on engineering and R&D intern rolesGuide →
- Abbotta diagnostics device manufacturer rather than a lab operator, with a bigger engineering intern intakeGuide →
- UnitedHealth Grouphealth insurance and services giant several times Quest's size, with a much larger structured internship programGuide →
Our Healthcare & Consulting Internships Summer 2027 Guide maps the wider field.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Quest Diagnostics internship?
Quest doesn't run one dated "summer 2026 class," so there's no single deadline to have missed. Its corporate internships post and fill individually year-round, and two are open right now. The Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort both follow the academic calendar and would already be running for 2026, so watch for their next posting as summer 2027 approaches.
When do Quest Diagnostics internship applications open for 2027–2028?
There's no single date. Corporate roles like HR, Talent Acquisition and Organizational Development post individually whenever a team needs an intern, and two are open as of August 2026. The Summer Lab Internship Program and Quest for Health Equity cohort each recruit ahead of their own summer start. Set a job alert on Quest's careers site rather than waiting for one fixed window.
Is Quest Diagnostics internship hiring rolling?
The corporate roles behave like any other job requisition: no printed deadline appeared in the postings we reviewed, which for most employers means the role closes once it's filled rather than on a fixed date. Apply the week you see a posting rather than waiting.
Does Quest Diagnostics require a minimum GPA for internships?
No GPA minimum appears in the postings we reviewed or on Quest's students & early-career page. The Talent Acquisition Intern posting instead asked for a completed third year of college, meaning rising-senior status.
What is the Quest Diagnostics internship interview process like?
Based on 10 Glassdoor-reported interviews: mostly a phone or video screen and a one-on-one or panel interview built around behavioral questions like "tell me about a time you had a conflict with someone you worked with." Some roles add a skills test, personality test or presentation. Candidates rate it "average" difficulty but 78% positive, and hiring takes about 18 days on average.
Do Quest Diagnostics interns get return offers?
Quest doesn't publish a conversion rate for any track. On Glassdoor, interns describe a supportive but sometimes light workload, with several noting they had to find their own projects to work on.
What skills does Quest Diagnostics look for in interns?
Across the real postings and intern profiles we reviewed, cross-functional collaboration and communication show up most, followed by analytical problem-solving. The technical layer then splits by track: business fundamentals for the corporate roles, clinical and toxicology exposure for the Summer Lab Internship Program.
How much does a Quest Diagnostics internship pay?
Employer-stated rates range from about $18/hr for the Summer Lab Internship Program to $32 to $35/hr for the Secaucus Organizational Development intern role, the two real figures we could confirm. Pay varies by track and location, so check the specific posting.
Quest doesn't hand you one deadline to circle, which means the advantage goes to whoever is ready the day a posting appears. A remote Externship builds a finished project you can point to the moment that happens.
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.
