A Curated Experience—for Students and Employers

Viterbi Trek offers students a unique opportunity to learn, explore, and connect directly with employers. To ensure a high-quality experience for both students and hosts, participation is selective. Students apply, are interviewed, and are ultimately invited—resulting in a well-prepared, highly engaged group for each Trek.

---

Employer-Informed Student Selection

Viterbi Career Connections selects student attendees based on each employer’s preferred candidate profile, including:

• Degree level

• Major(s)

• Sponsorship requirements

• Other role-specific criteria

---

Student Selection Process

Written Application

• Applications open at the beginning of the semester for each Trek

• Targeted marketing emails are sent to students who match the host’s desired profile

• Students respond to short essay questions explaining their interest in Viterbi Trek

Interview

• Based on application responses, a select group of students is invited to a virtual interview

• Interviews are conducted by Viterbi Career Connections staff

Preparation Meeting

• • Selected students attend a required virtual preparation session

  • The session covers Trek details, visit format, and employer expectations

Previous Trek Hosts Include:

• 2024: W.E. O'Neil, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Boeing, SpaceX, Abbott, Honeybee Robotics, The Trade Desk, SupplyFrame, Mason Controls, MATT Construction, The Aerospace Corporation

• 2023: Gridspace, Visa, Farmers Insurance, Honeybee Robotics, Mason Controls, Boeing, Verizon, Royal Industrial Solutions

• 2022: EY, PDG Consulting, Visa, Accenture, Tencent, Sprintray, Honeybee Robotics, KPMG, Rhoman Aerospace, Boeing.

• 2021: SambaNova Systems, Abbott, Zillow Group, Ensign-Bickford Industries, Walmart.

• 2020: Honeybee Robotics, Second Order Effects, Abbott, Medtronic, TripAdvisor, Saviynt.

• 2019: Cisco, Facebook, NetApp, Verizon Media, NVIDIA, Google, Lightform.

Example Trek 1:

• Site-specific projects overview. 
• Plant tour, see manufacturing process.
• Company overview presentation (co-op program, specific products)
• Technology overview, recent product launches
• Panel lunch with Engineers 

Example Trek 2:

• Welcome message from Director of Engineering and Operations
• Speaker panel with members of the team: Principal Software Engineer, Analytics, Senior Product Manager, Principal Software Engineer, Software Engineer Co-op, and Software Engineer II.
• Time for each person to talk a little about their background/career path/role and team at TA and plenty of Q&A from students.
• Office tour with Office Experience Manager.

Example Trek 3:

• Welcome presentation.
• Innovation Lab tour.
• Meet of recent fresh candidates, fun to work.
• Tech showcase / Demo
• EBC and/or Lab Tours
• Meet with executives over Lunch.

Research student demographics to learn more about Viterbi before you host a Trek. 

View student demographics and enrollment numbers on the Viterbi Student Profile. 

• Navigate to Enrollments
• Search for University of Southern California
• Select which Degree Level(s)
• Filter columns to find the demographics you would like to see