Career Opportunities
The wood products industry employs an estimated 1.6 million people nationwide. Only 22 U.S. universities provide programs specifically designed to educate professionals to manage and provide technical expertise to the industry. West Virginia University is one of them. The unique nature of the program and the large base of potential employers results in an excellent job market for Wood Science and Technology graduates.
It is difficult to describe what people with our degree do. There are so many different companies making so many different types of products that career opportunities are quite diverse. The jobs span the spectrum from standing timber through manufacture of products to their marketing, distribution, and end use.
They work in all parts of the nation and in both rural and urban communities. Yet approximately half find employment in West Virginia with companies such as Allegheny Wood Products,
American Woodmark, Burke-Persons-Bowlby, Coastal Lumber Company, Georgia-Pacific, Koppers Industries, Mead Westvaco, and Weyerhaeuser.
The placement rate for Wood Science and Technology graduates is approximately 85 percent. This figure represents the percentage of all graduates from 1990 to 2002 who we know were employed in the wood products industry after graduating.
Average entry level salaries for Wood Science and Technology graduates are the highest among Division of Forestry programs.
Excellent summer and part-time employment opportunities exist for Wood Science and Technology students, including internship opportunities with the forest products industry.
Excellent summer and part-time employment opportunities exist for Wood Science and Technology students, including internship opportunities with the forest products industry.
- The placement rate for Wood Science and Technology graduates is approximately 85 percent. This is based on careful tracking of graduates from 1990 to 2006. The industry is diverse. Types of jobs and employers are varied. Job titles for recent graduates include quality assurance supervisor, technical director, procurement forester, estimator, sales representative, and production manager. There are ample opportunities for Wood Science and Technology students to go on to graduate school in wood science or related disciplines. Jobs are available in all 50 states, overseas, and in both rural and urban settings. More than half of our graduates from 1991 to 2004 found employment in West Virginia. Average entry level salaries for Wood Science and Technology graduates are the highest among Division of Forestry programs. Excellent summer and part-time employment opportunities exist for Wood Science and Technology students, including internship opportunities with the forest products industry. Students learn job hunting skills in WDSC 494, Wood Science Seminar Where Alumni Are Working
- Finding a Job in Wood Science and Technology
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Our graduates work as timber procurement foresters, buying timber and planning harvesting operations in accordance with sound forest management and environmental practices. They work in sawmills as production managers.
They are quality assurance managers, production supervisors, and process engineers for companies that manufacture furniture, cabinets, and state-of-the-art engineered wood products. They are product designers and estimators. They purchase and sell materials and services. Some of our graduates go on to graduate school in wood science or related disciplines, including forestry, business administration, and engineering.
Three Wood Science and Technology alumni in the technical laboratory at Weyerhaeuser's oriented strandboard (OSB) plant in Sutton, WV. From left: Chris Serbyn ('90), Technical Manager of Weyerhaeuser TrusJoist's Timberstrand plant in Kenora, Ontario, Canada; Brian Wilson ('97), Technical Team Leader of the Buckhannon Weyerhaeuser TrusJoist plant, and John Noffsinger ('69), Technical Manager of the Sutton OSB plant.
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