<p>I am currently a senior in chemical engineering at University of Tennessee Knoxville. My cumulative GPA is 3.93/4.00 and I can technically graduate in May 2015 without any internship/co-op experience but I do not want to risk it. So, last month I went to Engineering Expo at my school and handed out bunch of resume but I did not get any call back to invite to the on-campus interview on the next day. However, I was able to schedule 6 interviews with 6 companies (Exon,DOW,Flint Group,Denso and 3 local companies) through my engineering practicing office. I came prepared for the interviewing day, I did really well in the interviews except with DOW. I also asked for the feedback from Exon recruiter and she said that she did not recall anything that I should have not said or done. So I hope that I will get the call back offering the co-op positions soon. It has been 10 days since the interviewing day and I have not received any calls except the reject e-mail from Exon. My friend already received the call from Flint group and other companies and that makes me really worried. Do you have any advises or suggestions for me to get the co-op/internship in Spring 2015?</p>
<p>Did you send thank you emails after the interviews? Do you know if they knew that you were interviewing at so many companies?</p>
<p>You should talk to the co-op coordinator at your school for feedback. Also consider if your references were good, and if you know them well enough, you can ask if they were called or emailed about you.</p>
<p>By now, you should have had summer internship experience in your field. If you do not, maybe that was an issue for them?</p>
<p>I sent thank you email to Denso and Exon recruiter since I am interesting in them. I am not sure that whether or not the recruiters know my interviewing schedule.
I did not list any reference on my resume.
I transferred from community college where they do not offer CheM sophomore courses. So by the time I transferred to UT in Fall 2013, I am listed as junior on my profile based on the total credits that I took at the community college; But I had to take CheM sophomore courses at UT before I can take upper level classes and my GPA which was 3.92 did not transfer. So I decided to build up my GPA for a year or so before I look for the co-op/internship. That’s why I am taking my sophomore CheM courses from Fall 2013 to Spring 2014.At the end of the spring semester, it’s too late to look for the internship/coop so I decided to take CheM courses for 2016 Spring in this past Summer rather than taking a rest. And I am currently taking my junior and senior courses in this Fall semester. All I did was to prepare an wide-open window from Spring 2015 to Fall 2015 for co-op/internship but I did not expect that getting a co-op is that hard even with my good GPA. </p>
<p>As you can tell, English is not my first language so it might be a factor since every job requirements need excellent verbal and written communication? Or because I mentioned during the interview that I want to be a plant manager after working couple years as a plant engineer? I also said to every recruiters that I am willing to relocate and I will accept any offer they have for me.</p>
<p>I am looking for a co-op/internship for Spring 2014 since I plan on dedicate the whole year from Spring 2014 to Fall 2014 to do co-op/internship. It is very frustrating since I have a good GPA and I do not get any offers yet. </p>
<p>There are many companies that prefer 6 month co-ops. I hope you find something for the Spring. Take advantage of your campus resources - they can often help.</p>
<p>Well, the reasons for not being accepted can often be something that doesn’t have anything to do with you at all. There are many times when I have not been offered a job when I knew for a fact that they liked me and that I was exactly what they needed. Just have to have enough backups so that you will get some offer anyways.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you go to your career services office and do mock interviews. You can have a perfect GPA but if for any reason they are turned off by you at the interview, you still likely won’t get the job.</p>
<p>Lots of things are potentially going on here as to why you have not heard back. Some you control, many (most?) you do not control. The things that come to mind are:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Many companies operate on a fiscal year that starts October 1. At this point in the fiscal year, they probably are still tweaking their budgets and a) haven’t had the time to discuss which co-op students they want to go with and/or b) still deciding whether they do have budget for a co-op.</p></li>
<li><p>Your GPA is exemplary but a major factor for me when I was hiring co-ops. interns and full time hires was the “works well with others” factor. Engineering is almost always a team effort and I wanted team players. So; are you a team player (not just in your eyes, but with those that you have worked with) and does it come across in an interview? {Do practice with mock interviews as boneh3ad suggested).</p></li>
<li><p>Communication skills are very important (as you noted) and how are yours? Team players can communicate easily.</p></li>
<li><p>How did you dress for your interview? Dress casual is how I would have dressed in your circumstance (meaning Dockers and a button up shirt, or the like). Too messy or too formal and you are sending the wrong message as far as being a (here comes those words again) team player. Standards are different in different parts of the country. Find out what others are wearing to interviews, ask your career services office for advice. Above all; be neat.</p></li>
<li><p>The larger the company the more they will interview for co-op students. That also means they need more time to conduct those interviews. Be patient as the only quick decisions that can be made are those they want to reject.</p></li>
<li><p>Apply to as many as you can. Cast a broad net. Increase your odds as much as possible.</p></li>
<li><p>Your courses taken sounds like it is somewhat problematic for the large companies. I worked for a large company and we never considered anyone less than having completed their junior year. We viewed the co-op/ internship as something more like a very long job interview. We wanted that level of knowledge to see how you could perform.</p></li>
<li><p>If you don’t get a position with a company, consider doing full time (or nearly so) project work for one of your professors. You probably won’t get paid or very little pay but the experience would go a long way showing that you can do the work.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>From my own experience with interviewing, if you were not called just days after the interview that means you’re on a waiting list. Basically they already picked their preferred candidates but are waiting for them to make a decision. Unless its a big company (Exxon)</p>
<p>Having a high GPA doesnt mean squat if you have no social skills, sadly… although that should be a given for anyone. I have a 4.0 and I’m on my junior year as a PE and have been rejected several times, fortunately since I interviewed so much, my chances also grew and was offered multiple internships. </p>
<p>I considered myself as a very friendly guy and communicate well with others. I was relax and smile a lot in the interview.
I did take the second half of junior year last summer and I am current taking the first half of junior year and first half of senior this semester. After this semester, I only have 14 credits left to graduate. Do you think that I should graduate and apply for full time or take 5-6 credits in Spring and look for Summer internship?</p>
<p>I’m surprised nobody has mentioned anything about your resume strength. How are your extra curriculars? Have you been active in any design/ project clubs? GPA isn’t everything. </p>
<p>Also, 10 days is pretty short, especially for big companies. That’s a little over one week of business days. </p>
<p>Keep applying and interviewing. Getting internships can be pretty tough and I know quite a few people who sent in 50-100+ applications before hearing anything.</p>
<p>Yes, it is still a bit early. A lot of schools only had their fall career fairs in the last two weeks or so. Recruiters are still at work vetting candidates.</p>
<p>I do not have any extra curriculars or major scholarship from state because I did not graduate from US high school and I was not US citizen. I am planning to do the research for one of my professor in Spring and work on extra curricula if I don’t get any offer. I thought my GPA is enough to make up other stuffs. I work 25-30 hours/week and taking full-time classes so I did not have time for extra curriculars in the past.</p>
<p>Everything you have posted here suggests that your resume is fine, since you are getting interviews based on your resume alone. The issue is elsewhere, either in your lack of citizenship or in your communication/interview skills.</p>
<p>What are your long-term goals? Grad school? Industry? In the US or abroad?</p>
<p>I did not get those interviews by myself. I went to the Expo and handed out 20+ resumes and no one called me back to schedule the on-campus interviews the next day. The interviews that I had the were scheduled by the practicing office.
I was US permanent residence, but I am now US citizen since I passed the citizenship interview last month. But the interviewers did not ask me anything about my residency status.
I spelled Exxon wrong in this thread but I did it right in my cover letter for them and in the thank you email that I sent to the recruiter.
My long term goal is to work in the industry for a while as a plant engineer and move up to managing position or business side.</p>