<p>hey guys I am kind of having trouble getting an internship. Due to a depression, I ended up failing few classes dropping my gpa to a little less than 3.0. On top of that I really do not have any experiences related engineering (in terms of work experience, all I did was volunteering and few part time jobs). For people who do not have experiences might have small hope due to high gpa, but for me, that's not the case. How should I go about gaining experiences? I was thinking about joining a club such as asme but I heard you only write club if you are in high position such as vice or president. All I can think of right now is to raise my gpa this fall to over 3.0 and try out for co-op this summer if I can not get internship (I heard co-op is easier to land compare to internship? Maybe co-op have small firms that are well known I guess.) </p>
<p>Any help would be greatful</p>
<p>thank you</p>
<p>Hey man,</p>
<p>Keep your head up. Not sure what year you’re in but definitely start joining clubs that interest you and get involved in anything else that is interesting! Try to get leadership positions in these clubs as well because that will really help you out. Employers don’t just look at work experience and grades, they want to make sure they’re getting a well rounded employee with a good personality. You’re also on the right path for focusing on your grades and getting them, at least get it above a 3.0. I personally think GPA is stupid and doesn’t paint the entire picture but when companies screen applicants they use GPA as a factor. </p>
<p>As far as getting an internship, go to your college’s career center and practice interviews and get them to look over your resume. I would suggest getting a local engineering internship if possible to gain some experience. But you’re going to have to work a little bit harder to get noticed since you have a low GPA. Practice your sales pitch as well so when it comes to talking to a recruiter you’re good to go. The key to nailing interviews and getting that internship/job is being confident and showing interest in the job. For you, that means going into an interview and selling yourself as to why you would be a great fit…why should this company take a chance on you? You have to convince them that you’re a quick learner and that you’ll be an asset. Also, have some experiences ready to talk about when they ask you those behavioral questions.</p>
<p>thanks for the reply and I’m currently a junior. I’m planning to meet my career adviser this week to figure something out. Where can I find all these local engineering internship? I can’t really differentiate between the local ones and the just internships.</p>
<p>That’s a great step! You’ll get some really good advice from your career adviser, I’m sure. And when I mean local, I meant around the area (near you, or your hometown). A lot of small engineering firms are willing to hire interns just because it’s not as expensive as hiring a full-time employee. Your goal right now should be to get as much as experience as you can!</p>