Advice? Experiences with trying to get co-ops/internships as chemE?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hi!

I am a declared chemical engineering major and I have been on the fence between sticking with it or switching to mechanical engineering. I really like the prospect of working with machines/engines and the versatility of mechanical engineering is tempting. On the other hand I do find chemical engineering to be fascinating because I like chemistry a lot.

The advice I am looking for is related to market prospects…how hard has it been for chemical engineers to find internships and coops lately? I know it is impossible to predict the job market in 5 years but how are students doing in the present looking for job experience? I want to get my foot in the door and I love the idea of taking time off to work for a bit, but I was wondering how hard that has been for many chemical engineers, especially with the oil and gas market as it is.

If I feel like it will be too difficult to try and get work experience with a chemical engineering major, it gives me a little more incentive to check out mechanical engineering since I am on the fence anyways. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

2

Take this with a grain of salt, because I’m not an engineer. The job market fluctuates. Predicting 5 years into the future isn’t that valuable. There will be more jobs for MEs, but there are lots more MEs to compete for those jobs. The main advantage of ME is that there’s a wider variety of what they do and thus more flexibility on where they can live. If you can’t see yourself doing HVAC or fire protection, then that advantage might be moot. In the final analysis, I’d go with what you enjoy. Passion for chemistry will make you a better student and a better Chem E than those who bulled through. You don’t yet know that ME would speak to you in the same way. Good luck.