Advice for picking internship? (ISE)

Career Opportunities & Internships
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<p>Hey guys - I hope this is the right place for this.. if not I apologize.</p>

<p>I'm finishing up my BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering in December 2014 so this is my last internship. I had two previous ones. The first two years they've been difficult to come by but now I have quite a few options and need some help weighing them.</p>

<p>Quick background: While I do love engineering, I have aspirations to pursue and MBA one day and work in a management role.. as far as the sector.. I'm not sure yet. My previous internships were with a power company (corporate) and a manufacturing company in an OPEX role working with lean/six sigma.</p>

<p>I don't have very much experience in supply chain at the moment.. so I was hoping someone could tell me if taking one of the SCM positions would pigeonhole me as an IE? Will it hurt my starting salary when graduating by taking a role in SC (I've noticed they start $5-15k less at the start)? Higher/quicker potential for professional growth in that area?</p>

<p>All the offers are competitive benefit/pay wise.. location.. I'm in the Southeast.. I don't mind the relocation as long as its a great place.. so GE/Amazon is kind of a risk atm. I like the idea of working in Denver and love the idea of working in Chicago and Charleston.</p>

<p>My current options are:</p>

<p>-Schlumberger - Denver, CO - Drilling & Measurements Maintenance Intern.. working with Operations. (Primary concern here is I assume I will be stuck in the Southwest region for the foreseeable future if offered full-time due to petroleum industry? Probably great pay though.)</p>

<p>-Amazon - various locations - Facilities intern (sort of a technical pre-management position)
Unfortunately Amazon doesn't place much value on an MBA if you try to pursue it while currently employed by them.</p>

<p>-PepsiCo - Chicago, IL - Integrated Supply Chain Future leaders Intern - corporate location</p>

<p>-GE - various locations - EID Manufacturing Intern - working in Energy Management division... very little detail on job description as they don't place you till after you sign.</p>

<p>-Boeing - Charleston, SC - Supply Chain Intern - Commercial Airplanes division.</p>

<p>Will appreciate any input! Sorry if tl:dr.</p>

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<p>Well, first off, congratulations on all those offers! That’s great that you have so many options to choose from. As far as going from IE To SCM, I think you’re going to have an advantage over other SCM people. You’ll have that technical background with you already which can really come in handy in Supply Chain roles while every one else will be working on developing theirs. Starting salary shouldn’t be an issue, with those companies, your entry level salary in supply chain should be around 50-60k. </p>

<p>Now as far as choosing where to go, it really all depends on which direction you want to head into. Start researching online about these positions and go to glassdoor.com to look at the reviews of these companies. Personally, I would do GE > Schlum > Boeing > Pepsico > Amazon. </p>

<p>GE is a massive company and will have lots of career opportunities, if you’re worried about being stuck in Energy, don’t be. Lots of opportunities to move around.</p>

<p>Don’t know much about Schlum, but after researching it sounds pretty good.</p>

<p>Boeing is pretty solid, the only reason I have them in the #3 spot is because I actually know some people that have worked there and they didn’t really like it due to the culture and the fact that job security is a big issue there.</p>

<p>PepsiCo, personally, when I interviewed with them I got the vibe that they hated their jobs. The guy and the lady interviewing with me seemed like they didn’t want to be there and didn’t even tell me what they did until I had to ask them, to which I got a two sentence response from both. I’m probably being biased here but that’s my take. As far as the company itself, I’m sure it’s great!</p>

<p>Lastly, Amazon. I would stay away from this one just because I’ve heard it’s a nightmare working there from friends that interned there. They don’t treat employees too well.</p>

<p>Hope I was able to help!</p>

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<p>I appreciate the feedback!</p>

<p>At the moment I kind of rank them a bit different due to other reasons… location and some concerns with the jobs.</p>

<p>Honestly I have</p>

<p>1) PepsiCo/Boeing at the top…
3) Schlumberger right behind (would be number 1 easily if not for the long term potential of staying out west… but I might have to get over that fact… long term the best money… might be harder to transition into management in the maintenance type role though compared to SMC or traditional IE role)
4) Amazon
5) GE (although a great company to work for they are being very difficult in terms of telling me a location and refusing to give an extension… which I have had no problem getting with the other offers… so that has turned me off big time… they do pay the most… very very slightly… but hard to commit to someone if they won’t give me a clue where I’ll be)</p>

<p>I actually just got an offer with Eaton and received an interview with Apple for a business/operations position… Eaton is a big company, but I’m not sure if it ranks up there with those other 5. Apple is very intriguing but I don’t know if its all that glamorous unless you are a computer engineer/EE/CS major.</p>