I’m a current sophomore in mechanical engineering. I was recently offered an engineering co-op with Harley Davidson for the upcoming spring semester. I am on the formula sae team at my university and my dream is to work in the automotive industry some day. I am confident the Harley position will be a great experience but the prospect of leaving college and living Milwaukee away from friends and family for 8 months is slightly daunting. In addition I would be behind my peers in terms of the classes I’m taking and would delay graduation by a semester.
Does anyone have advice/experience related to engineering co-ops they completed in college? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!
My brother was an EE major and did a co-op. It took him longer to graduate, but he graduated debt-free and w an impressive CV after all the interning experience. He had many desirable job offers when he graduated.
Those opportunities don’t come along everyday. When you are ultimately looking for your dream job you’ll be competing against lots of other candidates with good grades and course background. An HD coop will make your application stand out. Plus, it’s a great test balloon for what it will be like once you graduate. I’m not an engineer, but I did do an internship in a lab away from home that lasted a summer and a semester. It was a great experience.
If you had attended a coop school like Northeastern or Drexel you would not fall behind as everyone does coop and the school’s culture is built around it.
Yes, I’d say Do It. I know there are disadvantages and possibly even sublet hassles (if you live off campus). But it sounds like a terrific opportunity.
I opted to not do a Semester In Industry (co-op) as Mech Engineering student 30+ years ago. My reasoning was simlar to yours. I lucked out and found summer co-ops instead… not easy to find. But really a longer assignment would have been more useful.
I did a co-op stint as a sophomore many, many years ago now and I agree that it is daunting, similar to how going away to college was. I didn’t know anyone at all in the town I was going to! After a week or so, I was settled in and now look back on it as one of the best experiences of my life. I was young, had few responsibilities, doing work that I liked to do, learned a lot about being an engineer, had good money (for a 19 year old) in my pocket…plus I didn’t have to study all the time!!
Ask them if they will have other students arriving there on assignment at the same time - they will probably be in the same boat as you will be in. I met a couple of guys starting the same day as me in the lobby who became my roommates and friends. The company I co-oped also had regular co-op events. Remember, they want to have a good experience so you will come back there after you graduate.
Harley Davidson would be up there with the best of them if I were a MechEng… It has ‘name recognition’ that makes for instant conversation starters during interviews. Many of my friends are Harley riders.
Milwaukee is a very nice place (for a few months at least :)) and depending where you come from, a big change. An 8 month long gig is definitely worth it. Also keep in mind Harley uses many of the same suppliers the automakers use so you’ll have plenty of networking expertise.
(beer… well… There’s Ford’s Louisville Assembly plant and bourbon…)
My son did coop and it really helped him get a job right after graduation. My niece is doing a coop this semester and she has found it valuable for experience and also to help her figure out what she does NOT want to do after graduation.