<p>Alright, I am going in to my last year of engineering school and landed my self an internship with a construction firm. When I accepted the internship, I was informed that I would be working a lot of overtime and nights. that being said, I wasn't as well informed on my daily tasks and what projects I'd be working on. After about 5 weeks of working in the field doing the heavy lifting and actually working with the construction crew, I have had little involvement with the engineer on site. I was under the impression that I would be working closely with the engineer and project managers. was this the wrong impression to have going into this internship or have I just been tricked into being cheap labor with the title of an intern? Please help! I'm starting to believe I'm being used.</p>
<p>Trust me, learning how to do labor will come in handy and all those muscles will help with the ladies too 
lol. </p>
<p>that said the very description of an intern is to do work no one else wants to do and it will also help you learn common commands in the construction world. don’t sweat it and go with the flow, it will help build good skills in the long run.</p>
<p>That doesn’t quite sound right. It’s not something I’ve experienced, but I’ve only worked for union contractors.</p>
<p>At this point, do you really have any other options though? Other companies probably won’t be hiring any more this late. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to do; sure beats doing nothing. You still get exposure to the industry and learn about it. </p>
<p>I think this could be a question you could eventually bring up with the people that gave you the internship. While I am familiar with the idea that interns often do the work no one wants to do, an internship should also build up your skills and be more than just a name on a paper. Perhaps show them your past work and prove to them that you are capable of working with the engineers and the project designers.</p>
<p>At an internship I was at, at first I was assigned to the tough manual stuff, but then as time progressed, I got to work with some upper level people because they wanted me to explore the “base” first. I’d probably at least stay with it, unless there are serious time commitment issues, and talk to the people there.</p>
<p>Ask your faculty or internship coordinator. They’ll have a good perspective, as well as advice. It’s not that you don’t want to work, but you want internship experience that keeps you competitive with your peers. </p>
<p>Even if you are being used, you will be better from it. The biggest complaint about engineers is that they don’t know any real world applications coming out of school. All theory, they don’t understand construction. I know structural engineers who will graduate with a masters who have never seen welding, don’t know what a cherry picker is and can’t read structural drawings. A future full time employer will LOVE this experience. Trust me, I worked at a fabrication yard and did my time, and used that to boost my way up to design firm and WAY better pay. </p>
<p>This is good experience. There is a lot to learn from the construction crews. Do not make the mistake of thinking you are smarter than they are. You may be more educated, but not necessarily smarter. </p>
<p>I agree that it is good experience. I am a structural engineer and wish I had more time in construction. It will look good on your resume!</p>