<p>I tried really hard to get a summer internship(and still am), but with the economy and lack of opportunity my current school provides, I will probably not get one.</p>
<p>So I will possibly be entering my Junior year of university in the Fall without an internship or co-op or any form of experience in the field I am majoring in(civil engineering). If I want to graduate in 4 years I will be graduating with only 1 summer internship under my belt.</p>
<p>How screwed am I? Should I get an internship after graduation instead of a real job? Should I get do a Co-op and graduate a bit later?</p>
<p>i have a similar question, since i am going to be a transfer student (change of major as well), I will have to take this summer for classes…</p>
<p>possibly summer between junior and senior i could maybe get an internship, but do students normally get ANOTHER internship after graduation or…?</p>
<p>and How much is a student at a disadvantage if he does not have an internship upon graduation…and…how much of an advantage is 2 internships at 2 different places?</p>
<p>My son is in the same boat. He must have sent his resume to 25 or 30 firms/companies in our area with no results and often not even a response. He’s so discouraged and disappointed…</p>
<p>You are not screwed. While of course more experience is better, I know some people who only had that junior year internship before graduation and everything turned out well.</p>
<p>What is your thinking behind getting an internship after graduation? I can’t see that working out unless you’re going to grad school immediately following undergrad. Students do not normally get an internship after graduation.</p>
<p>Without ANY internships by graduation, I’d say the student is at a significant disadvantage. Employers will choose the candidate with experience over the one without experience (all other things being equal, or even similar).</p>
<p>Having an internships provides 3 advantages:
It gives you real world experience so you know if you want to work in this field or not.
It shows potential employers that you can work in the real world with others.
If you’re applying to these companies you interned at for full time positions, you will have a leg up on candidates who did not previously work there. Also, it provides you with networking opportunities that you can take advantage of if you choose to work in a different but related field.</p>
<p>Have you tried looking at postings the school puts up in the department? At my college, they have like eight billboards, all internships or research for either engineering or CS, specifically for students and who have no-to-little experience.</p>
<p>I also think the best advice is to start small. A lot of people try to immediately get internships at the top places, but until you have experience, it’s easier to start at small local places and work your way up.</p>
<p>"Can you try to work in a professor’s lab over this summer? At least that would be some sort of experience applying your engineering knowledge. "</p>
<p>I’ll give it a try.</p>
<p>“I can’t see that working out unless you’re going to grad school immediately following undergrad.”</p>
<p>Well thats what I plan on doing.</p>
<p>“Have you tried looking at postings the school puts up in the department?”</p>
<p>Theres only 1 internship opening through my school’s Career Services and the postings put up by the college of engineering are usually internships with big electrical/computer companies.</p>
<p>"If you don’t have intern experience, some kind of work experience (paid or unpaid) is the next best thing. "</p>
<p>Yeah, thats what I’ll be doing this summer since summer classes are limited due to budget cuts</p>
<p>Call your state’s department of transportation and possibly Corps of Engineers. I know that my DOT was constantly looking for more civil engineers.</p>
<p>Just curious how common this difficulty getting an internship/ work experience is and does it vary by school/rank vs student rank within a program. In other words do all students at top ranked schools have less difficulty finding internships vs top students in any program having less difficulty?</p>
<p>I think good places to start for an engineer entering junior year are state govt, local utility companies. They will both be looking to hire a lot of kids without much experience. Will offer lower wages than big companies, but still competitive. </p>
<p>Summer before junior year, I interned at one of the big utility companies in Michigan making like $16/hour. In the fall of my junior year I was offered a co-op at a Fortune 25 company that nearly doubled my wage at the power company. I’ve been here for four months and have four to go. Wouldn’t have gotten this job without that first internship.</p>
<p>"how common this difficulty getting an internship/ work experience is and does it vary by school/rank vs student rank within a program. "</p>
<p>I can answer part of this question.</p>
<p>I’m a top ranked student at a low ranked school. I had HUGE difficulties finding an internship and ended up taking an REU. I know mid range students at a top school in the same state with multiple offers.</p>
<p>I actually got my first job with my state DOT. While it didn’t pay well, it was a good learning experience. The DOT’s might be one of the few places looking to increase staff nowadays. They probably need more people to manage the design and construction of all the infrastructure projects that now suddenly have funding.</p>
<p>Companies tend to hire from schools it has had good experiences with. At two companies that I’ve worked with, they both hired from one “third tier” school, but not another “third tier school”, both of which are located in the same area. It has more to do with the quality of the alumni rather than the ranking of the school.</p>
<p>In my experience a lot of places don’t necessarily care so much about where you go to school, but they only end up sending out job announcements to places that they have a history with. An engineering school that turns out a lot of good engineers is going to have many more contacts within the industry to send the announcement to their alma mater than a worse school.</p>
<p>Huh. I’m not planning on getting an internship or co-op before graduating, and I’m not concerned in the least. I guess I am planning on graduate school right after undergrad, and I might try to squeeze in some sort of internship in there, but… I guess I’m just hoping that my academics, research, and teaching experience speak for themselves.</p>
<p>Well, I wasn’t really asking for advice. I was just letting the OP know that not everybody worries about things like that… I certainly don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>Like I said, I may get an internship during the Summer between undergrad and grad school, just to have something to do, get some money, and put something on a resume.</p>
<p>I know people who have had internships or co-ops and those who haven’t, and it’s a very mixed bag. Some of the very best of us don’t plan on having any experience like that, and some of the bottom-of-the-barrel have already got several semesters under their belts. Of course, a few of the best have had some experience, and there are always those who don’t do anything.</p>
<p>I think an internship or co-op is something good to have if you want it, but if you’re just doing it to slap something on a resume… well, I guess it’s just not for me. I know plenty of people who have been hired to excellent jobs without previous experience.</p>
<p>Don’t count on this. Note that many employers require as a condition of eligibility that you are currently enrolled in an institution. I have known people that weren’t able to find work in the summer between because of this.</p>