<p>I've finished my first quarter post-transfer at my university (UC San Diego). I am concerned due to the things I have heard that most companies only look for interns in the fall session, and that I will be unable to find an internship over the summer as a result. I'm technically a junior, but as my community college didn't offer any engineering core courses, I had to take the sophomore-level courses in my major (ChemE) this year, so I'll be here for three years total.</p>
<p>A complicating factor is that my school has absolutely nothing in the way of resources for my major. The engineering department here is heavily focused towards CS and Bio engineering, but their ChemE program, while accredited, has very little in the way of industry connections (At the fall engineering job fair, out of 200+ companies, only ten or so were recruiting in my major). Additionally, this city in general seems to have nothing as far as industry goes (I have no interest in biology or medical fields). I attempted to go to the career center for help and all they gave me was a "Keep looking on the job board for postings" without any assistance or advice.</p>
<p>I have no family in engineering or friends outside the programming industry, so I don't really have any idea what the field's like in the real world. What kinds of places should I be looking for to apply to? I know of the obvious larger companies, but most of them don't recruit here since the program isn't very well known. I thought about smaller companies, but I honestly don't know what kinds of small companies to look to. Do smaller companies take on interns for paid positions?</p>
<p>I have had past work experience (I worked for about 5-6 years out of high school in various jobs, including a few years in the legal field) in a completely unrelated field, but the few recruiters I spoke with at the job fair said they really emphasize technical experience. Yet, I really can't think of any side project that I can do on my own relating to my major.</p>
<p>Indeed and engineerjobs.com are both good places to look for internships, especially the second one because you can choose your major and filter by internships. Just keep putting your resume out there, good luck</p>
<p>I also attend a school where the ChemE department is heavily focused on the biomolecular aspect. Since youre in San Diego, I was immediately going to suggest the biotech industry, but youre like me and dont want any part of that, so I understand the situation. Having only 10 out of 200 recruiting for ChemE is entirely a plausible scenario. Theres never a demand for a large quantity of ChemEs in the same way there is for mechanical, civil, and electric. So companies end up being much choosier and tend to pull from top programs. Of the 10, were most of them looking at biotech, or did you get to that number after eliminating those? If its 10 thats specifically recruiting for what you want to do, then youre not in that terrible of a situation, theres definitely worse places you could be. </p>
<p>Smaller companies do take on interns, obviously. You just need to adjust what your expectations are. Salaries could be very low in comparison to what you can expect at larger companies. And unfortunately the company size scenario is a lot different for ChemEs. Theres a lower likelihood youll get direct process engineering experience which Im sure is what you want, but taking the job will put you in a better situation than having nothing at all. Theres need for processor engineers all over the country, but they are obviously concentrated in certain areas. Two key examples are the oil and gas industry along the gulf coast and the pulp and paper industry in the southeast due to the types of wood used in the process. </p>
<p>Once youre able to break into your first job that definitely changes the game entirely. And thats the hardest part. Its difficult to do side projects the same way people in the computer industry can, since anything useful we do involves multi-million dollar infrastructure. Practicing your process modeling skills with things like HYSYS is one obvious route, one of your only options honestly. I know this is not what you want to hear, but I would try keeping my GPA as high as possible and consider graduate school as a way of breaking out of your bind. You could apply to schools located near the industry you are interested in for the connections.</p>
<p>Nate09: I was thinking grad school would be most likely since I’m aiming to work in the semiconductor industry, and most of the people I’ve spoken to in that field say they heavily prefer MS/Ph.D graduates.</p>
<p>I was also considering just working on general programming projects on the side since having programming ability can’t really hurt. At one point, I was considering a CS minor until the advising department informed me engineering majors weren’t allowed to minor in anything else in the engineering school (which CS is a part of in this university).</p>
<p>I didn’t hear back about my first internship until late in the winter. You have to call HR departments and get interviews that way. With no relevant work experience at just an average school there won’t be people knocking down doors to get ahold of you. But if you put yourself out there you have a shot. Its all about contacts.</p>