<p>I am wondering if either a government internship or an internship with a large or small engineering company is more prestigious? Where would students likely get more responsibility? Which would be a better learning experience? Who pays better? Which would be more fun?</p>
<p>Does anybody have any experiences to share?</p>
<p>(cross-posted on the jobs forum)</p>
<p>A large engineering firm will almost always pay more than the other ones. Government jobs from top to bottom have relatively low wages, but they do get good benefits. I've worked both in government and in a small engineering firm, but the fields were somewhat different so it's difficult to compare. </p>
<p>For New York State DOT, i worked as a construction inspector after my freshman year in college during the summer. they gave me more and more responsibility slowly until i inspected small jobs by myself. After a while, things started getting reptitive, I wasn't satisfied with the pay, and I didn't feel like I could get much more out of the job experience-wise.</p>
<p>I went on to work for a small traffic engineering firm, where the responsibility was less. Then again, I don't know how much more responsibility you can get than inspecting a construction site by yourself (esp. when I was only 18/19). my responsibilities in this firm was more or less quality control (i.e. checking numbers, data entry) and surverying (going into the field to collect various information). </p>
<p>I don't think you can really generalize too much about learning experiences and fun though. It really varies a lot on the specific employer, which is why you should look at job descriptions if they have it listed or ask them what you'll be doing during the interviews.</p>
<p>Thanks ken285. Money isn't really a big factor for our son, but we would like him to have a meaningful experience especially since he would be giving up a really cool job to do it. I appreciate your input! :)</p>