Graduate internships (engineering)

<p>So, I'm a couple of years into an engineering Ph.D and have decided that this summer is the one for internships. My advisor says he'll let me go for awhile if it's a good opportunity.</p>

<p>However, I'm a little nervous because I'm on my own to find positions: I missed the career fair due to being out of town on research and my advisors' old students' companies/departments don't sponsor interns. I'm just applying online to a few good-fit openings at this point, but these seem to be black holes for resumes - no matter how good it seems.</p>

<p>My question is, then, has anyone actually gotten an internship through an online posting on a company website? I actually don't have an example myself of this happening, as it is very common here for students to get jobs either through old students or connections the advisor has.</p>

<p>I got an internship at a biotech company by applying online, but I later learned there were about 200 applicants per position available.</p>

<p>Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of. How long did it take between you applying and them contacting you? This process is a bit foreign to me as I obtained my previous internships during my undergrad years through informal means.</p>

<p>About 6 weeks to contact me, and they contacted me 2 weeks before I was supposed to start. It was very hectic.</p>

<p>Yes, but I’d be willing to guess that only about 5-10 of those applicants were even remotely qualified for the position they were applying for. That’s the way the internet has changed things. Any idiot with a computer can apply to any job he/she wishes. I remember I did a group interview this last summer with 10 other people. At first I was like wow this is a lot of competition, but then it turned out that the other 10 people were all morons and I easily got the job. </p>

<p>The reality is that there are currently about 5 unemployed persons for every job opening, and that number includes the entire population, the vast majority of which do not even hold bachelors degrees, yet alone have marketable in-demand skills. You are in the process of getting your PHd in engineering. How many people in the country are doing that right now? A few hundred probably? And how many are looking to gain internship experience this summer in your specialty? Probably a small fraction of them. Don’t be such a downer. You are getting a phd in engineering. That means you have quantitative and technical skills that are in very high demand in the economy, you just need to put forth the effort.</p>

<p>Well, internship season has come and nearly gone. I ended up with two offers: one from a Fortune 100 company and one from a start-up company (10-50 employees category). They both offered about the same amount of money, are located within 20 miles of each other, and offered similar, open-ended projects to work on.</p>

<p>Ultimately, the large company’s offer came less than a week after I had accepted the small company’s offer. I’m a little concerned the small company will look worse on my resume, but I think I’m just happy to be heading somewhere for the summer at this point.</p>

<p>You seem to be always second guessing.</p>

<p>Congratulations! Experience never looks bad on a r</p>

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<p>Hah well, I’m just that kind of person. I don’t think anyone in an engineering Ph.D program is completely steadfast in their decision to forgo years of middle class salaries to have a shot at a different set of jobs. Therefore, every decision I make is viewed through the lens of “is this better than if I had joined [company X] after undergrad?”.</p>

<p>Anyway, just thought I’d share my outcome since reading similar posts here has always been therapeutic for me. Also, thanks Momwaitingfornew!</p>