I just finished my third year of chemical engineering, applied for around 100 internship openings throughout the school year, and got to none. The internship openings varied throughout the nation and in terms of company prestige. I also went through all the career fairs and talks with industry but there was always someone better than me and now I’m out of school for the summer and I’m yearning for something to do and need advice on what that something is. Should I continue my job search to try to get industry experience even though 99% of the summer internship positions have been filled? Should I go work at random jobs in order to stave off my student loans? Summer school really isn’t an option for me at this point because I don’t have the money for it. It also doesn’t help that I didn’t perform well my third year of school and now I feel like I’m just sick of college. Most of the job positions now in engineering also are for people with degrees and for people who have much experience in AutoCAD/other software I wasn’t introduced to yet.
I feel like such a failure that I’m thinking about taking next year off for a year long internship somewhere when things aren’t as competitive. Is this a good route? What should I do for this summer? My GPA is still semigood (a little above 3.0) but my interest in school has drained almost completely.
Family member struggled with electrical engineering but did graduate. Got a paid internship AFTER graduation that led to a full time position. Don’t give up.
No, I’m recommending that you start getting some kind of research equivalent experience in ChemE whether it’s a student job or independent study or whatever.
Get whatever job you can find for the summer to make some money. Do not take a year off. Work hard next year and finish up strong. You will find a job. Not all employers are looking for perfect grades - sometimes a good fit is more important to them.
School computer labs often have these types of programs installed for students. They might be restricted to students that are taking courses that require that software though.
So here’s my usual pitch. Look for a job that grows your experience in other areas of engineering. I am always pitching the craigslist. Look under arch/engineering in your part of the country. Apply to any Eng tech job or even office assistant, look through the manufacturing section or skilled trades and try and find something that shows you had to think like an engineer. Not necessarily a Chem Eng.
I know for fact that there are slews of jobs right now for people to sell Solar power. Search Solar in the craigslist or even other local job sites like zip recruiter. It may be out of your comfort zone but thats what internships are about. Trying things for the summer to see if they are worth continuing
I believe there is government rebates so there is a flood of companies selling it. Apply to sell solar for the summer and learn what it is like to be on the side of a business that must be promoted. Sales and customer experience is valuable and can go on your resume. At my son’s school, the class in solar energy is in the Chem Eng dept.
And no, don’t take off a year, just finish your degree. You will be more attractive to company as a graduate than a Jr. Good luck!
Thanks for the advice, everyone. I’m also super frustrated about how I keep doing my best in school and keep getting average grades. The average grade for my courses is a C+ and I can’t seem to do anything to get above that no matter how hard I try. It just doesn’t make sense how everyone’s saying to me to keep a GPA above a 3.0 but then the professors in universities assign half their students grades below that standard! Plus, the median age of my chemical engineering courses is 24/25 and so most of the people there are people who’ve had internships and who’ve had more experience than I do in the field.