Importance of job vs. internships while in school?

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

<p>Here's my situation: I have a bachelor's in journalism and am working full-time while working part-time on a bachelor's in mechanical engineering (my true calling). </p>

<p>Things are going well, but my main concern is that working prevents me from investing the time for extra clubs and activities to sharpen my engineering skills outside of class, and also prevents an internship. The job I currently do has nothing to do with engineering, though I work for a very supportive company with great benefits (including a gov't clearance). So when I graduate, I will not have much outside engineering experience, but I will have 7+ years of work experience with great references from my bosses.</p>

<p>The question is, how concerned should I be with working more things into my free time to boost my practical engineering skills vs. just keeping things steady as they are? I am earning good grades (3.8 major gpa, 3.7 overall). Will the grades and work experience alone be enough to give me a shot at top-level companies?</p>

<p>Any advice/experience is appreciated!</p>

2

<p>I don’t think you’ve taken into account that you have a government clearance. That is really important in engineering which means the companies will hire you first because you have clearance. A lot of new engineers can’t start their real work because they are not cleared. You’re already 6 months ahead of the game since you’ve qualified for clearance.</p>