<p>This year I will be a freshman and will hopefully transfer into Petroleum Engineering by the second semester. Unfortunately the PE career fairs happen on campus in September and I won't be in PE by then. Many major companies don't offer internships to freshman anyways but I definitely know of kids who get PE internships as freshman at different companies through the career fair. </p>
<p>What would be the best way to obtain a summer internship when you probably won't even be in the program until January? E-mailing smaller companies asking about potential opportunities? Going by the career center?</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice I would love to start getting relevant work experience as soon as I can.</p>
<p>The career fairs happen once every semester, so you will have the opportunity to go in the spring.</p>
<p>With that being said, engineering internships, especially in this economy, are hard to come by for even upper-classmen… let alone freshman. This is not to discourage you from trying, but rather to give you perspective from someone who applied and interviewed many times before landing my first internship. Statistics are against you, but don’t let that bring you down.</p>
<p>Some general advice: Wear a suit to the career fair, and get your resume edited by the Career Center (schedule an appointment for free). Bring a ton of resumes, go to all booths for your respective major, and if asked a technical question that you are unsure of, answer with “I’m currently unsure, but I am a quick learner and would enjoy learning about it.” Apply everywhere, utilize all possibilities, and make yourself stand out. These are all things that many freshman and sophomores don’t carry out that they really need to. Good luck.</p>
<p>Whoa easy on the suit there. I would say an open shirt and some nice pants would have you standing out enough at the career fair, it would at my school anyway. A suit would be pretty overkill.</p>
<p>I’m unsure where you go to school, but at the Texas A&M career fair everyone wears a button down shirt with a tie and slacks at the minimum (for guys that is). A suit is something very common to see, so no, wearing an open shirt and some nice pants will make you look bad… you sure would “stand out” though!</p>
<p>Posted before I realized it was in a school specific forum. I’m in PetrE at the University of Alberta. Most people just have their school clothes on, backpack and all, at our career fair. Guess we’re a little more laid back than you guys aha.</p>
<p>…or we take our careers more seriously. If you knew anything about A&M, the normal attire here is very casual, often times too casual. That doesn’t mean you have to dress like a slob at a career fair though.</p>
<p>It depends on how many companies you wish to approach. The SEC (Student Engineers’ Council) who puts on the career fair always posts on their website which companies are coming, and when. I’d see which/how many companies you want to talk to, and probably double that number for the amount of resumes to bring. This way you account for companies you visit that you didn’t originally plan for, as well as the companies that ask for more than one resume (which does happen). It’s always better to have too many resumes than not enough.</p>
<p>I’m a PetE at Texas Tech University and I second the suit. Its the same thing up here, everyone is dressed very nice, and I’d say about a third of all the guys are clad in a nice suit. I wouldn’t go with an Armanti or anything (although I know people who do) but a button-up shirt and slacks is just not impressive. Also do some research before you go, and don’t expect to much. Most internships are for upper-level students, but its a great learning experience for when your time does come.</p>
<p>I am looking for an internship, I am senior in petroleum engineering. But I realize that you have to be referred or know someone in those petroleum companies to get an internship. My phone number is 443-813-3018. My email is <a href="mailto:nagha12@yahoo.fr">nagha12@yahoo.fr</a>
Thanks a lot
romeo12 is online now</p>