<p>Our S called yesterday about some summer options he's considering. He's been offered an internship/fellowship at NASA to program robots (with about 200+ other interns) in Newport News,VA. He's also been offered a fellowship to continue to analyze speech in the lab he's been working at all year & will continue to work at next year. He's also waiting to hear back from several private industry internships he applied at this summer. Ideally, he wants to try one of the private industry jobs to see what the fit is like & possibly see if he gets a job offer upon graduation. NASA needs to hear back by Wednesday morning; the college will keep his position available until he decides & offer it back to him in the fall as well.</p>
<p>I suggested he contact the internships he's waiting to hear back from to see whether any of them can give him the status of his application and the likelihood they can offer him a position, explaining that he's weighing the other two options but would really love to work for company X. He was taken by this suggestion and will contact each of them & his friends to see if he can get some answers. I told him once he has that info, we should talk again Monday evening.</p>
<p>Anyone have more thoughts about this? Anyone know anything about the NASA internship? Would love to have more insights and we're tickled that he has options in this economy.</p>
<p>There’s a board for internships around here so you might want to move your post over there (if that’s possible). My feeling is that school and government internships move earlier than companies do and it’s kind of a pain that you have to decide early on some when something better might come along later. I think that it’s good to do research and company internships if the opportunities arise. Internships during the school year are great too.</p>
<p>If he’s already worked at the lab and will work there next year, you can X that one out. It’s a good idea to get a new experience if possible, so NASA is great or one of the private ones. I wasn’t aware that there was still hiring going on; it seems like most of the companies choose their interns in the fall for the following summer!</p>
<p>Thanks for these thoughts. I have re-posted this thread in the internship spot I had never known existed before this. Thanks BCEagle! S sure hopes there is still hiring going on, as he put out his apps in Jan/Feb and was waiting to hear back. Will see what he learns when he tries to follow up this weekend.</p>
<p>The advantage of the U’s lab is they will keep his position available and he doesn’t have to let them know until the last minute. It’s the NASA one he has to give a firm reply about, by Wednesday morning.</p>
<p>S does think working with robots would be fun & interesting. He was just thinking that “private industry” would be a change from the academic settings he has been working in – last summer & during the school year. NASA does have a certain cachet. I’m just excited & happy for him that he even has choices!</p>
<p>He definitely picked a good major. There are many reports of students that have sent out large numbers of applications with nothing to show for them on the other board.</p>
<p>Yea, if he doesn’t have firm positive news from any of the private firms when he makes his inquiries this weekend and Monday, we’ll probably encourage him to take the NASA option. I have heard of others that are having a tough time finding internship positions, even in EE with this economy.</p>
<p>Thanks again. Spoke with S today & he’s finalizing details for his NASA job this summer. He sounds pretty happy about it and in retrospect, I think he was mostly wanting approval from us to go ahead & give it a try, even tho it wouldn’t pay as much as he could have made if he stayed in LA to work. It should be an interesting experience & I hope he has a good group to work with – NASA employees & other interns.</p>
<p>It seems as though NASA would bear a far closer semblance to private industry than the college lab which bears very little (but would also be good). It sounds like a pretty cool experience and opportunity to me. The chance to live in another part of the country for a few months is a plus also.</p>
<p>Yea, we think so. He was mainly hoping that something interesting would pop up from the many applications he sent out to private industry, hoping for a summer internship. I believe many have cut back/frozen their internships/hiring and are even “shedding” positions instead, given the current economic chaos. We’re all happy with his choice, for the reasons you stated & more. He is excited and realizes it is a great opportunity.</p>
<p>“I wasn’t aware that there was still hiring going on; it seems like most of the companies choose their interns in the fall for the following summer!”</p>
<p>Really? Around here (Quebec), companies start posting job offers in late January/early February for the following summer and they continue doing so until late April. Last summer, I signed my internship contract on April 20th and I started working on May 5th. A good friend of mine passed his interview on May 1st, after his last final, got a call back on the 2nd telling him he got the job and started working on the 5th!</p>
<p>I still haven’t found anything yet (I’m also in EE) for this summer, but I’m still hoping…</p>
<p>S was still sending in apps at least in late January & probably later. He still hadn’t heard back from firms when he was offered the NASA internship & had to let them know by today if he wanted the position, so he took it. I did suggest he contact the other companies & ask them whether they had any firm offer for him to consider before accepting the NASA one but since he didn’t mention any, I’m assuming none materialized yet.</p>
<p>This is his 2nd internship – last summer he was hired at the recommendation of a friend when the friend did an internship at MIT & wanted S to hold his job for him in HI. I believe it is generally easier to get good internship options but the current economy makes things a bit tougher to call.</p>
<p>Our son applied for his summer internship in March and heard back in early April. One of my nieces heard back from Harvard for her internship late March or early April. A scan of indeed.com for internships in our area shows a few companies still looking for interns. Our son should have applied for one of those as it sounds like a great opportunity.</p>
<p>He’s still seeing emails from the manager of his tutoring center and from his department from companies in the local area looking for part-time workers and summer interns. It seems that being on the right email lists at the university sends more opportunities to students.</p>
<p>“He was just thinking that “private industry” would be a change from the academic settings he has been working in” </p>
<p>I emphatically agree with this. I have a son going into EE from high school. When we talk about summer jobs, my advice to him is: go work for an electrical contractor. If he is going to claim to be an electron expert, I’d like to see him wire a house. Learn about what it means to contribute to the “bottom line” of a small business or any business. Beyond that, learn about working with a crew and leadership. Interested in making money? Leadership, after passion, in my estimation, is where the money is.</p>
<p>Fuddman - my H would agree with you about go and work for an electrical contractor. H is an EE (masters in EE) and has been working for more than 30 years. His complaint in the last few years with young EEs he has hired is the lack of hands on experience many of them have.</p>
<p>H did a summer internship many years ago at NASA Goddard and still has friends from there he has kept in touch with!</p>
<p>We will have to see whether S has any oppportunities to get a job in private industry–perhaps that won’t happen until after he graduates. We hope he has many options as we hope everyone does.</p>