It’s important that you know in your freshman year on knowing how to get an engineering internship. The sooner you can get an engineering internship while studying engineering, the easier it will be to land a high paying engineering job when you finish school. There’s no way around this. Companies do not want to see a straight A student with zero engineering internship experience.
February 29, 2024Apply For As Many Engineering Internships As You Can
If you don’t have an engineering internship, or even if you currently have one, always apply for jobs. This puts you in an abundance mindset and not so reliant on your employer for your job. If you currently have an internship, this is a way for you to find a better paying one.
Apply on search engines such as Indeed, Linkedin, and most importantly through your school portal. Your school will likely have a section geared towards job opportunities and internships. Using your school portal already helps narrow the field because employers reach out to school specifically for interns.
Action – Just go on Indeed.com and type in engineering internship and start your search!
Take the comparison of using a site that everyone uses such as Indeed vs. your school portal – which engine do you think will show your application to your future employer? (Hint – it’s not something as huge as Indeed with over 200 million unique visitors each month)
Applying to engineering internships is really all a numbers game. Expect to apply to hundreds of engineering internships and not hear back at all.
Learn how to write an engineering resume and get to applying!
Reach Out To Your Faculty For Engineering Internships
Your professor has gone to engineering school – they know actual engineers in the industry. Some professors have good relationships with hiring managers, use this to your advantage. I’ve had professors reach out to their colleagues for engineering internships on my behalf. Make sure you do well in your classes and leave a good impression and your professor can be a valuable resource to you, both inside and outside the classroom.
Get Into Engineering Memberships
Yes, seriously. Get involved with the engineering community at your school. Along with making friends and establishing a network within your school, you get to hear about opportunities that your colleagues are having.
“Oh, Joe has an internship at Nasa, you should reach out to him”
“I heard she got an internship at Boeing without any experience, see what she did”
Socialize with your colleagues and these are some of the conversations you can expect to have.
A couple of good engineering memberships are Society of Automotive Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and Tau Beta Pi. Don’t overdo it on the memberships – just these three and you will be fine. Additionally, Society of Women’s Engineers has great opportunities for networking and career fairs, that many of my colleagues have gotten opportunities at.
Keep Your GPA As High As Possible
Anything goes in this world. Although being successful in this world is not all about book smarts, GPA is important. There are engineering employers such as Northrop Grumman that do emphasize a certain GPA for their recruiters and hiring managers, as many that are in Northrop Grumman have high GPAs. Having a high GPA will also make you confident when it comes to job applications. As someone who’s reviewed hundreds of resumes, I see many who are uncomfortable with putting their GPA on their resume. As a recruiter, if I don’t see GPA on a resume, I immediately assume that their grades are not the best.
Do As Many Engineering Projects As You Can
Employers love engineering projects. In the industry, work is mainly all project oriented. These will come if you join an engineering membership like the Society of Automotive Engineers, where you can work on Formula or BAJA vehicles. Try working on something personal that really interests you – this can be something as simple as a temperature sensing device, an Arduino programmed robot, or a remote controlled drone. YouTube is your friend. You can find a wide variety of projects, make some of your own personal tweaks, then showcase that as your own personal project. You can then make a website, add to your portfolio, along with your other academic achievements, and voila! Then you have a solid portfolio and you won’t need to worry about getting an engineering internship!
If you want to know how to do well in an internship so that you can land a job at the company you’re interning at, check out: 12 Tips On How To Do Well In An Internship
About the author
Kazuyoshi Fujimoto, PE
Founder | Engineering Career Coach | Principal Mechanical Engineer
Kazu oversees all of ultmeche’s engineering services. He provides consulting such as resume reviews, rewrites, mock interviews, and all services career related. Additionally, Kazu performs consulting work regarding Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense. Kazu is licensed as a professional engineer in the state of California and has 9+ years of experience in Oil & Gas, Automotive, and Aerospace & Defense.
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