Looking for advice about internships.

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Hello!

I am a 27 year old junior attending Missouri States engineering co-op with Missouri S&T. My major is in civil engineering and my GPA is around 3.5. I plan to graduate in spring of 2018.

As I get closer to graduating I have started to get a lot of anxiety about a job after graduation. I currently drive a semi truck round trip from Missouri to Arizona on the weekends. I have been at the company for 4 years and have a perfect record with about 600k miles if it matters. This allows me to attend school full-time throughout the week. I need this income to support myself as I do not have any family or friends that would be able to support me.

A lot of my peers are starting to get jobs or internships in the engineering field. I have been told that job experience in the engineering field is vastly more important than GPA. I would try to get something this summer, but my girlfriend experienced a job loss and her car dying at the same time about 6 months ago. This led me to allow her to use my car for her current job as I rarely ever drive anywhere. I think this would make it hard to get an internship this summer if I don’t have a car for transportation. The combination of not having a car and already having a job makes me unsure as to how I would be able to handle a 2nd job in an engineering field.

This would leave me only next summer (2017) to get an internship. I need to really stand out in some way I feel like if someone was to consider me. My peers that received jobs/internships seemed to have a friend or family member that worked at the company. I’m not calling them incapable, but it is sometimes who you know.

How would one go about making connections with potential employers? How could I stand out? Should I even bother to tell them about my current job? In my experience, most people seem to look down on truck drivers. I feel like they will think I am stupid.

I don’t know exactly what advice to ask for, but if you were in my situation what would you do?

I apologize for this being rather lengthy. The anxiety I have been getting lately due to college debt starting to pile up and the thought of not getting an engineering job/having to deal with driving a truck in the winter months has started to negatively impact my studies.

Thanks much!

2

Your girlfriend needs to get her own car. That is nice that you loaned yours to her, but now you need it back.

3

If I were you, I would definitely start looking for an internship now. Beef up your LinkedIn profile, and make sure it says that you are actively looking for an internship or part-time job in engineering. Actively search too. Part of the anxiety is probably because you don’t know where to start.

Employers definitely won’t look down on you for being a truck driver. They may be hesitant because you don’t have experience in your field, but at the very least at least you can show that you some work experience. Focus on transferable skills. You are a truck driver so you have to be vigilant, have good attention to detail, have good time management skills etc. The other thing you can do to compensate for your lack of experience would be to emphasize your coursework on your resume and in interviews. Talk about the projects you’ve worked on, either for classes or extracurriculars. Be prepared to talk about what relevant coursework you have that would make you a fit for an internship position.

Not having a car could potentially pose a problem, but I don’t know why you can’t say to your girlfriend that you’ll need your car back? If that really isn’t an option try to look for jobs within a manageable distance via public transportation I suppose.

As far as having connections, you’re not wrong in that it’s definitely easier to get a job that way. It is frustrating to not have that route, but there are definitely ways to make your own connections. Search for jobs on LinkedIn or Internships.com or Looksharp.com. Reach out to recruiters at companies you would like to work at. If they don’t have any open jobs in engineering listed on their website, tell them that you would be interested in an engineering position and see if they have anything available. If you can, go to career fairs, introduce yourself to employers, and make a connection that way.

Another option for you would be simply doing informational interviews. Do a bit of research on LinkedIn. Find someone like an alumni from your school who is working in engineering at a company you would be interested in working at (They have alumni groups on LinkedIn that could help you out). Tell them that you would like to learn more about what they do, the company they work for, and the best ways to get started in first time positions in engineering. While you might not get a job out of it, they could definitely offer some insight, and you would then have a connection to reach out to later if something did open up at their company.

I’ll be honest, none of this guarantees that you get a job, but at the very least you can open some doors and make some connections. If they don’t hire you for an internship now, leave the connection open, say you appreciate their time and would love to stay in contact in case something opens up in the future. (Especially jobs when you graduate).

I hope you find something!

4

Go to your career services at your school and see if they can be of any help. They may not be for engineering unless they have a big program but they may have some company connections to get you started. They may also know the companies that will come to their career fairs which is a way to meet employers thru their HR recruiters.

I assume next summer you will be a rising Sr which is the summer most companies want interns. Companies start looking as early as Sept though more around Dec. Set up alerts with linkedin and Indeed to have them email you intern ship ads as they become available.

Consider working with a temp agency such as Aerotek also to look for internships though they usually have more jobs.

Last, make sure your resume has specific skills you have acquired listed thru projects. This way, it shows you have experience, just not internship experience.