Engineering Jobs/Internships

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DBall

New member
Well I know there are some medical rabroadmers here, so I am hoping there are some engineers as well.
I am going into my third year of studying mechanical engineering and am starting the whole internship application process. Ideally I would like to work at a company where I can work in the field as much as possible.

The companies I am applying to so far:
Edison (socal power company)
Boeing
Raytheon
Northrop Grumman
Disney

If anyone has any success in this field share your story.
Thanks SOrabers
 
I had a family meraber who worked for ratheon, one of those guys who never had to study even in college and university, huge intelligence and potential; died at 39 from a heart attack.
 
the interns that work for my step-dad at boeing get payed ~$20 an hour, and they're basically working on projects non-stop. not a bad deal.
 
Boeing would be great to get into, not only is it a great experience but it would be good to have on your resume. What are the intern openings looking like at those companies?
 
Those all sound like good engineering companies to get internships at. However, the aerospace industry fluctuates pretty dramatically so while those companies typically hire a lot of engineers for internships, right now it may not be the easiest place to find one.

Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to apply to as many places as possible and work on your resume/interviews. I went to a job fair on campus and that's where I was able to do a lot of networking and interviews. I'm sure you probably know all of this but I just figured I'd share what worked for me.

Good luck!
 
My brother's friend works for boeing and couldn't be happier.
seriously sounRAB like a rad fracking job.
Im going to either study Mechanical engineering or physics.
How's school going for you OP?
 
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Schools not bad I go to ucla so its pretty rigorous but not bad, my bro just graduated here and is going to med school, he studies a lot more. I recommend engineering over physics. W physics you really need grad school and has a lot of complex theories that ate very interesting but I'd rather design / build things .

Jobs are actually looking good for this field, and I have connections at Boeing and Edison.
 
Aerospace is having a hard time right now, I know many AEs who just graduated and can't find a job. Luckily as and ME you have a lot more opportunities. But getting a internship at any huge national company you can think of off the top of your head is extremely competitive. It's pretty unlikely you'll find one with Boeing/Raytheon/etc. Your best bet would be to find smaller local companies or find out what connections your school has, or even better if you know someone who works in the industry. Even then it's competitive. I'm in my senior year now and have been unable to find an engineering internship each summer. If you're looking for a summer internship, you really should start looking in Jan/Feb because that's when companies start posting their internships.
 
I'd go as far as to say that you should try looking as early as Deceraber and try to have it secured by January/February. I'm a 4th year for AE. As far as finding a job right out of college for AE/ME, you're going to want to diversify your studies/internship/research studies to cover as many engineering sectors as possible. Companies no longer hire separate engineers for each of their engineering processes (with the exception of hugely intensive ME/EE/AE areas). They're looking for an engineer that can cover as many areas as possible. You're also going to have to proactively research companies and reach out to them. If you talk to 20 companies, usually at least 4-5 will send you responses. If you sound interested/knowledgeable enough then they might have some internships open to offer you. In these cases it might even turn into a job for you. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps a little in your search.
 
Yep. I'm into my last year for a bachelors in civil eng. and my professors and TA's keep telling us to try many of the smaller companies as they are a much more "organic" type of company than the large corporations who are more "mechanized". What I mean is that, most of the time, the smaller companies look at you and say "what can this guy do for us", while a large corporation may see you and say "How much money can this guy make us, and how much is it costing us to keep him around". Of course this doesn't happen 100% of the time, but its pretty common. Also don't be afraid to get into an internship that's not paid. Whatever experience you can gain and put on your resume is just that, experience gained. Good luck on the search man, I'm right there with ya.
 
I work at Gulfstream Aerospace as an EE. We have a coop program with some of the colleges. I didn't go that route but actually put myself through school working in the warehouse there. Business has been pretty strong for us, and we have been steadily hiring and growing. Like pretty much any job, there is a reason they call it work and not fun, but it is pretty cool when I do get to spend some time testing or flying on a 65 million dollar business jet.
 
hmm i didnt know edison wanted a lot of ME... and while the choices you listed are good, those big aero companies have a certain feel/culture to them that may not be right for everyone. while you should apply if its what you want, id say to definitely open up your choices/considerations. several of my (mostly) EE classmates who are in the know and not just those people who know nothing outside of school would probably agree.

as for small vs large, id say go for both. do small one year and large the next. two very different pictures. imo a small company isn't something that is worse than a large one or simply a stepping stone and vice versa. ive worked 3 different jobs/internships or w/e u want to call them in college (finishing EE undergrad at UCI) and did one unpaid job (probably the most enjoyable one though, set own schedule too).

stories are a bit long so i will just leave them out for now. my biggest advice for an interview or getting an internship isn't to just have a high gpa b/c many have met very many high gpa students who are horrible interns and vice versa or be the stereotype charming douchebag or asshat during the interview - most intelligent managers know those people usually just full of hot gas/ego and try to talk their way through the interviews, know almost nothing, and are a pain to work with when its time. the above may work for other jobs/positions, but i don't see BSing the way through the interview work as often (unfortunately it still works too often). yes still be charming and nice, it will help, but dont be like the stereotypical sales person or w/e if its not needed. for what to do during an interview, simply put, google can word it all out better than i can with the jurable of thoughts in my mind.

my biggest mistake in my undergrad was taking a lot of best engineering courses in other majors i didnt need and doing poorly in them and dragging my gpa down a lot. also could have taken a lot of classes more seriously but i guess more for myself i forced myself to try in my hardest EE classes and did well in those.
 
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