Need to put off graduation for another year to take advantage of a co-op or internship?
Do it, and "stretch outside your comfort zone," says college recruiter Kevin Chapmond, staffing manager at DuPont (Wilmington, DE). Even if it takes longer to finish college, students who take advantage of these opportunities will get valuable work experience and develop the confidence they need to succeed.
"It gives the company and the student a chance to try each other out," stresses Christine Probert, HR administrator at Nissan Technical Center North America (NTCNA, Farmington Hills, MI). "It also provides an opportunity to hire students afterward if they do well."
At Northeastern University (NEU, Boston, MA) engineering students are expected to complete eighteen months of co-op experience during their five years at its College of Engineering. David Potter, professor and faculty coordinator of electrical and computer engineering in the department of cooperative education at NEU, and a veteran of the corporate world, says that companies are simply not interested in beginners. At least half the students at NEU end up with one of their co-op employers after graduation.
Finding opportunities Where do you find an internship or co-op?
Campus placement services are one obvious channel. Career fairs are another: recruiters there look for promising interns as well as new full-time employees. Students can get information, talk to company reps, and submit their resumes on the spot.
The conferences of technical societies like NSBE, SWE and SHPE offer another constructive way of linking with companies eager to recruit diverse talent. Many engineering societies maintain their own internship and co-op listings.
Diversity is important to many companies. John Belcher, CEO and chairman of ARINC (formerly Aeronautical Radio, Annapolis, MD), says, "We have taken our company global in the last five years. Cultural diversification is a driving force behind our success, since we deal with 3,000 customers who speak many languages and have very different ways of doing business."
ARINC provides communications and systems engineering solutions for aviation, airports, defense, government and transportation.
Here are the profiles of some enterprising engineering students who have used creative approaches to get the internships, and jobs, of their dreams.
WaShawn Brooks: from intern to full-time staffer at MWRD
WaShawn Brooks credits his military service for introducing him to ME. Brooks knew he wanted to get a job similar to what he had done in the Navy: working in utilities, pumping and related functions.
His internship at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) of Greater Chicago in the summer of 2003 offered all that and more. Brooks learned about it from a friend. He was assigned to maintenance and operations at the Calumet Water Reclamation Plant. Brooks worked on troubleshooting mechanical problems, reviewing work orders, updating AutoCAD software, and interfacing with contractors.
He received a lot of support from his team, competitive hourly pay, and a variety of social and networking opportunities. "I liked doing both the hands-on machine work and the computer work," he says. Brooks completed his internship during his senior year at the University of Illinois (Chicago, IL). In September 2004 he was offered a full-time position as assistant mechanical engineer in maintenance and operations at MWRD.
MWRD views its internship program as an extension of its recruitment efforts. All students must be in programs certified by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, explains Dennis Evans, senior personnel analyst at MWRD.
Diversity outreach is a key part of MWRD's recruitment process. MWRD also participates in campus career fairs and puts great stock in word-of-mouth referrals. Most years, about half of MWRD's eight engineering trainees are minorities and women.
Brooks emphasizes the importance of internships and co-ops. "You learn how to socialize, act professionally, and keep pace with the real world."
Katie Melanson: a Battelle scholarship and a co-op too
Katie Melanson's fascination with how things work led her from high-school physics to a major in ME. She is now a sophomore at Northeastern University (NEU, Boston, MA).
Melanson is proud to be the first NEU student to be awarded a co-op under the national security division diversity co-op program of Battelle Memorial Institute (Columbus, OH). When she learned about the program at an NEU career fair, she was so impressed that she applied immediately.
Battelle describes itself as the largest independent research and development organization in the world. Its national security division implements and maintains technological services and devices like decontamination units and safe weapons disposal programs for government clients.
The national security division diversity co-op program was launched in November 2004, aimed at minority engineering and science students. The six-month co-ops are currently open to students at four colleges: NEU, Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, GA), the University of Cincinnati (OH) and Hampton University (Hampton, VA), and combines a $10,000 scholarship with a work opportunity. Leslie Smith, associate HR manager, national security division, says the goal is to introduce students to Battelle's culture and values with the expectation they will get full-time jobs there after they graduate. Students must be U.S. citizens and be able to get a security clearance.
Melanson started her co-op at Battelle's Eastern Science and Technology Center (Aberdeen, MD) in January 2005. She receives hourly pay in addition to her scholarship and a $600 housing subsidy. She has been assigned to the field, test and evaluation group, which is developing a prototype of a decontamination unit for clothing, goggles and other equipment exposed to hazardous agents. Melanson is setting up test procedures, analyzing data and gaining vital hands-on experience.
Sameer Ashaibi: leadership and initiative at DuPont
In the fall of 2005, Sameer Ashaibi will begin a full-time position in the Field Engineering Program at DuPont (Wilmington, DE). Ashaibi is a senior in ME at Michigan State University (MSU, East Lansing, MI).
Ashaibi was born in the small village of Alkoba in the provenance of Ibb in Yemen. His family moved to the United States when he was ten years old. Ashaibi first became interested in machines and gadgets when he participated in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program, where high schools team up with companies in a robotics competition. He says he is intrigued by the creative process. "It's rewarding when you build something and it does what you want it to do."
Ashaibi recently finished his second co-op at DuPont. He spent about nine months at the company's chemical solutions business unit in Deepwater, NJ, where much of his work was in process engineering. He did troubleshooting of process-related problems and built and designed safety improvement projects to protect his work area from corrosive chemicals.
Ashaibi also coordinated the annual two-week shutdown of his work area. He organized teams of mechanics, instrument personnel, painters and insulators, made sure necessary resources were available, and worked closely with management. His planning paid off, since his work area ran smoothly afterward.
Ashaibi praises DuPont for promoting diversity and giving young people meaningful hands-on experience and leadership opportunities that prepare them for the jobs of their dreams.
Attracting a diverse workforce is a high priority at DuPont. It is affiliated with a number of minority organizations, and has a K-12 outreach program that includes minority communities, says Michelle Arneman, DuPont recruiter. The program aims to remove barriers and promote achievable career goals in the sciences for talented minority youth.
"A diverse workforce increases innovations in product development and production processes. A diverse and global workforce helps us create higher value solutions for our customers in more productive and less capital-intensive ways," notes Charles O. Holliday, Jr, DuPont chairman and CEO.
Ashaibi cannot imagine starting a full-time position without having had co-op experiences. He says he is blessed to have had these opportunities and he is confident about his future in the Field Engineering Program.
Olufeyijimi Awofadeju: four co-ops at Southern Co
"Computer engineering is the best," says Olufeyijimi (Jimi) Awofadeju. Born in Nigeria, Awofadeju has been in the U.S. since he was five years old. He is currently a junior at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and says it was his older brother who first drew him into the field.
Awofadeju also followed his brother's footsteps to a co-op at Southern Co (Atlanta, GA). Its co-op program offers attractive benefits like a housing allowance, paid vacation and paid sick leave, and also provides education and training. Students earn a salary and get service time that they can carry over if they are hired full time, says Nora Hollingsworth, university relations program strategist at the multi-state power company. Some seventy-five co-op students and interns are hired every year.
Hollingsworth explains that students must commit to three alternating work terms during the course of their studies. "Our goal is to convert students into full-time employees," she says. She adds that Southern Co is dedicated to recruiting a diverse pool for its co-ops and internships, which it views as pipelines into the company.
Awofadeju's first three co-ops at the company, in the summer of 2003, spring of 2004 and fall of 2004, were all at a Georgia Power backup operations facility. Georgia Power (Atlanta, GA) is a Southern Co subsidiary. He will return for his fourth co-op at Georgia Power in the summer of 2005. He expects to graduate in May 2007.
Awofadeju values the hands-on experience he gained and the increasing responsibilities he was given during his succession of co-ops. During his third rotation, for example, he helped convert the company's design and drafting system to AutoCAD, and helped write a program to correct output files.
LaRuthie Holder: expanding horizons at Shaw Industries
LaRuthie Holder is in her junior year in ME at the University of Tennessee (UT, Knoxville, TN). Born in the U.S., Holder lived on and off in Liberia, where her father grew up, until she was ten years old. She has been interested in math and science since high school.
Holder earned a bachelors in math from St. Vincent College (Latrobe, PA) and then transferred to UT to take advantage of the dual "3-2" engineering program. The program allows students to complete three years of college or university before going to UT for another two years to get an engineering degree. She expects to graduate in May 2006.
Holder learned about co-op opportunities at Shaw Industries (Dalton, GA) during a career fair at UT. Co-op benefits include subsidized housing, good hourly pay and training programs. Shaw makes a variety of floor coverings for residential and commercial use, from broadloom carpet to ceramic tile. Maggie McCallie, college recruiter at Shaw Industries, explains that students can expect to co-op for three semesters as long as they perform well and maintain a 2.5 GPA.
Shaw Industries makes a point of training supervisors about the goals of the co-op experience and how to be effective partners with universities. Former co-op students serve as mentors to new recruits. The company has between fifteen and thirty co-ops each semester; for the spring of 2005, there are sixteen students. One-third are minorities and slightly over one-third are females. According to McCallie, Shaw Industries aims to keep a relationship with the people it trains and has made permanent offers to about two-thirds of its co-op students and interns.
"At Shaw Industries, our goal is a fully inclusive working environment of honesty, mutual trust and respect. We value the diverse backgrounds and experiences of all of our associates and the unique contributions each of them can make to Shaw's continued success," says Paul Richard, VP of HR.
Holder completed two co-ops at a Shaw Industries' laminate flooring plant in Ringgold, GA in the spring and fall of 2004. She plans to go back for a third rotation this summer. She was involved in analyzing data, conducting cost analyses, and making projections for improvement and safety functions.
Holder realizes she is a minority in a male-dominated field and that other companies may see women as unwilling "to get their hands dirty."
But she knows she is fully accepted at Shaw Industries. "They are willing to challenge you if you are prepared to be challenged," says Holder.
John Davis: finding stability at FirstEnergy Corp
The electric industry offers many job opportunities, says John Davis. Davis, a senior EE major at Cleveland (OH) State University (CSU), is especially interested in hardware engineering. He has already accepted a job offer from diversified energy company FirstEnergy Corp (Akron, OH), where he has completed one part-time and three full-time co-ops. He will be starting as an assistant EE in June 2005 at the company's Bruce Mansfield Plant (Shippingport, PA), a huge 2,300-megawatt generating plant just west of Pittsburgh.
As one of the biggest companies in Ohio, FirstEnergy has a dozen power plants throughout the state and in Pennsylvania, and about 14,000 employees in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It supplies electricity to some 4.4 million customers and operates the fifth largest electric system in the nation, notes Mark Durbin, senior public relations representative.
Davis learned about co-op opportunities at FirstEnergy through CSU's career services department. University students must take a co-op class, and one of their assignments is to identify and contact a potential employer.
The benefits that come with a First Energy co-op include a co-op bonus, good pay, and relocation assistance to those who qualify. Jonathan Brickner, project manager for co-ops and interns at FirstEnergy, says that co-op students are closely mentored and invited to participate in various career-development training programs.
Davis did his co-ops at FirstEnergy's Eastlake plant near Cleveland, OH. He started the first one in May 2003. He says he was well prepared by his classes in magnetic fields and electricity.
During his first rotation, Davis learned about plant dynamics, management and labor relations, and was gradually given more responsibility. For one of his later co-ops, he worked on a power-flow study. Among his tasks was to troubleshoot a transformer that was not starting properly and submit a proposal for replacing it.
For his fifth co-op, which runs through May 20, 2005, Davis is designing the electricals and controls of a condenser vacuum pump to draw water from Lake Erie for the plant's cooling system. When he starts full time in June, he will be providing engineering support as a member of the technical services group at the Pennsylvania plant.
Connie Fullerton: working on real projects at Nissan
Interests in math and science led Connie Fullerton to major in ME, and an interest in cars led her to Michigan. Fullerton is in her senior year at Kettering University (Flint, MI) and praises the strong co-op program at her college.
Fullerton is currently in her fourth co-op at Nissan Technical Center North America (Farmington Hills, MI), in the company's vehicle evaluation and quality division. Fullerton assesses evaluation scores for different components so that any changes can be incorporated into vehicle design.
Fullerton's first assignment at Nissan was with the body and chassis test division. She tested vehicles for water leaks and evaluated door closures, machine dynamics and the effects of environmental factors. She took charge of water leak testing when her immediate engineering supervisor had to go on leave for three months.
Fullerton will return for her last rotation at Nissan between June and August 2005. She hopes that her two-and-a-half years of co-op experience will be followed by a job offer at Nissan.
Nissan currently brings in a dozen co-ops per year and hopes to soon increase that to twenty-five, says David Venegas, HR senior advisor. Co-op students get hourly pay and paid holiday time, and can participate in the company's 401(k) plan just like full-time employees. They can also take advantage of the Family and Friends Plan to purchase or lease a Nissan car.
Nissan participates in college fairs, and applicants are matched with positions throughout the year. Students are brought in to work on real projects, adds Christine Probert, HR administrator. "A co-op frees up an experienced engineer, and everyone benefits."
Andreas Garcia: initiative led him to Intel
Andreas Garcia is a second-year grad student in EE at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN). He expects to get his degree in May 2005. He got his bachelors in EE from New Mexico Tech (Socorro, NM) in May 2003.
Garcia grew up in Albuquerque, NM and has always liked working with gadgets and electronics. He is currently on his fifth rotation at the Rio Rancho, NM site of Intel Corp (Santa Clara, CA). He began there as a co-op student in 2001 and has gone back every summer since. "I've had the opportunity to switch back and forth between the theoretical design and fabrication phases to better understand the whole production process," he says.
During his first internship, he took over a vacationing technician's duties, including managing electrical databases and working with engineers and contractors. He has also helped write a gas bottle monitoring application, and worked on a project to implement excursion protection systems that detect when tools are not working.
Intel is headquartered in Santa Clara but has many sites around the country. According to Beth Redfield, Intel's intern program manager for AZ, MA, NM and TX global staffing college programs, and Robin Renowden, global staffing college manager, Intel hires close to 1,200 interns a year in the U.S. and 2,000 in its other locations, and always has openings for new talent. It offers its student interns salaries, vacation pay, bonuses, seminars and training. Some 13 percent of interns are minorities and 30 percent are women. At least 60 percent of new-grad hires have done internships at Intel.
Garcia is thankful for the support and feedback he got from other engineers at the company, and praises Intel's commitment to diversity. He expects he could go to work full time, but for now he is intent on pursuing his education and may even aim for a PhD. He credits his experiences at Intel for motivating him to examine his long-term career goals.
"At Intel, we strive to hire and retain the best talent from an increasingly global and diverse labor pool. We believe this will result in a better understanding of our customers' needs and better products tailored to those needs, and ultimately advance Intel's global leadership position. Simply put, we want to be the best at everything we do," says Paul Otellini, Intel president and COO. "Reaching our goals for work force demographics is the fundamental next step for 2005."
Haldane Gillette: gaining an international perspective at Siemens Westinghouse
Haldane Gillette is carefully plotting his professional career in engineering management. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Gillette moved to the U.S. when he was eight years old. He attended the University of Central Florida (UCF, Orlando, FL) and graduated in December 2002 with a bachelors in engineering technology. He is now close to finishing a masters in management at UCF with a focus on human resources and expects to graduate in May 2005.
Gillette learned about power generation company Siemens Westinghouse (Orlando, FL), part of the Siemens Power Generation business, from one of his professors. Gillette's first internship at Siemens Westinghouse was during his junior year in May 2001. He was assigned to a turbine design group, where he analyzed blade tip clearances. He spent two months of the internship in Germany to learn about Siemens Westinghouse's operations there. He toured factories, saw foundry practices and apprenticed in the drafting department.
For his second internship, he assessed whether a device called a bellows ring would curb damage to gas-turbine installations. He is currently completing another internship in the commercial parts information department. He creates catalogs and price lists for replacement parts for steam turbines, and also works with generators. He is interacting with customers and Siemens managers, and getting exposure to the responsibilities he will assume in an HR/engineering position.
Mary Kordys, program manager for university relations at Siemens Westinghouse, says Siemens offers many different programs to interns and co-op students from around the world. The company encourages students to pursue a dual degree that includes study in a second language. "It's very important for students to be technically, culturally and linguistically prepared to work at Siemens," explains Kordys.
A close relationship with UCF gives Siemens Westinghouse access to new talent all year long. Student interns are treated as paraprofessionals and work with a manager on real ongoing projects. The company places about 100 students per year; 20 percent are international students, 39 percent are minorities and 19 percent are female. With as much as one-third of the work force expected to retire in the next few years, Kordys says, Siemens Westinghouse will be ready for new hires.
Siemens Westinghouse does a lot of outreach to students in their freshman year, particularly to underrepresented minority students. During its Summer Program for Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (SPACE), students attend presentations on career options and visit different companies.
"Shared values provide a global organization with a common language through which to operate. Siemens Power Generation is committed to valuing diversity as a competitive lever," says Randy Zwirn, board sponsor of the Siemens Power Generation diversity initiative.
Gillette learned invaluable lessons at Siemens Westinghouse and eventually wants to land a job in "the front office" in a dual management and engineering role. His advice to others: "Network and be open to new experiences."
Jennifer Yick: hands-on work at APSG
Jennifer Yick discovered computers in middle school and, at fourteen, wrote her own computer program for a mathematical logarithmic theorem.
Born in Hong Kong, Yick was very young when her family moved to the U.S. She entered the University of California-Davis (UC-Davis, Davis, CA) as a biology major, but got intrigued by computer-assisted technology and found herself gravitating to computer engineering. Her goal is to use computers to help environmentalists analyze data and solve problems. She graduated from UC-Davis with an MSCS in June 2001 and is currently pursuing her PhD there. She expects to graduate in 2006.
Yick found Applied Signal Technology, Inc. (APSG, Sunnyvale, CA) during a college career fair. APSG designs, develops and markets digital signal processing equipment; it has satellite offices in Oregon, Utah, Maryland, Virginia and Texas. Yick completed a three-and-a-half-month internship at APSG's Wireless Communication Systems Division (WCSD) in the summer of 2004. The WCSD develops and markets intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, information assurance, information operations, and communications systems to military and government organizations.
"The company assigns interns to a team of senior-level engineers. They collaborate on the team's projects. They work on real coding and design projects, and also benefit from training opportunities at the company. Interns get valuable experience in their fields," says Chris Giannetto, APSG's human resources/college relations representative.
According to the APSG affirmative action plan, "We seek an environment characterized by respect for the individual where cultural and ethnic diversity are blended by team work into a harmonious workforce."
Yick praises the support and mentoring she received at the WCSD, where she worked on a signal reconnaissance project. In addition to broadening her computer skills, Yick learned the importance of good communication, team work and careful planning. She remains in close contact with Giannetto and may well pursue a career at APSG after graduating.
Luis Pinales: on the road with the KDOT
Luis Pinales looks forward to being the first in his family to graduate from an American university with a professional degree. Now a senior in CE at Texas A&M (Kingsville, TX), Pinales says he became interested in engineering while still in high school. His uncle worked in construction, and Pinales and his brother spent many summers with him framing houses, hotels and bridges.
Pinales' father was from Mexico, and Pinales spent part of his childhood in the town of Matamoros near the Texas border. Later his family moved to Brownsville, TX, where he attended high school.
Pinales did his internship with the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT, Topeka, KS) during his junior year in college. In a business-communications course, he found that state departments of transportation provide the best hands-on work experiences in CE, and teach the most about specifications for different types of road and transportation systems. He contacted Ruth Marstall, KDOT engineering recruiter, and was immediately invited to apply.
According to Marstall, the KDOT offers approximately fifty summer internships yearly. Students are placed at headquarters or in road design, traffic engineering, transportation planning, materials research, or field construction. The conversion rate is now around 35 percent. KDOT, she says, is implementing new initiatives to increase its minority hiring. "We feel that it's very valuable to have student interns who speak Spanish, since contractors' employees often do not speak English. We also value the diversity of ideas that minority students bring to our agency."
Pinales completed his three-month internship in the summer of 2004 at the construction office for District 6 of the KDOT in Liberal, KS. He trained in road-project management and was involved in pre-construction planning, keeping track of the asphalt used on the roads, and making sure warning signs were posted.
Pinales believes he made the right choice in majoring in CE and has a new interest in road construction. He has accepted an offer to return to KDOT this summer.
Terrance Hamilton: growth potential at Xerox
Terrance Hamilton is fascinated by the scientific process and likes to build things. He is pursuing his PhD in software engineering at the University of California at Riverside and expects to graduate in 2007. He got his bachelors in physics from California State University (San Bernardino, CA) in 1995, and his masters in applied computer science from Azusa (CA) Pacific University in 1999.
During a 2003 NSBE convention, he met with a Xerox representative and interviewed for an internship the same day. That summer, he headed for Xerox.
Hamilton completed two rotations at the Xerox facility in Webster, NY in the summers of 2003 and 2004. He worked as a software engineer in tool generation and helped design, implement and test software tools. He also developed software to track and resolve user interface issues for printers and other large machines. He'll return to this facility for another rotation this coming summer.
Xerox offers a host of benefits to student interns, including travel, local transportation, housing assistance and mentoring. In the summer of 2004, Xerox hired 202 interns for its three locations in Rochester, NY, Wilsonville, OR and El Segundo, CA. It recruits minority students through many sources, including NSBE, SHPE, Inroads, the Xerox Technical Minority Scholarship Program, and nineteen core recruiting schools.
"Xerox is committed to its internship and co-op programs to enhance learning opportunities for all students and to help them achieve their academic and professional goals. Nurturing a diverse workforce of highly skilled technical professionals has been Xerox's philosophy for more than thirty years," says Philip Harlow, chief diversity and employee advocacy officer. "Embracing diversity is imperative to our business success."
Hamilton appreciates the diversity at Xerox. The group he worked with in Webster included three African American males and four women in a range of age groups. He is keenly aware of the importance of internships for anyone who wants a career in engineering. "It's a culture shock if you don't have that experience," he says.
Arundhati Tamhankar lands her dream job at T-Mobile
Arundhati Tamhankar says she comes from a family that values education. She has clearly met her parents' expectations. Better yet, she has landed a job she loves. She credits an internship at T-Mobile (Bellevue, WA).
Tamhankar was born in Bombay, India. She came to the U.S. in August 2000 after finishing her undergraduate degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering at the University of Bombay. She then enrolled in a masters program in EE, communications and signal processing at the University of Texas at Arlington (Arlington, TX), where she graduated in December 2002.
Tamhankar was in the U.S. on a student visa and was eligible for one year of practical training after graduation. She got the T-Mobile internship in July 2003, six months after receiving her masters. Barely four months into the job, she accepted a full-time position as a broadband wireless network engineer in the company's advanced technologies group.
Janna Andrakis, program manager of talent acquisition and college recruiting at T-Mobile, says that recruiters work with managers at T-Mobile to place students in projects that relate to their study focus. Students work on radio frequency, device usability, network operations and related tasks. They receive competitive compensation, and if they are hired from out of the area, they are given a relocation signing bonus as well. Interns are also eligible for a reduced rate on their mobile phone plans, just like full-time employees.
Previous internships are a requisite for hire. Of the sixteen engineering interns at T-Mobile in 2004, nine were hired for full-time jobs. Of the nine, six were minorities, and three of the six were women. Andrakis emphasizes that T-Mobile's commitment to diversity comes from the very top of the organization and is supported in all its businesses.
Tamhankar joined a T-Mobile group working on security for wireless networks. She configured devices and, working with Microsoft, helped develop a wireless client to put into Windows XP. The group's solution was presented at the prestigious Telecom World 2003 conference in Geneva, Switzerland. Her current full-time position at T-Mobile involves similar work.
Rex Whistler: protecting the environment at BPA
Rex Whistler is a junior in ME at Portland State University (Portland, OR), and expects to graduate in June 2007. He was born in Portland and has family ties to the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. The strong value that Native Americans place on protecting the environment is a big part of what drives him.
Whistler went into engineering because he enjoys problem solving and discovering how machines are put together. A stint with the Forest Service made him realize he also liked working for the government and that he wanted to remain in Oregon.
Whistler learned about the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA, Portland, OR) through Inroads and began his internship there in June 2004. He worked full time at BPA that summer and is now working part time as he continues his studies. He will return to full-time status in the summer, and expects to continue that pattern until he graduates.
He describes BPA as an organization that promotes environmental sustainability. "They do interesting projects," says Whistler, who wants to apply ME to improving the efficiency of heating and cooling systems while simultaneously protecting the environment. At the moment he works on upgrades, revisions and modifications of the meter database that tells BPA the amounts owed by customers.
BPA has about 3,000 employees and a customer base of fifteen million people in Oregon, Washington State, Idaho and parts of Montana. With about half its employees eligible to retire in the next five years, opportunities for new hires are increasing rapidly. BPA has received federal recognition and funding for its recruitment programs and has been cited for its promotion of diversity.
Students like Whistler are recruited into BPA's Student Career Experience Program (SCEP), which prepares students for permanent employment at the company. Enrollees are virtually guaranteed a job as long as they complete a total of 640 work hours and continue to meet eligibility requirements. SCEP students are eligible for tuition and loan-repayment assistance and receive full benefits, including health insurance and the opportunity to invest in a retirement account. They also get a transit pass and are housed for free at Portland State University during the summer.
BPA also offers students a temporary employment program, which provides fewer benefits and does not prepare students directly for a BPA career. It is usually completed during the summer or spring break.
Craig Rademacher, HR specialist in recruitment at BPA in Vancouver, WA, says that CE and ME majors may work on building substations and towers and help design pad structures. They also learn about BPA's global information system. "When students become full-time employees, they are ready to go," says Anne Macron Fickes, HR specialist/recruitment program manager.
BPA currently has thirteen engineering interns, at least six of whom are minorities. Of the eighteen engineering students converted to full time since September 2002, at least ten are minorities.
Whistler is grateful for the opportunities he's had at BPA, and hopes there will be a job for him once he graduates. He knows he won't have to train for a job there, as his internships have already prepared him.
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