In a weak job market, engineering internship and co-op opportunities will help you land a full-time job after graduation. You’re also more likely to get a job at a specific company if you can spend your summers there, say human resource directors and interns.

“Most of our hires are students who already have a relationship with us,” says Mel Stewart, manager of talent acquisition for General Motors (Detroit, MI). “We know them. They know us. It shortens their learning curve.”

The number of internships offered by each company varies from a few dozen to a few hundred. This year, some are cutting their intern hiring, so start your search early in the school year. The earlier you begin, the better your job outlook after graduation. And some companies even accept students after only a year of college.

“This market makes it harder,” says Paul Kurth of Dell Computer’s university relations department (Round Rock, TX). “Our goal is to offer full-time jobs to as many graduating interns as possible. But the number of interns changes weekly, even when the market is good.”

The internship advantage
Another plus to interning is getting to meet professionals who can help you along your career path. You get to work on real projects that are important to the company, says Rick Romano, senior human resources representative for the co-op and intern program at BAE Systems Controls (Johnson City, NY). His company looks for students in electrical, mechanical and computer engineering, along with CS students.

“Our interns tell me that they are given meaningful assignments and responsibilities and are expected to perform – just like everybody else,” he says.

Kurth tells students to visit their campus career centers to find interning opportunities. “They are our on-campus partners,” he says. Nearly all recruiters say they also work through organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

Anything you learn about a company will help in your job search, says Claudeliah Terry, an EE grad who started her co-op in January 2001 with the Boeing Co in St. Louis, MO. She’s now a full-time employee.

“Being in a co-op helped me learn about company life. You finally get to see how what you learned can be applied,” Terry says. “And the co-op gave me a foot in the door. The job market is tough for entry-level engineers right now. I just talked to a friend who graduated with me, and she hasn’t been able to find a job. I said, ‘Thank God for this opportunity.’ I might be in the same position if I hadn’t been able to co-op.”

BAE Systems Controls: interns do real work
BAE Systems Controls looks for students with EE, ME, computer science and computer engineering degrees, Romano says. Internships and co-ops last three to six months. Most interns are juniors or seniors. The number of interns depends on the company’s employment needs; last year there were eleven. The year before, there were twenty-eight.

BAE Systems Controls typically recruits at schools that include Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) like Morgan State, Howard University and Hampton University. It also attends career fairs and national conferences hosted by organizations like NSBE, SWE and SHPE. “Most of our recruiting is in New York State, but we also recruit out of state,” Romano says.

BAE Systems Controls manufactures electronic controls and avionics used by most U.S. military and commercial aircraft.

Helena Huynh’s co-op led to a full-time engineering job at BAE Systems Controls.

Helena Huynh: challenging work at BAE
Helena Huynh’s co-op at BAE Systems Controls led to a full-time software engineering job. It also got her into a company program that lets her try out other aspects of engineering.

Huynh graduated from Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY) in May 2002 with a computer science degree. She started her co-op at BAE Systems Controls after her junior year and worked at the company during her senior year. She worked in software quality assurance, auditing codes and tests on flight control software to make sure that the software was technically correct.

Although Huynh didn’t do much development work, she rotated to various projects that exposed her to different aspects of the company. “It helped me in my current job,” she says.

Today she works in software engineering, developing software codes and tests for the U.S. Air Force’s X-45 plane. “Now the software QA people are checking my work!” she says.

Huynh’s co-op manager recommended her for BAE Systems Controls’ engineering leadership development program. Qualified employees take in-house courses for eighteen months on different aspects of engineering, then rotate to other departments. One rotation can last anywhere from six months to a year. Program participants can do up to four rotations, and Huynh is on her second. “This gives you a feel for the different departments and programs and you have different experiences,” she says. Participants also work on a company project. After the rotations are finished, the company will pay for a masters at Binghamton University.

Huynh is one of twelve people who started the program in 2002. She plans to get her masters in computer engineering or computer science. “I really enjoy this field. It challenges me,” she says.

Denise Bolar.

Boeing recruits at HBCUs
The aerospace giant Boeing is headquartered in Chicago, IL, but has operations in forty-six states. Besides aerospace, Boeing works in missile defense, human space flight and launch services.

Boeing’s Student Development Program has three components: the co-op program, the intern program and the Inroads program, says Denise Bolar, manager of diversity recruiting in Boeing’s St. Louis, MO operations. Students are assigned to their first project based on their major. “After their first encounter, they come back for more experience and can choose where they’d like to work,” Bolar says.

In St. Louis alone, Boeing will have about 130 summer interns in 2003, Bolar says. About two-thirds have engineering backgrounds. The co-op program usually has hundreds of participants at Boeing locations nationwide.

Claudeliah Terry: “I research areas we’re going to test on Boeing’s F-18s.”

Boeing’s Claudeliah Terry: “take initiative on the job”
Claudeliah Terry says students should be proactive if they want to move from co-op to full-time employee as she did. She started as a co-op at Boeing in St Louis and is now an avionics test engineer there. “Whatever you want to do, just go for it with everything in your heart. Take the initiative wherever you’re placed,” she says.

As a co-op during the spring of 2001 and the summer and fall of 2002, Terry worked mostly on software projects. Typically, co-op students work three “industrial periods” in three different areas of the company.

Terry first worked in St. Louis as a subsystems engineer in the Phantom Works manufacturing engineering department. She helped develop a computer program that provides information for efficiently wiring an aircraft.

During her second industrial period, Terry worked in avionics integration. “I created mission scenarios to help F-18 weapons engineers learn what fighter pilots do,” she says. “This helps us meet our customers’ needs.”

During her third period, Terry upgraded the architecture and software for the F-18 flight controls team. She is now a test engineer on the F-18. “I talk to a team leader, who gets requirements from the customer. I research the areas we’re going to test, and we come up with a test document to make sure the systems work,” Terry says.

At Dell Computer, interns are eligible for scholarships
Dell Computer Corp. (Round Rock, TX) looks for interns with a variety of backgrounds, including computer, mechanical and electrical engineering. Manufacturing engineers work in the company’s supply chain management group, Kurth says. In the product group, interns sometimes work with marketing. Students may also work with in-house engineers on motherboard design or in manufacturing and operations. “Everything we do is customer driven. Our direct, one-to-one relationship with the customer means that they tell us what they want and need. Then our engineers work with marketing and our suppliers to make sure our products meet those needs,” says Kurth.

This year, the company expects to have 172 undergraduate and masters level students. Internships may be in Texas or Tennessee.

In its search for interns, Dell targets universities with diverse student populations and will have about twenty Inroads students this year.

Dell has a close relationship with the UNCF through its Dell Corporate Scholars program. Interns in that program earn scholarships of up to $10,000, Kurth says. This year, almost thirty students were part of the program.

General Motors: execs build relationships with HBCUs
Automaker General Motors (Detroit, MI) looks mainly for mechanical, electrical, industrial and a few chemical and civil engineering students, says talent acquisition manager Mel Stewart. This year, GM will take on about 1,400 students, mostly engineers. Students are assigned based on their skill or academic levels.

GM recruits minorities through its Advancing Interested Minorities in engineering (AIM) program, which the company offers with Kettering University (Flint, MI). Kettering was once owned by GM.

GM recruits from twenty-nine universities (about eight are HBCUs) and from groups like SHPE and MAES. The company also works with schools that serve Hispanic students – New Mexico State University, UCLA, the University of Puerto Rico, the University of Texas at El Paso and Austin and others.

Lekia Townsend’s “thing for cars” leads to GM
Lekia Townsend has a thing for cars. The EE major from Kettering University enjoyed learning about the electrical systems of automobiles during her internship at GM. Townsend graduated in December 2002 and now works full-time as an associate engineer in GM’s electrical architecture department.

Kettering is a co-op school. “Co-ops are required for graduation. Students go to classes for three months and then work for three months,” Townsend says. She has worked at GM since her freshman year.

At first, she worked in the electrical labs on audio systems like satellite radios for Corvettes, then on a cost savings project for the electrical systems lab. “I got to see a lot of different areas at GM. I worked in test labs, the electrical center, vehicle analysis, and now I’m in electrical architecture,” she says.

Townsend studies the car’s electrical system. Because she just started her job, she’s at the beginning of a huge learning curve. Townsend says she plans to “stick with cars for a while. To me, the technology we put into cars is intriguing,” she says.

At John Deere, students present their projects
The number of interns at John Deere (Moline, IL) varies annually based on the company’s workforce needs; this summer, about 225 students will be at the company, says Lynn Toney, engineering student programs administrator. John Deere makes agricultural, construction, forestry and lawn and garden equipment for farm, industry and home use.

“The students work on one or more projects during the work session and present their work before management, university faculty and peers at the end of the assignment,” Toney says. “And they get the chance to network with interns from other locations and meet company leadership.”

Co-op students do three to five work sessions during the summer or semester. Students who come back for another session get increasingly challenging assignments. John Deere also has a part-time program for students who attend universities in communities where the company is located.

John Deere recruits engineers at on-campus events of organizations like NSBE, SHPE and SWE. It has relationships with professors and participates in career fairs. It also participates in the Inroads program.

Rishin Pandya gets real-world experiences at John Deere.

Rishin Pandya gets real experience at John Deere
Long before high school, Rishin Pandya decided to be an engineer. “As a kid, I always asked how things work,” he says. He decided to go into computer engineering because “I wanted to be part of the next big technology wave.”

He plans to graduate from the University of Illinois (Champaign-Urbana, IL) in December 2003. He found out about internships at John Deere at a university job fair. So far, he has had two internships, each lasting about twelve weeks. He will return to John Deere for a third session this summer. “The internships showed me different areas of the company and different technologies,” Pandya says.

During his first summer, he interned with a product development group in John Deere’s Agricultural Division. “I learned how embedded systems were integrated into Deere’s agricultural products,” Pandya says.

The second summer, he worked in Raleigh, NC, with the commercial and consumer equipment division. “I helped develop thin-client Web applications using technologies like JSP scripting and object-oriented Java,” he reports.

After his second internship, he decided he wanted to work in Web applications development. He says he enjoyed getting a wide range of real-world experience. “I sat in on client meetings to develop scope, performed data modeling to design the system and wrote the program to develop the application. After such a positive experience, I am looking forward to a career in applications development after I graduate.”

Andre Smith of JHU APL tests power for a Mercury-bound satellite.

At JHU APL, Andre Smith tests power for a Mercury flyby
Andre Smith’s internship led to a job offer from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU APL, Laurel, MD). He completed an internship at the lab during the summer of 2002 and also worked there during his winter break from school.

Smith plans to graduate in May 2003 from Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD) with a degree in EE. He recently decided to accept the APL offer; his new job title will be “associate staff.”

The lab, a division of Johns Hopkins University, supports the Department of Defense, NASA and other government agencies through applied research, technical development and problem solving. It employs about 3,350 engineers, scientists and support staff.

Last summer, Smith was paired up with the lab’s Space System Applications Group. His job: to test power supply cards for a satellite that will head to the planet Mercury in 2004.

Seven instruments will collect data from the planet. “We have spectrometers and instruments that do different tasks, and each needs power to perform,” Smith says.

Smith worked as an assistant to Jeffrey Marcus, a mentor. He automated Marcus’ whole testing sequence. “I had to redesign a load box that simulated the stress the power supply cards would find while on the satellite,” he says. The tests allowed him to see how the cards would interact with the satellite’s instruments.

“Once I redesigned the load box, I had to create software that would work with it,” Smith says. He’ll be working in the same group after graduation. “But I may not be working on this satellite. My group might be starting another project.”

Kris Robinson.

Lexmark considers diversity a priority
Diversity is important for Lexmark (Lexington, KY) because the company wants to reflect its customer base, says Kris Robinson, from the company’s university relations/student programs department. That’s why Lexmark targets students at HBCUs and other outreach organizations such as SWE and NSBE.

Lexmark manufactures laser and ink jet printers and associated supplies and services. It has customers in more than 150 countries.

About 80 percent of the forty interns at Lexmark have engineering backgrounds, Robinson says. The company takes on EEs, ChEs, MEs, computer engineers and computer scientists. Most are entering their junior or senior years, but the company does accept sophomores. Lexmark also has a part-time work program for local students.

Software development interns do coding using C++, Java, PHP and SQL, says Robinson. They work with R&D groups on consumer and business products like printers. EE, ME and ChE interns work in chip design, firmware configuration and programming, printer design, plastics and other areas; some ChE interns also work on R&D issues like ink development, Robinson says.

“These real projects ultimately improve our products. We want our students to work on projects that will help Lexmark, help the student and also be related to their school work,” he says.

Housing is a nice perk for Lexmark interns: students who live more than fifty miles away stay in a hotel at the company’s expense. Housing includes continental breakfast, maid service, a swimming pool and exercise facilities.

“I encourage applicants to keep their GPA above 3.0. We want to make sure they’re doing well in school and with their internship,” Robinson says.

Perry Pascasio.

Merck: most interns become full-time employees
Interns at Merck & Co (Whitehouse Station, NJ) work on a variety of projects, ranging from product design and improvement to technology development and engineering analyses, says Perry A. Pascasio of the human resources department.

Merck is a research-based pharmaceutical products and services company. It discovers, develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of human and animal health products.

The company recruits ChE, ME, IE and EE students. In the Merck manufacturing division alone, the company brings on about 100 students. Roughly 75 percent of the interns and co-op students become full-time employees after graduation.

Those who don’t, typically go to graduate school. Merck offers graduate student internships, and works to bring the students aboard full-time after they finish their degrees.

Merck also provides housing assistance – students pay only a small percentage of the total cost, Pascasio says.

Janine Perez works with a sterile technology group at Merck.

Merck’s Janine Perez loves the fast pace of ChE
Janine Perez was a chemical engineering intern at several other companies, but her experience at Merck sold her on the pharmaceutical industry.

“This industry is fast-paced. Chemical engineering in school was more traditional. This is very current,” Perez says. Her internship was in the summer of 2001. She graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY) in December 2001 with a chemical engineering degree and started working full time at Merck in April 2002.

Perez interned in a chemical technology lab working on a project to improve a manufacturing process. “They were adding a recycle step. We had to test it to make sure product quality was consistent,” she says.

Her current job is with a sterile technology group. About sixty people work in her department.

“I knew that I wanted a full-time job here. I interviewed and got the position. I didn’t look anywhere else. I enjoyed the project and met a lot of great people,” Perez says.

Symbol Technologies pairs up interns with engineer coaches
Interns at Symbol Technologies (Holtsville, NY) work closely with engineers, who coach and advise them throughout their internship, says Trisha Andres, human resources representative.

Symbol Technologies provides mobile data management systems and services to more than 45,000 customers.

Typically, Symbol brings in eighty to 120 interns and co-op students each year. Most interns work in the summer, and 35 to 40 percent return to work during summer and school breaks.

Symbol brings in talented students through local and national diversity technical organizations, including the fellowship program of the National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM). “We provide paid summer internships and graduate financial assistance to select underrepresented ethnic minority students seeking masters and doctorate degrees in engineering and the sciences,” Andres says.

Students work on challenging, hands-on projects. Associates from Symbol’s World Headquarters attend a showcase of student efforts every summer. During this time, they can take advantage of the learning opportunities at Symbol University, a corporate accredited onsite facility.

Mariya Fazylova: “Everyone at Symbol willingly shared knowledge.”

Symbol’s Mariya Fazylova learned people skills from her mentor
Mariya Fazylova talked to many employees at Symbol Technologies during her two internships. “Everyone was willing to give me their time and share their knowledge,” she says.

Fazylova will graduate in May 2003 with a degree in CS from Stony Brook University. She interned during the summers of 2001 and 2002 and currently works two days a week at the company while finishing her studies.

During Fazylova’s first internship she worked on Symbol’s “Web Configurator” online order project. She interviewed product managers to get information that might assist customers placing online orders. She also modified the product database to satisfy the new requirements.

In 2002, Fazylova joined the testing and validation department, where she still works part-time automating tests for new and existing products. Right now she’s testing Symbol’s Spectrum24 card, a wireless LAN PC card that allows instant connectivity on the Spectrum24 network. Fazylova also tests software for DOS, Pocket PC and Windows CE terminals.

Verizon: a focus on professional development
Verizon offers a state-of-the-art internship program that focuses on each student’s professional development as a possible full-time employee, says Ariana Thomas, manager of college relations and recruitment.

Interns go to workshops on such topics as business etiquette, marketing themselves and resume writing. They meet with executives who talk about career development and participate in networking and social activities.

“The success of our intern program is an important link in re-energizing our organization,” Thomas says. Last year, Verizon had 300 intern.

Malkia Henson of Verizon: an interest in telecom
Malkia Henson had her heart set on working with telecom company Verizon (New York, NY) because of the company managers she met through an Inroads event at a Verizon facility.

“Back then, I didn’t know too much about the company,” Henson says. “But Verizon interested me.”

Henson worked for Verizon each of her four years of college. She graduated from Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD) with a CE degree in December 2001. She interned another year after graduation and was hired full time in November 2002. Her work at Verizon involves electrical engineering.

“Civil engineering helped me to understand project management and solve problems,” she says.

Her internship experiences were diverse. She started in the network capital management group her first year. “That involved managing money, sources, projects, and so on. And I got a better understanding of the company.”

During her sophomore year, Henson was in network analysis. She was a power engineer in her junior year and worked in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. “I inventoried power equipment in the central offices. I made sure there was enough backup capacity to support the office load,” she says.

Her senior year internship was in network provisioning, where workers complete high-capacity service orders for commercial and some residential customers. “We create planning strategies,” so that data moves efficiently from one customer to another, Henson says.

After four years of interning she was prepared for her current job in the electrical area. “At least I don’t feel overwhelmed. I learned the business slowly and gained an understanding of what was required. I’ve been able to put the pieces together and understand how the network all fits together.”

Michele Paustian.

Whirlpool’s Michele Paustian is thrilled about a washing machine
As an intern Michele Paustian’s biggest thrill at Whirlpool (Benton Harbor, MI) was seeing her washing machine product come to market. “I was such a nerd. I brought all of my friends to the store to look at it. When the TV commercials came out, it was so exciting,” Paustian says.

Paustian grew up near Whirlpool HQ. She sent her resume before high school graduation and was offered an internship right out of high school. “We live in a small community, and Whirlpool is a main employer,” she says.

She will graduate from Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, MI) in December 2003 with an EE degree.

During her first internship, she helped test the new Calypso washing machine. During her second summer, the unit was put into production. “I got to verify the software for it, so that was really cool,” she says. Her third year, she worked on cost and quality issues. “I followed that machine through every part of the engineering process. I learned about the design, implementation, cost and quality areas of the company,” Paustian says.

In her fourth summer, she moved on to dryers and learned how they sense moisture. Paustian now works part-time while in school. And her current dryer project is still in the testing phase.

Paustian wants to continue working with appliances after she graduates and hopes to land a job at Whirlpool. “They’ve put a lot of years of training into me. The good thing is, once I graduate, I can take ownership of a project. I will have had a running start with four summers under my belt.”

Whether they’re working on washing machines or fighter jets, engineering interns and co-ops get valuable experience and a head start on their job hunts.

D/C

– Heidi Russell Rafferty is a freelance writer who lives in Raeford, NC.