How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
(OP)
Hey y'all,
I'm a first generation college student majoring in engineering at a big state school in the southeast U.S. I'm a third-year, and someone told me that it's imperative to get a summer internship in my field in order to set myself up for postgraduate employment. I'm afraid of graduating unemployed.
That said, I don't really know what I'm doing. There's a school engineering career fair happening later this month that I'm planning to attend, and I'm working on a resume (I've been a paid researcher in a chemical lab at the university the last two years, but that's it). I don't really know what else I should be doing, or how to do it if I did.
Does anyone have any advice or stories? Happy to provide any additional information.
I'm a first generation college student majoring in engineering at a big state school in the southeast U.S. I'm a third-year, and someone told me that it's imperative to get a summer internship in my field in order to set myself up for postgraduate employment. I'm afraid of graduating unemployed.
That said, I don't really know what I'm doing. There's a school engineering career fair happening later this month that I'm planning to attend, and I'm working on a resume (I've been a paid researcher in a chemical lab at the university the last two years, but that's it). I don't really know what else I should be doing, or how to do it if I did.
Does anyone have any advice or stories? Happy to provide any additional information.





RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
My own son started his internship search the first month of the sophomore year fall semester, but that's mainly because we gave him a bunch of grief for waiting until the last month of the freshman year to start looking, and he only got that one while we were on the road to pick him up to go home for the summer. So, we get there after his interview, which was positive, and landed a really nice internship, that partly led to his sophomore year internship, that ended with a job offer for after graduation.
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RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
Since you've selected "Chemical" in your profile, I recommend you try to network by going to meetings of a local section of AIChE if you can. You may be able to find an internship through that avenue. Also, research companies that employ chemical or process engineers and check their websites for internship opportunities. You may even contact them if they have openings for new graduates to ask them if they'd consider bringing in an intern instead of a new grad.
xnuke
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RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
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RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
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RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
Does this mean you cannot find a job without an internship or relevant summer employment? Absolutely not- but it's harder for sure.
As to where to look: if 1st tier nepotism (relatives and family friends) isn't an option, 2nd tier nepotism (networking with people in the industry, so you can be hired as "someone they know") is how to do it. Cold solicitation of businesses done the lazy way (by sending e-mails) will get you nowhere- businesses are just swamped with people trying to do this, and the delete button is the most commonly used tool for dealing with all those e-mails. Doubt you've got the time to knock on doors, but if you do, it might be worth a try. Job fairs etc. are great and you should attend them, but there are more candidates than positions by a long shot generally.
Best of luck to you- it's tough out there for fresh grads who actually want to work as engineers- not impossible, but tough. If you're not in the top 10-20% of your class academically, you'd better double down and work even harder on this- and on school too.
RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
My company is just getting ready to advertise for interns so you are spot on with your timing. I get a lot of applications, and it is hard to wade through them and choose. How do I do it? I narrow the pool by selecting the applications that have a cover letter. A super well written and grammatically perfect resume might also make the cut, but this is rare. Next, I read the cover letters and select the well written letters. This is usually results in around three candidates, and I interview the three people either by phone, skype or in person. From this point it is really hard to tell two of the lovely eager students no, but I figure it was good to give them experience interviewing.
In short - write an engaging cover letter and don't worry too much.
RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
RE: How to land a Chemical Engineering Internship
If you don't luck out, consider doing something more manual that gets you onto operating sites. A summer doing fire watch on a site maintenance shutdown perhaps and asking intelligent questions (while the engineers are waiting for someone, introduce and ask; everyone's flattered to be asked about themselves!).
Matt