Engineering Internships
Description of Engineering Internships
Engineering majors are one of the highest paid groups out of college. With technologies continuing to progress, engineering disciples will always be in demand. If you are an engineering student, engineering internships will help you gain technical skills that are very important in your career.
Engineering internships offer on the job training for professional careers. They may be paid, unpaid or partially paid and they may be either part time or full time. Engineering internships typically last between a few months to a school year. These internships offer real world experience and an opportunity to gain knowledge and expertise needed to enter into a career field of your choice.
Engineering is a broad industry that has many divisions, including civil engineering, biomedical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering and computer engineering. Each division has its own sub divisions. Engineering internships may require you to work in any of the sub divisions. As an intern, your supervisor is typically an established engineer who can offer you a lot of advice.
In many organizations, engineering processes require leg work, so they see interns as an excellent asset. They also use engineering internships as a method to identify potential employees.
Types of Engineering Internships
There are many types of engineering internships.
- Cooperative Education and Internships - The most common among them is co-operative education and internships. Typically, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering undergraduate and graduate students get this opportunity. There are organizations that offer cooperative education internships to engineering students in some other disciples as well. This type of internship allows the students to combine their academic studies with work experience for credit. Many colleges partner with various employers and endorse cooperative education.
- Field internship – It is another important type of engineering internship. This internship program offers you a chance to develop skills by observing, recording and interpreting data. It also lets you put the theories you have learned in the classroom into practice. Field internships offer firsthand exposure to the industry you are interested in.
- Engineering Practicum - Practicum offers you an opportunity to apply your academic experience to real world projects. You can either work individually or work in teams under the supervision of an academic adviser and employer.
Companies Offering Engineering Internships
- Google is one of the larger companies that offer engineering internships. Google continuously invests in increasing the pipeline of software developers and computer scientists. Engineering practicum internship programs offered by Google are beneficial for computer and electrical engineering students.
- United States Steel Corporation is another popular organization that offers internships to mechanical engineering students. IBM offers engineering internships for electrical engineering students. Assignments will be given to the interns and they are supposed to work under the direction of senior electrical system engineer.
- Jaguar Land Rover provides engineering internships for students. The selected students need to support technical service managers on specific projects.
- Xerox offers chemical engineering internships for students.
- Other companies include SPX Corporation, AT & T, Dairy Farmers of America Inc, Brooks Boilers, eBay, Structural Group, Sprint, Intel, TESSCO Technologies and HP are some of the popular companies that offer engineering internships.
Typical Salary of Engineering Internships
Engineering internships are actually great paid internships. Depending upon your major and the internship program provider, the salary may vary. For example, the hourly salary of a petroleum engineering interns is around $28 an hour. Computer science and computer engineering interns get around $20 per hour. Aerospace engineering and mechanical engineering interns get around $18 per hour. Chemical engineering students get approximately $19. Bio engineering and nuclear engineering internship programs usually pay around $16.
On an average, the salary of engineering internship programs is around $17.5 per hour. Internship and cooperative education normally fetches $18.21 and research program offers $13.30.
Benefits of Doing Engineering Internships
Engineering internships offer an excellent way to gain experience outside of school. They help you get on-the-job experience and decide whether a particular industry will match your career goals and interest. Internships offer the most rewarding opportunities to engineering students in specialized fields like aerospace, electronics and manufacturing.
Engineering internships aid you to gain more confidence in your current abilities and to acquire insider knowledge in a particular field. You can gain college credit and fulfill particular college major requirements with the help of internship programs. They offer you a chance to learn how to apply your knowledge and skills you have gained through academics.
Engineering internships are a great way to build important connections, which would be beneficial in developing and maintaining a professional network in future. They also lend you a hand to develop expertise and gain motivation and self confidence.
Companies offering engineering internships also gain numerous benefits. They get an opportunity to prescreen the most ambitious and talented engineering students. They use internships to evaluate interns and decide whether to give them a permanent offer upon graduation. Internships are the best source for them to get short term employees. The companies typically pay lower wages to interns than entry level full time engineers.
Summer Engineering Internships
Most of the leading engineering companies, including Jaguar Land Rover, National Grid, Mott MacDonald, BAE Systems, Rolls Royce and Siemens offer summer internships to provide work experience to students. Summer internships are typically part of the engineering course curriculum. It helps the students to acquire knowledge via practical training. Students neglecting summer internships usually lack training and skills required in the engineering profession.
Most of the universities team up with employers to offer summer internships. The programs usually last between 6 to 12 weeks. They aid you to gain insights about the industry and apprehend the latest engineering technology. If you perform well during the internship period, you may be offered a job placement by the employer after graduation.
Other Information about Engineering Internships
Engineering internships are rewarding and enlightening. Employers typically pay a salary and offer some allowances for food and gas. You can learn a lot through team work, discussions and research based work during this period. Working together with the professionals in the industry can help you enhance your career pursuit.
You can speak to a career counselor at your university’s career center, or talk with professionals to get more information on engineering internships. The internet is also a great source to find out which companies are offering engineering internships. Regardless of the field you are interested in, an internship will ensure that you can acquire firsthand knowledge and experience.
For a list of current internship openings in your area, please visit InternMatch.
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By Diane Barlow