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Am I prepared to apply for Electrical Engineering internships?
Hello I'm going into my third year of my EE degree, so far I have take intro circuits and logic design, this semester I will be taking circuits 2 and electronics. My question is am I prepared to apply for internships or should I wait until I'm more into my EE degree?
Thank you!
#electrical #engineering #internship #question
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6 answers
Updated
Hanna’s Answer
Hi Taner,
I'm also a student but absolutely agree with what Dexter said. You're definitely ready to apply as it's never too early to. The more experience the better!
Classes are great for many things, but gaining applicable work experience will challenge you in ways your classes cannot. When applying for internships, hiring managers know your skill set based off your resume and cover letter. They don't expect you to know everything already and if you're a fast learner, you will more than excel!
Best of luck -
Hanna
I'm also a student but absolutely agree with what Dexter said. You're definitely ready to apply as it's never too early to. The more experience the better!
Classes are great for many things, but gaining applicable work experience will challenge you in ways your classes cannot. When applying for internships, hiring managers know your skill set based off your resume and cover letter. They don't expect you to know everything already and if you're a fast learner, you will more than excel!
Best of luck -
Hanna
Updated
Dexter’s Answer
Hi Taner,
I've seen interns who were going from freshman to sophomore years. You're totally ready, if I were you, I would apply now.
Think of it this way, perhaps you won't be doing super technical things this round, but experience is experience, and at worst, you can make a great impression on your managers and make it back next year with more technical experience.
--
Dexter
I've seen interns who were going from freshman to sophomore years. You're totally ready, if I were you, I would apply now.
Think of it this way, perhaps you won't be doing super technical things this round, but experience is experience, and at worst, you can make a great impression on your managers and make it back next year with more technical experience.
--
Dexter
Updated
Pawan’s Answer
Hello Tanner,
There are a lot of good inputs here. I just wanted to add my own two cents. I've come across many students even in the freshman year working through summer. It is common practice in Europe where students work with companies during school year. So it is never to early to start.
You should definitely go for internship if you can. It doesn't have to be the most electrical engineering experience. As long as you are around engineers, you will learn some basic skills that will help you in your junior year internship search and senior year job hunt. These basic skills include:
a) Tangible skills: Executing a task within a given timeline, presenting and communicating your work with other engineers, looking at a problem from different perspective, understanding challenges in real life problem (It will be different from the courses you take in school where you only care about solving a circuit).
b) Intangible skills: Getting used to work environment, picking up company specific tools (typically large organizations) such as intranet, HR policies, time-off policies etc. These experiences will give you an idea about what is more important for you in a job. For example, I learned pretty early that the manager and my team members are the most important to me. A supportive manager goes a long way in helping/ mentoring you. And the opposite is true as well!
The other unintended consequence of this would be - feeling inspired/ excited about electrical engineering. Hopefully, you will come across an engineer whom you would look up to and would want to be in the future. It might just set the tone for the rest of your degree and encourage you to pursue higher education too! Also, may be some hobby projects that lead you to expand your understanding.
Best regards,
Pawan
Check out positions at large/ small companies
Pass on your resume through friends/ family
May be even your own university may have research groups looking to hire students for the summer
Talk to professors
There are a lot of good inputs here. I just wanted to add my own two cents. I've come across many students even in the freshman year working through summer. It is common practice in Europe where students work with companies during school year. So it is never to early to start.
You should definitely go for internship if you can. It doesn't have to be the most electrical engineering experience. As long as you are around engineers, you will learn some basic skills that will help you in your junior year internship search and senior year job hunt. These basic skills include:
a) Tangible skills: Executing a task within a given timeline, presenting and communicating your work with other engineers, looking at a problem from different perspective, understanding challenges in real life problem (It will be different from the courses you take in school where you only care about solving a circuit).
b) Intangible skills: Getting used to work environment, picking up company specific tools (typically large organizations) such as intranet, HR policies, time-off policies etc. These experiences will give you an idea about what is more important for you in a job. For example, I learned pretty early that the manager and my team members are the most important to me. A supportive manager goes a long way in helping/ mentoring you. And the opposite is true as well!
The other unintended consequence of this would be - feeling inspired/ excited about electrical engineering. Hopefully, you will come across an engineer whom you would look up to and would want to be in the future. It might just set the tone for the rest of your degree and encourage you to pursue higher education too! Also, may be some hobby projects that lead you to expand your understanding.
Best regards,
Pawan
Pawan recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Cedric’s Answer
Hello Tanner,
If you are not ready for a full-time position then you are ready for an internship.
An internship is an opportunity to apply what have you learned so far and an opportunity to better focus yourself for the remainder of your studies.
Target employers and industries that you see yourself working in full-time and look into their internship program.
If you are not ready for a full-time position then you are ready for an internship.
An internship is an opportunity to apply what have you learned so far and an opportunity to better focus yourself for the remainder of your studies.
Cedric recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Halimat’s Answer
You are definitely ready! Of course, some companies will specify what years they will accept so keep an eye out for that. Hopefully, you will find one that wants to nurture and teach their employees. Be open to unpaid internships too if they fit your goals and if it is financially feasible.
As an EE student, who recently graduated, I regret waiting until my Junior year for fear of being rejected. A lot of internships will want prior internship experience, so don't wait.
As an EE student, who recently graduated, I regret waiting until my Junior year for fear of being rejected. A lot of internships will want prior internship experience, so don't wait.
Updated
Kristine’s Answer
As a recruiter in the engineering space, I'd say the sooner the better. In fact, if you are a 3rd-year student you might have time for an additional internship during your 4th year. There are companies who bring interns back, which looks really good on your resume! Or, you can take an internship for a different company, which also looks good.