2 answers
Mike
Student
Lebanon, New Jersey
2
Questions
Asked
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How do I find internships at smaller companies
I want to do service engineering at a smaller company with potential for growth, and want to find a way to contact companies #jobs #engineering
2 answers
Lindsey Manning-Djabbari
Entrepreneur & Community Builder
131
Answers
Irvine, California
Updated
Lindsey’s Answer
Great question Mike. It's smart to look for work as a student at a smaller company because they need the help and most will end up giving you more responsibility than larger companies would. A few suggestions about where to look for internships while in college:
- Look into working at a nonprofit. If you prefer to get more hands on experience working in person with a team then look local, but if you're open to working remote don't let a nonprofit's location deter you from applying. Many nonprofits (including us!) are open to remote paid internships and/or part time or contract work.
- There are sites like RippleMatch.com that specialize in internships for college students, and I believe you can tell them when you sign up that you'd prefer to work at a smaller company.
- Tap your personal network. Ask your professors for recommendations on where you should look for work. Can they introduce you? Even better. If you have any older friends who also aspire to work in service engineering chances are they've already been through the job/internship search. Be sure to ask them where they looked and if they have any leads for you to see through.
Lindsey recommends the following next steps:
Kyle Maw
Operations Leadership Development Program
1
Answer
Spartanburg, South Carolina
Updated
Kyle’s Answer
Hey Mike,
I spoke with a couple colleagues about your question, and we had a couple main ideas that came up in discussion. The first thing that we all agreed on is to talk with your current or former professors. Often times, your professors will know former students who went on to work in industry, whether in larger or smaller companies, and it's quite possible they have a larger professional network than you do. If you have a professor willing to make an introduction for you, that's a very good way to get your foot in the door.
In my personal experience, when I interned with a smaller company, it came about from me seeking out job opportunities through online resources such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and my school's own internal system for job recommendations. I applied online, interviewed with them, and got a call back one of the following days. One of the biggest things that set me apart in that interview was relevant project experience; I was working on a robotics project at the time, and talking about my problem-solving process during the interview lined up very well with what they needed from an intern. So from that, we would suggest taking part in extracurricular activities that will help to focus your skillset on the specific field you want and give you relevant experience.
Finally, from a big-picture perspective, you need to be active in your job search. Get your name out there, apply to different positions, and always be searching for the roles. "Scour the ends of the earth" kind of idea. A big thing that comes with putting applications out there is that a lot of companies may say "No," and that's okay. If you can develop the capacity to handle rejection, it will be very useful both in the job hunt and once you get into your career.
Hope this helps!
Seek out professors for advice and connections.
Develop relevant skills through extracurricular activities.
Apply, apply, apply.
I spoke with a couple colleagues about your question, and we had a couple main ideas that came up in discussion. The first thing that we all agreed on is to talk with your current or former professors. Often times, your professors will know former students who went on to work in industry, whether in larger or smaller companies, and it's quite possible they have a larger professional network than you do. If you have a professor willing to make an introduction for you, that's a very good way to get your foot in the door.
In my personal experience, when I interned with a smaller company, it came about from me seeking out job opportunities through online resources such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor, and my school's own internal system for job recommendations. I applied online, interviewed with them, and got a call back one of the following days. One of the biggest things that set me apart in that interview was relevant project experience; I was working on a robotics project at the time, and talking about my problem-solving process during the interview lined up very well with what they needed from an intern. So from that, we would suggest taking part in extracurricular activities that will help to focus your skillset on the specific field you want and give you relevant experience.
Finally, from a big-picture perspective, you need to be active in your job search. Get your name out there, apply to different positions, and always be searching for the roles. "Scour the ends of the earth" kind of idea. A big thing that comes with putting applications out there is that a lot of companies may say "No," and that's okay. If you can develop the capacity to handle rejection, it will be very useful both in the job hunt and once you get into your career.
Hope this helps!
Kyle recommends the following next steps:
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