June 13–19, 2007, Number 447
These students are working on projects for the Blue Marble enterprise, which I joined as a sophomore. This practical experience and that gained through internships and co-ops are what companies want.
Summer Internships and Co-ops
Students at Michigan Tech receive a great education and learn quite a bit. Unfortunately, when it comes to getting a full-time job after graduation, many companies are looking for more than just good grades; they want experience. Having professional experiences on a resume is the key to finding that dream career. These experiences can come as early as the summer between the first and second years of school; though they can occur more frequently as the student progresses. The experiences can come in two forms: internships and co-ops. Many people have heard about these, but don’t know the difference between them. I will describe both in detail and then discuss some of my experiences in my current internship with General Motors.
Many students, myself included, strive every year to obtain an internship with a company. Internships usually only last for 10-12 weeks and occur over the summer. There are usually different sessions, such as May-July or June-August to help accommodate the student’s needs. This ends up giving the student a summer job with real experience. Most internships are paid positions, though some are still experience only.
Co-ops are similar to internships but are unique in their own way. Co-ops are usually about six months in duration; nearly double that of internships. They run in two sessions, spring–summer or summer–fall. This means the student will be working during at least one of their school semesters. With the longer duration, students are better able to work on large projects that take longer to come to fruition. Students can also work with the Career Center and Administration Office to earn college credit for the co-op. This is one benefit that is not an option with internships.
Like I mentioned earlier, I am currently a summer intern for General Motors. I am working down at the Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas City, KS (the Chevy Malibu and Saturn Aura are made here). It was a surprise when I received my offer and it said I would be working in Kansas, but I enjoy traveling and looked forward to the opportunity. I am staying with two other interns in an apartment not far from work. My supervisor wasted no time in giving me a couple of projects to work on over my three months here. I am also working with all of the other individual engineers in my group to learn as much as I can from them. A bit of advice I can give to students when working on co-op or an internship is: ask lots of questions, get to know the people you work with, and make sure to have others include you in their work. I am learning so much from working hand-in-hand with the other engineers in my group. I try to assist them whenever possible and have asked them to include me in as many parts as possible. This helps me get a good feel for what they do and also keeps me from ever being bored.
If there are ever any topics that you feel should be addressed, please send me a personal email and I will try my best to include them in my future articles.
Until next week,
- Michigan Technological University
- 1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295
- 906-487-1885