# I can't find an internship



## Riceman (Mar 12, 2009)

Hi, I'm a senior CE student with structural emphasis, I have 3.6 GPA and an EIT certificate. I applied for internship at 10 different consulting firms in California (some out of states as well) and got turned down by all of them. Is the economy really this bad? anyone has any leads? thanks in advance.


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## Supe (Mar 12, 2009)

Riceman said:


> Hi, I'm a senior CE student with structural emphasis, I have 3.6 GPA and an EIT certificate. I applied for internship at 10 different consulting firms in California (some out of states as well) and got turned down by all of them. Is the economy really this bad? anyone has any leads? thanks in advance.


Do some searches over in Houston. It's the #1 city in America for college grad engineering jobs and internships. The hard part is getting paid a per diem or living expenses when finding an out of state internship.


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## dastuff (Mar 12, 2009)

Where in CA? LA area?


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## TXengrChickPE (Mar 12, 2009)

I'm not surprised. Senior Engineers (w/ PE) are being laid off all over the country... which means that they are starting to accept entry-level positions, which means that EITs are scrambling for internship and engineering tech positions just to get by... leaving nothing for students looking for internships.

Sorry.


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## Riceman (Mar 12, 2009)

dastuff said:


> Where in CA? LA area?


I looked mostly around Bay Area and Central Valley.


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## Riceman (Mar 13, 2009)

Thanks for everyone's advice, I guess my best bet is to a- get the hell out of California once I graduate. or b- go to a graduate school and wait out this hard time.

I've always been told that CE's will always have a job and it's somewhat recession proof, apparently that's not the case. My girlfriend who's a liberal arts/child development major already has multiple job offers, ironically, I who make fun of her major, is going to twiddle with my thumb this summer.


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## TouchDown (Mar 13, 2009)

I think California has been hit especially hard with the economy. I'm in manufacturing and my company is closing down a plant N of the Bay Area. I just went out there to look at equipment and of the entire industrial district in this little town was for sale / for lease signs. Pretty sad / scary.

Hope things work out, but I think the Engineering degree will pay off eventually. I don't think there are any "safe" jobs and it may just take some time for new / recent grads. With so many people looking for work, there are a lot of experienced engineers looking to fill entry level spots like TX said.


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## Chucktown PE (Mar 13, 2009)

Riceman said:


> Thanks for everyone's advice, I guess my best bet is to a- get the hell out of California once I graduate. or b- go to a graduate school and wait out this hard time.I've always been told that CE's will always have a job and it's somewhat recession proof, apparently that's not the case. My girlfriend who's a liberal arts/child development major already has multiple job offers, ironically, I who make fun of her major, is going to twiddle with my thumb this summer.


If you have a good idea as to what you want to do I would definintely go to grad school. I went on a research assistantship, had all of my tuition waved, and was paid $20k a year. Plus it upped my starting salary by 25%. You can start taking classes this summer if you hurry and get your applications in. Having the M.S. has been huge for my career and I am a huge proponent of getting a Masters if you are going in to consulting.


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## MonteBiker (Mar 13, 2009)

Chucktown PE said:


> If you have a good idea as to what you want to do I would definintely go to grad school. I went on a research assistantship, had all of my tuition waved, and was paid $20k a year. Plus it upped my starting salary by 25%. You can start taking classes this summer if you hurry and get your applications in. Having the M.S. has been huge for my career and I am a huge proponent of getting a Masters if you are going in to consulting.



I'm going to second Chucktown's post. Depending on your field, a masters is starting to become almost mandatory. On the structural side, as structures are becoming more complex, the basic knowledge of concrete and steel design you get in undergraduate programs just isn't cutting it. Classes like finite element analysis, where you are learning the background behind much of the software out there, makes you a more competent designer as you have a better understanding of what they are doing. I think that Chucktown's salary may have been a-typical of most graduate students I knew, it is true that there are a lot of professors out there willing to fund your education so that they can get their research done. You then have a job for another year and your prospects are much better afterwords. Many of the folks that I knew getting their graduate degrees through research grants and stipends ended up with jobs through those. I don't know that my M.S. upped my starting salary by 25% but I work for a firm that won't really hire you without the M.S.


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## Chucktown PE (Mar 13, 2009)

Monte brings up a good point about the Masters almost becoming mandatory. I think the graduating class of either 2011 or 2012 is required to have 30 additional credit hours of course work in engineering before being allowed to sit for the PE exam, i.e. in order to get licensed you are going to have to have a Masters degree.


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## chaosiscash (Mar 13, 2009)

^^ Thats NCEES Model Law. The states can still choose whether or not they want to adopt it.

(I realize most probably will. I'm just pointing out that the 30 hour thing will be state dependant).


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## Chucktown PE (Mar 13, 2009)

chaosiscash said:


> ^^ Thats NCEES Model Law. The states can still choose whether or not they want to adopt it.
> (I realize most probably will. I'm just pointing out that the 30 hour thing will be state dependant).



True, but if states don't adopt then there will be a problem with reciprocity.


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## chaosiscash (Mar 13, 2009)

Just like there is now for folks in Cali.


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## Riceman (May 15, 2009)

Update: I finally found an internship in Bay Area, CA. It only took me 3 months and applying to about 15-20 different firms. Opportunities are out there, best of luck to everyone.


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## maryannette (May 15, 2009)

Riceman said:


> Update: I finally found an internship in Bay Area, CA. It only took me 3 months and applying to about 15-20 different firms. Opportunities are out there, best of luck to everyone.


Glad you found one. Consider yourself fortunate.


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## Guest (May 15, 2009)

Riceman said:


> Update: I finally found an internship in Bay Area, CA. It only took me 3 months and applying to about 15-20 different firms. Opportunities are out there, best of luck to everyone.


Congratulations!!

FWIW - I just got a job in the city that Forbes rates as the WORST small city in the country for getting employment. :true:

Story line here - Mlive Article

If you are willing to be flexible AND persistent, you WILL find opportunities. 

Good luck - best wishes as you develop your career and profession.

JR


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## wvgirl14 (May 15, 2009)

Congratulations jregieng!



jregieng said:


> Congratulations!!
> FWIW - I just got a job in the city that Forbes rates as the WORST small city in the country for getting employment. :true:
> 
> Story line here - Mlive Article
> ...


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