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The industry needs you as much as you need it
August 2, 2007
The relationship between college interns and the companies they work for is often perceived to work one way, in that the company gives the student the opportunity to gain crucial experience
In the engineering industry, however, the value of interns is being recognized and opportunities are beginning to present themselves to students, as the industry assumes its responsibility of taking care of its next generation.
There are a number of factors creating the need for engineers, such as the baby boomer work force reaching retirement age, and increased market demand due to economic growth.
In the aerospace industry, for example, the Cold War provided an industry boom that provided a wealth of jobs for young engineers, who still make up a large part of the work force, but are nearing retirement age.
Similarly the current war has bolstered the defense industry and created job openings for young engineers, who now need to fill the shoes of their predecessors.
According to a recent Princeton Review survey engineering doesn’t rank among the top ten most popular majors in the US, so although that lack of enrollment will contribute to the shortage of engineers, it also provides ample opportunity for those in engineering programs.
The demand for engineers can be seen in the increased effort employers are making to connect with students (see my previous post Finding internships on the Internet) in order to make ties with and train the next generation of engineers.
In her post "Internships are a way to test-drive a future career" Amy Laskowski reiterates the importance of taking care of the next generation of engineers: “Every engineering office should take on the responsibility of adding an intern to their office, even if only for the summer. It is important that everyone does their share in training the next round of engineers.”
Interns are a good solution for companies who can train and access students in hopes of hiring them after graduation.
Posted by Jessica MacNeil on August 2, 2007 | Comments (0)
