Internships

[Joe Ross]

You are probably too late for an internship at a large company for this summer. Typically they will have structured programs that you should be applying for months in advance. Large companies will also screen based on GPA. In college a lot of them look for a 3.0 (and many a lot higher then that), I would expect it to be even higher for high school.

As others said, your best bet will be with smaller companies that you have personal contacts with, for example your team's sponsors, your mentor's companies, and family friends. At this level one of the main criteria will be how hard you work, so hopefully you've impressed your references. At a company without a structured program you could probably negotiate your hours. However if you want to do anything "real" you're probably looking at a 40 hour week.

Also realize that a lot of employers will google you now also. Thus it's important to make sure your online personality reflects your offline personality.

[Garret]

In the past members from my team have gotten internships at JPL. Our mentor from JPL would help them get the internships I think. from what I have heard from them the internships are really good.

I really do not know much else other than this because most of this happened before I was on the team. All I know is that they still offer them but nothing other that.

[davidthefat]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

Also realize that a lot of employers will google you now also. Thus it's important to make sure your online personality reflects your offline personality.

LOLS, not a good thing on my side... BRB erasing my internet profiles... Is that even legal though? Its personal life compared to professional life.. Does not seem right

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

LOLS, not a good thing on my side... BRB erasing my internet profiles... Is that even legal though? Its personal life compared to professional life.. Does not seem right

Why would it be illegal to use Google for anything?

Be aware you can never truly "delete" anything you put on the Internet.

[Joe Ross]

Here's a relatively old (in internet time) article about googling potential employees: http://www.seopedia.org/tips-tricks/...-write-online/

In more recent articles, I've seen that more then 50% of employers will google you now.

Communication skills is definitely something that they look at.

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by Joe Ross

In more recent articles, I've seen that more then 50% of employers will google you now.

And, we just read these (and other) threads on ChiefDelphi to witness how eloquent and brilliant some of your are, while others are foolish simpletons.

Thankfully, in this community, the brilliant outnumber the foolish. Sometimes, the foolish wise up and become brilliant in their own right. This is a neat to see.

Speaking of interns, there are currently four at AndyMark for the summer. Two work on assembly of products, one is helping to organize and streamline our processes, while another works on these two things and does a bit of robot programming.

Sincerely,
Andy Baker

[rsisk]

How I would like to spend my summer vacation...

Take a sabbatical for the summer and intern at AndyMark, that would be way cool. Next stop, ThinkGeek, and then wrap up the summer at IFI.

[HashemReza]

Really, you just have to put yourself out there.

During my Junior year, I interned with Qualcomm in their Engineering department. It was absolutely fascinating!

In fact, I write you now from my full-time senior-year internship at SPAWAR (Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center). I'm currently working in the Unmanned Systems (a.k.a. Robotics) Branch, doing research for a Navy contract.

Really, companies like this are always looking for help from students, because each one is a valuable prospective employee. Find local companies that have past connections with your school! SPAWAR is heavily involved in one of the Robotics labs at UCSD, so there are constantly students from their engineering program here at the base.

Don't be afraid to ask, the worst someone can say is no.

[RoboMom]

Some advice from TrackAhead
http://www.trackahead.com/notes/How_...r_Intern ship

and

10 Reasons why Every High School Student Should Volunteer
http://www.trackahead.com/notes/10_R...ld_Vo lunteer

I like TrackAhead. It is filled with common-sense advice and has some interesting blogs.

[EricH]

Personal life can often affect professional life, and vice versa. The habits you form in your personal life may or may not filter into your professional life. Employers realize this.

Let us say, for the sake of example, that I had a picture on some other website of myself and some high-school friends having a beer, and the person who was going to be employing me over the summer had access to that page (through legal means, of course--friend's father, let's say, is the employer, or privacy settings are at no privacy). What does that picture say about my likely choices? What does it say about the kind of friends I hang out with?

One picture might not do much. But let's also say that I have several pictures of that sort, taken on different days, mingled in with a few pictures of a family vacation or similar things. What pattern do you see developing if you're an employer?

If I was an employer looking at that type of thing, I'd see someone who might be having serious lapses in judgment; someone who might easily be late (hangovers); someone who doesn't follow the law (which may then come back to bite me, as you never know if they might cause something to disappear). That's what I'd see. The first two might not be a problem; the third one might be enough for me not to hire them at all.

(Note: I have no pictures of that sort that I know about, let alone having them online. The above is simply an example of what could happen.)

[davidthefat]

Oh darn, thats not good news for me in the future, I do not use good grammar nor do I use good spelling or high diction... "Davidthefat" also sounds unprofessional, but its also creative? Am I linked to criminal activities? I don't think so, but I do not have the vibe of a very professional person, but a very nonchalant person. But I guess I am also nonchalant in real life too.

[Zach O]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

"Davidthefat" also sounds unprofessional, but its also creative?

Unprofessional? Using "LOLS", "BRB", and random characters for anger, especially on this forum, is also unprofessional. It's completely legal for your employeer to Google you, and if I owned my own business, I'd do it frequently. Generally however, if you don't attach your name to a handle, you're good to go.

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by Zach O

Generally however, if you don't attach your name to a handle, you're good to go.

This is definitely not true. Think about how many accounts you have on the internet. If one of them is tied to either your name or the email address you have on your resume then a lot more can be discovered. I went through one day looking my self up and found accounts I had forgotten about. Odds are that your AIM YIM or skype IDs are attached to your forum account. I found my old accounts by searching for my old screen name (which could easily be found by searching for my email address then going through my chief delphi info).

It is important to be aware of your image online. It is not going to kill your chances of getting a job because you have some pictures online, it may raise a red flag but there are many other things to consider. I personally have a few pictures online where I have a beer in my hand (I am over 21). I would be shocked if any employer cared about them. All employers know that people go out and have a life out side of work. Your prior work history and record of academic success (for students and recent grads) as well as your drive are by far the most important things to prospective employers.

[Conor Ryan]

Awesome thread! Great question.

I consider myself an expert on interning. This is my 6th year interning in a row, and I got one more internship to go before I graduate college. I have interned at 6 different companies, left all of them on good terms, loved them all in their own special ways, and right now I am loving my current internship (in a lot of ways I think its the best).

Anyway, internships in high school. I got my first one through the Rutgers Dept of Material Science. They did this Nano-Technology initiative, I found out about it through a high school physics teacher, he wrote me a recommendation along with a chemistry teacher and I found myself developing next generation batteries and fuel cells for a summer. I mostly did lab rat type stuff for the summer, but it was a great hands on experience. I don't know if they still do the same initiative, but it was great. It was my first experience with lab view and some similar software, very cool all around. And they paid!! Not bad for a sophomore in high school.

My second internship in high school lasted for 2 years and it was with a small pharmaceutical marketing research firm, I found out about it through the guidance department. It was sales research, but it was interesting. Let me know if you guys need some advice with anything.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by davidthefat

Oh darn, thats not good news for me in the future, I do not use good grammar nor do I use good spelling or high diction... "Davidthefat" also sounds unprofessional, but its also creative? Am I linked to criminal activities? I don't think so, but I do not have the vibe of a very professional person, but a very nonchalant person. But I guess I am also nonchalant in real life too.

1) You can change your CD username

2) Consider changing your grammar and spelling if you don't think you are professional enough.

And, yes, companies do Google for employees. Where I work does it all the time.