Hi Jes,
Nice to see a fellow Prof on the forums. I graduated from Rowan in 2013, (and again about a year later).
Things have clearly changed around Rowan - when I was a student there, there were only 4 engineering programs offered (civil, mechanical, electrical, chemical). I think construction management was offered as a masters program, but certainly not an undergraduate degree. Anyway, here are my thoughts from when I was a student there.
- The engineering outreach director always did a great job of sending out job opportunities. They used to arrive in your student daily mail. If you aren't seeing those, it might be a good idea to talk to the outreach department and figure out if they are still posting them, and learn what you need to do to see them.
- Occasionally industry professionals would come to different classes or speak at ASCE student chapter events on friday mornings (I know, not the time you want to get up to go to them). Those should be posted to your email as well, or at least were when I was a student.
- Rowan had at least 2 career fairs per year when I was a student. Its never a bad idea to go and talk to a few different companies to try to learn who the players are in the area and what kind of work they are involved in. Of course, given Rowan's location proximate to Philly, NY, etc, there will be tons of more companies than who appear at the career fair, but it never hurts to try and get some names in your head.
- This may also seem obvious, but make as many friends in class as you can. If they already have an internship lined up, they can at least give you the name of where they are working. When I was a student, our class sizes were 20-30 students and we all knew each other. Even after school ended, I've helped old classmates find new opportunities, and have been approached by other classmates who offered to send me positions as well.
Despite all that, I was also a student who didn't find any internships via those routes. Instead, I was enrolled in an environmental engineering course and one of our assignments was to find out where our local town's trash was dumped. I emailed a person on my city council and he responded with his work email (an engineering firm). I asked if he needed an intern for the summer, and he said no. However, a few weeks later, he reached back out and informed me that they did need extra support that summer after all. Don't be afraid to ask your own questions and stumble across some surprise opportunities.
I learned a lot at that internship but most importantly also learned a lot about what I didn't want to do after school. This is a long-winded way to say to not be afraid to apply for things a little outside your wheelhouse as a student. You never know if you might end up liking (or learning to avoid) something once you're ready to chase down full-time work.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any other questions. Good luck to you.
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Christopher Seigel P.E., M.ASCE
Civil Engineer
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-21-2022 11:13 AM
From: Jesenia Matias
Subject: New Student Member seeking guidance
Hello everyone!
I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself; I'm Jes a Construction Management student at Rowan University. I am delighted to join ASCE with hopes of connecting and developing solid relationships with fellow members as well as joining in on your open discussions to gain more insight about our industry. With that being said, I'd like to ask if anyone is interested in sharing advice on landing internship and entry-level opportunities as I continue to pursue my degree? I am just shy of a year left for graduation and although I have applied and reached out to various firms and small businesses for hands on experience. I have yet to connect with an opportunity. All feedback is welcome, thank you!
All the best,
Jes
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Jesenia Matias S.M.ASCE
Bensalem PA
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