For students

• A dose of perspective
• Getting started
• Resumes and more
• Reviewing the options
• "Preparing to Lead" summer internships
  • Overview
  • Requirements and schedule for participation
  • Our "Founding Leaders"
  • Summer 2008 Opportunities
  • How to apply
• International opportunities
• Alumni Careers Network
• Career Services calendar
• Help

For employers

• Introduction
• "Preparing to Lead" summer internships
  • Overview
  • Requirements and schedule for participation
  • Our "Founding Leaders"
• International summer internships

Internships: Reviewing the options

The internship experiences of engineering students at Princeton cover a broad spectrum. Based on a survey of the engineering classes of 2008 and 2009 conducted during the summer of 2006, here are a few real example experiences to consider as you review the options available to you.

• building scheduling models for liquified natural gas plants
• geologic mapping and core sampling for a diamond company
• research and design of an artificial neural network package
• international synthetic biology contest; iGem team member
• eighth grade math teacher
• computer analysis of wind fields on Titan
• application development at a major investment bank
• research in the MIRTHE Center
• modeling and experimental research on plasma thrusters for spacecraft
• semiconductor fabrication work
• english teacher for employees of a pharmaceutical company in China
• optimizing processes at a well-known beer maker
• developing web applications for Firestone Library
• assisting in iris recognition algorithms research
• analyzing real estate property portfolios

As you can see, the work varies widely. The methods for identifying the opportunities vary widely as well. Opportunities fall into a few broad categories, but is limited by your imagination and your desire to find the opportunity. Some of the typical categories include:

Engineering roles in the commercial sector. These experiences will most resemble full time post-graduation work experience. They may include research, design work, or other aspects of product development, manufacturing, or process development. In many cases, successful experiences for both the student and the employer result in offers of full time employment upon graduation. Commercial opportunities can be found by using the TigerTracks system, the on-campus resource provided by the Office of Career Services. While these resources provide many listings of opportunities, your search is not bounded by these systems and we strongly encourage you to find the companies that interest you through whatever means possible, contact them and make your interests known to them.

Off-campus university research. Through a variety of programs, many universities offer research opportunities in their labs for summer students. Many of these are available through the National Science Foundation program known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates (or REUs).

On-campus university research. When working with faculty during the course of the year, you may become interested in working on research with a particular faculty member for the coming summer. These opportunities require that you take the initiative to make it happen. Some require applications, some do not.

Public service. Internships in public service can take many forms, ranging from working as a staff member in a non-profit to educating children in developing countries. Many of these opportunities are funded by non-profit entities and require a formal application. Some allow the flexibility for you to identify your own internship opportunity (where you spend the effort to identify the agency or organization with the need for your service and obtain their agreement to have you serve them), while the service organization funds your work. The Office of Career Services has a list of Internships Offered by Princeton-Affiliated Organizations, which includes many of these opportunities.

International internships. These opportunities span the commercial, university, and public service areas. Many, like the public service internships described above, require a formal application and leg work on your part to make them happen. The Office of Career Services Guide to International Internships is a rich resource for aiding your search to understanding and finding these opportunities. Additional information about International Opportunities is available on this site. And, last-but-not-least, there is Princeton's International Internship Program. This program provides both guidance and potential funding for many international internship opportunities. See their web site for in-depth information on the range of opportunities available. To quote their site: Whether your academic focus is science, literature, history, social science, art, or engineering, your sojourn abroad – be it formal study, thesis research, or a job/internship – will enrich and expand your undergraduate education.

Additional resources. Career services provides two additional lists of online resources. The first is for internships geared toward Science, Engineering & Health covers areas such as women in science & engineering, health and human services, and many others. The second is a list of online job search services for Engineering and Technology.