Landing an Electrical Engineering Internship: A Comprehensive Guide

Electrical engineering internships offer invaluable opportunities for students to apply theoretical knowledge, gain practical experience, and network with industry professionals. These internships can pave the way for future career success, providing a real taste of what it’s like to work in electrical engineering down the line. Depending on the field that you’re going into, you could be creating and building a range of products in many different industries.

Why Pursue an Electrical Engineering Internship?

While not always a mandatory graduation requirement, an electrical engineering internship offers a multitude of benefits:

Practical Experience: Internships provide hands-on experience, allowing students to apply physics and math to create solutions for energy and electromagnetism and use the theories, skills, and knowledge you've gained in school.
Skill Development: From electrical engineering internships, you’ll gain skills that range from technical, interpersonal, and problem-solving.
Networking Opportunities: Internships facilitate connections with potential mentors, industry professionals, and fellow interns, fostering relationships that can be valuable throughout your career.
Career Exploration: An internship allows you to explore different facets of the electrical engineering field, helping you identify your interests and desired career path. Your summer 2021 electrical engineering internship could kick it off in the right direction.
Resume Enhancement: The best electrical engineering internships strengthen resumes, provide valuable avenues to letters of recommendation, and can even turn into full-time jobs.
Potential for Paid Positions: It’s also a plus if it’s a paid electrical engineering internship! You can find paid electrical engineering internships on Handshake by using the search filters!

Essential Skills for Electrical Engineering Interns

A combination of technical and workplace skills can significantly enhance your success as an electrical engineering intern.

Technical Skills

Programming Languages: Familiarity with languages like C++, Python, and MATLAB is highly beneficial.
Mathematical Proficiency: A strong foundation in calculus, linear algebra, and trigonometry is essential.
Physics Knowledge: A general understanding of physics principles is crucial.
Software Design skills: Electrical designers create electrical system designs for commercial, residential, and industrial sites to ensure the systems meet safety and production standards.
Knowledge of advanced mathematics: Controls engineers design, develop, test, maintain, and improve control systems in products like appliances, automobiles, consumer electronics, industrial equipment, and medical devices.

Workplace Skills

Analytical Thinking: The ability to analyze complex problems and develop effective solutions.
Communication Skills: Good written and verbal communication for conveying ideas and collaborating with team members.
Organizational Skills: An ability to stay organized and meet deadlines.
Problem-solving skills: Electrical technicians may work in a support role with an electrical engineer to design, develop, and test electrical equipment.
Attention to detail: Controls engineers design, develop, test, maintain, and improve control systems in products like appliances, automobiles, consumer electronics, industrial equipment, and medical devices.

Finding the Right Internship: A Step-by-Step Guide

Securing an electrical engineering internship requires a strategic approach. Here's a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the process:

1. Preparation

Update Your Resume and Online Profiles: Before you get started on sending out applications, make sure that you have your resume up to date and have fully filled out all your Handshake profile details. With a complete profile, an impressive electrical engineering internship is more attainable than ever. Recruiters are much more likely to message a student with a complete profile that says you want to work in electrical engineering than an unfinished one.
Highlight Relevant Skills: When putting together your resume, make sure to have all your skills, courses, and accomplishments laid out for employers to view. For electrical engineering interns, some great skills to list would be specific technical skills, time management, ability to follow through and execute, and ability to contribute and collaborate in a team setting. It’s also key to mention organizations or projects that you led and can explain thoroughly.
Craft a Compelling Objective Statement: When creating your resume, start with a short objective statement describing why you want the internship and what value you can bring.
Showcase Your Accomplishments: Also having your preferred job role and location on your Handshake profile is a great way to signal your interest to potential recruiters.

2. Research and Application

Consult Your University's Guidelines: If your engineering department has specific internship guidelines, check with your academic advisor or internship coordinator, if available. You should receive information about internship options and the steps you need to take next.
Explore Internship Opportunities: Depending on the guidelines of your school or electrical engineering degree program, you may need to find an internship independently. Electrical engineering internships can be found all over! Even companies that don’t seem to have a main focus in electrical engineering are looking for bright interns to help them develop.
Utilize Online Platforms: When searching for electrical engineering internships, it’s key to use the location filters provided on Handshake. You’ll be able to pinpoint electrical engineering internships exactly where you want to intern just by selecting the city you want in the search bar. Easy electrical engineering internships in your preferred city are just a search away.
Research Potential Job Roles: You can even research possible job roles that you might want to explore during your electrical engineering internship. Handshake also makes it easy to learn about roles in electrical engineering simply by using the job role search bar.
Identify Target Companies: And if you want to take your research one step further, you can even research top employers in the electrical engineering field on Handshake. Just by using the Handshake employer search feature you can discover companies that are hiring in your specific field by filtering by “Industry.” Some companies that would be great for electrical engineering majors looking for internships: Lockheed Martin, Phillips, or Vertiv.
Consider Location: Wondering where the “electrical engineering internships near me” are? For internships, it doesn’t matter if you’re on the hunt for freshman electrical engineering internships or paid business electrical engineering internships or electrical engineering internships in Chicago.

3. Interview Preparation

Prepare for Common Questions: Consider rehearsing answers to common interview questions to prepare for an internship interview. Examples might include:
- What motivated you to apply for this specific internship?
- What interests you about electrical engineering?
- Describe your professional goals and where you see yourself in the next few years.
- Tell me about a situation where you demonstrated excellent leadership (or teamwork).
- What are some time-management strategies you use to help meet tight deadlines?
- What types of activities do you enjoy outside of work and school?
Practice Your Interview Skills: When you do land your first interview, be it a virtual interview or in person, make sure to come prepared and dressed to impress. Review your resume and cover letter to make sure you have specific examples of your experience to share, from clubs or coursework. You can even schedule a mock interview with your university’s career center or, if you’re tight on time, ask a trusted friend to grill you on some common interview questions.

Maximizing Your Internship Experience

Once you've secured an internship, it's crucial to make the most of the opportunity.

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1. Professionalism and Networking

Build Relationships: Once you’ve landed an internship in electrical engineering and settled into the flow of day-to-day life at the office, start chatting with your coworkers. Whether they’re industry professionals or fellow interns, it’s important to treat them with equal respect. You never know what insights they could lend, or who could be a valuable connection down the line, five or ten years from now. Don’t be afraid to ask your new colleagues out for quick coffee chats, or request 15-minute informational interviews about their career trajectory.

2. Skills Development

Embrace Learning: Along with networking and gaining mentorship, electrical engineering interns will spend time working on skills great for later in their career journeys. Electrical engineering interns will learn how to plan and execute technical production, communicate their visions effectively, and collaborate with a team on a shared goal.
Develop Key Skills: During your electrical engineering internship, you’ll learn some great generic skills like time management, accountability, organization, and teamwork. Additionally, you’ll be immersed in the world of electrical engineering which will help you develop your knowledge of quantitative aptitude, how to manage electrical engineering projects effectively, and about your company’s personal contribution to the industry.

What to Expect During Your Internship

As an electrical engineering intern, you can expect to work with one or more senior-level engineers, depending on the company. Typically, an intern performs lower-level duties similar to that of an assistant. The type of assistance you provide might include:

Creating electrical drawings or diagrams using computer-aided design (CAD) software
Analyzing existing electrical designs for possible modifications
Testing electronics or electrical systems for safety and design standards
Conducting regular maintenance of electrical testing equipment

Career Paths After Graduation

Earning an electrical engineering degree opens doors to a variety of career options. Here are some exciting choices and their average base salaries:

Electrical Engineer: Electrical engineers research, design, and develop electrical equipment for commercial, industrial, or scientific use. This field requires an electrical engineering degree and in-depth knowledge of the science and function of electrical elements. Median annual US salary: $98,580. Average pay: $66,040.
Electrical Designer: Electrical designers create electrical system designs for commercial, residential, and industrial sites to ensure the systems meet safety and production standards. You might also work with other engineers and architects to develop construction plans and create bids on projects, perform calculations to determine the appropriate sizing of a project’s electrical equipment and create specifications. Median annual US salary: $90,746.
Electrical Technician: Electrical technicians may work in a support role with an electrical engineer to design, develop, and test electrical equipment. You could also work as a field technician, maintaining and repairing electrical equipment and systems. Median annual US salary: $68,894.
Controls Engineer: Controls engineers design, develop, test, maintain, and improve control systems in products like appliances, automobiles, consumer electronics, industrial equipment, and medical devices. Median annual US salary: $90,000.
Other Roles to Consider: sound engineer, design engineer, IT consultant, and broadcast engineer.

Additional Resources for Career Development

Attend Virtual Events: A good way to delve even deeper into your career path growth is to attend a virtual event or two. Not only will you be learning more about your own career, but there will also be chances to network with employers, industry specialists, and other students sharing different perspectives.
Explore Online Courses: Electrical engineering internships can open opportunities for various career options and allow you to explore different types of jobs in the field. You might also leverage online courses to discover multiple facets that interest you. For example, the Introduction to Power Electronics course from the University of Colorado Boulder allows you to work with circuit models and gain a deeper understanding of the operating principles of switched-mode converters, among other topics.
Consider a Master's Degree: Another option is to pursue a master's degree in electrical engineering after getting your bachelor's degree. Consider the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, available on Coursera. Options of more than 50 accredited courses allow you to narrow your field of study and work on projects that interest you.

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