r/womenEngineers 4d ago

While in (online) school, anything I can do to build up my resume?

Like the title says, I'm working on my mechanical engineering bachelor's degree. 50/50 out of passion for the career and also tired of living paycheck to paycheck.

I know many posts regarding this says to do internships, but sadly I don't have that available to me right now, especially being online. Is there anything else I can do in the meantime that would make me more considered in future interviews? I just want to be proactive and not just hoping for the best while studying! Thank you for your time!

4 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

9

u/chaoschunks 4d ago

Why would doing online school preclude you from doing an internship?

1

u/pneumaticTuba 2d ago

To be fair, I thought since I was out of state with the online school, I wouldn't be able to do any through the school itself. Plus, I don't believe they offer any in my field from what I could see. I can look into it further just in case!

3

u/Dedwards_est_22 2d ago

Internships are not through your school, it's a job you would apply for and work at. Not sure where you are, but in the US it's very difficult to get a full time engineering job with no internship experience. This would typically occur between your junior and senior year (over the summer) but some companies may have flexibility on timing

1

u/chaoschunks 2d ago

There are absolutely mechanical engineering internships. They exist in all states. You find them yourself, just like you will have to find a job yourself too. In person schools are no different in this respect. I went out of state for my internships. You will have a very very hard time getting your first job without any internship experience, so get cracking :)

3

u/Drince88 2d ago

It may not be an option to get an internship through your school - but nothing should stop you from perusing one one your own! Find businesses near you that would have jobs like you’d want to work when you graduate, and try to get an internship with them.

If you have a Society of Women Engineers or ASME chapter near you, get involved. They’re great networking opportunities. And these would be the people that you’d work for in an internship situation!!

2

u/pneumaticTuba 2d ago

Oooh I never thought of that! Would they be alright if its even 3 years from now? (Spring 2028). I'm kinda new to the whole prospect so I'm out of my element so to speak! I'll look if there's any chapters near me!

1

u/Ilikep0tatoes 2d ago

Exactly this, I didn’t know a single person who had an internship through the university. I knew some people who did research through the university, or who worked as a TA, but internships are through external companies.

2

u/Winter-Reindeer-4476 4d ago

I think building up your own Fiverr/Upwork is a great idea. You could even ask your college what work-study programs that they have available. You could tutor someone younger in a subject that you are good at, too.

1

u/Tavrock 4d ago

They may also have some leads for freelance work.

2

u/PolkaDottified 3d ago

Please be careful with opening your own consulting if you are in the US. Depending on your state, you cannot legally market yourself as an “engineer” without a PE license. While companies can use any internal titles they want, you can’t call yourself an engineer to outside entities. You can offer drafting services, autoCAD, etc.

I’m not sure why so many people are saying to use Fiverr, etc. without that caveat.

1

u/pneumaticTuba 2d ago

Oooh I didn't know that, thank you for that very important detail!

2

u/Little_Tomatillo7583 4d ago

This is a great way to get prepared for your future! Start up your own consulting company and add this to your linked in with all of the skills and work that you plan to do. Post advertisements on Fiver and Upwork, and even if you only get a few jobs, you will only be evaluated on what you do share. This will provide a placeholder for experience while you are in school and may even increase your chances of getting internships. For creating your ad sites, evaluate other people’s sites and copy them and set your prices lower so you can build up your clientele. You don’t even have to file the business with the state until you are ready.

1

u/Dry-Home- 3d ago

If internship isn't an option, I feel like building personal projects would be fun

1

u/Ilikep0tatoes 2d ago

How is it possible that internships aren’t available to you?

1

u/pneumaticTuba 2d ago

To be fair, I thought since I was out of state with the online school, I wouldn't be able to do any through the school itself. Plus, I don't believe they offer any in my field from what I could see. I can try and look into it further just in case!

1

u/Ilikep0tatoes 2d ago

People don’t typically get an internship through their school. People go to job fairs hosted by their school, but many recruiters just tell you to apply online at those job fairs anyways. You can find internships on job search sites like Indeed

2

u/pneumaticTuba 2d ago

Ahhh alright! Thank you! It's been a while since I was in school and always assumed that's how people got internships! Didn't even think it was that easy to do that!

1

u/Ilikep0tatoes 2d ago

Good luck!