
May is blowing in quick which means it’s almost time to pack our bags and take a break from classes for a while! But what to do with ourselves? I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to all this free time. So, in case you’ve forgotten how to enjoy yourself, try relaxing on a beach, honing your tennis swing, or even building that Lego set you’ve been dying to work on. As an engineer though, what better way is there to recuperate from a tough school year than with an internship? Nothing says relaxing quite like a 40+ hour work week!
We’re back again with Part 2 of the How’d You Land That series. Last time we got to hear stories about annoying your way into a job and landing an internship without an interview or boss. To check out those tales, look here: How’d You Land That?!? (Part 1)
Today, we’re going to hear three more stories about some interesting and unique internship stories that will hopefully keep you entertained and maybe even a little inspired. I hope you enjoy!
Story 3: A Venture into Capital
I’ve always been keenly interested in venture capital (VC). For a new space company, it’s the lifeblood of ambitious founders crafting new and exciting aerospace products. As engineers though, colleges don’t usually tackle the inner workings of VC firms between our signal analysis and structures courses. The topic is something to consider learning more about if you yourself are considering one day starting your own venture. As for me, I was curious to explore what exciting opportunities exist in aerospace today, and what makes a company that can effectively take advantage of those opportunities.
My unique experience was interning at an aerospace VC firm specializing in space ventures. Venture capital firms like to stay lean-mean-investing machines, and consequentially they don’t typically publicize when they’re looking for interns. Personally, I connected with the partners at my firm when they spoke to my school’s rocket team. Taking advantage of this and my own network, I reached out to propose the work I would tackle (most interns tackle some sort of market research project). After about a month, I received an offer to join them.
As a member of the firm, I tackled my market research project while getting involved in the day to day. I got a backstage view of the investing practices of experienced VCs, including
how to get a meeting with the partners
how new ideas get tweaked
what kind of data is used in decision making
how many meetings it takes to get an investment
what are partners thinking while the founders are pitching them
how VCs connect with founders
how to build a brand
I also accessed their extensive network of founders and aerospace professionals while putting together my research project, allowing me to build personal relationships and add to my own network.
After completing such an unconventional internship, I am left with a couple key takeaways. For one, relationships are important and powerful tools. Opportunities are found through connections so keep your network strong. And if you’re ever building a pitch of your own, don’t forget how important telling a story is. Boiling a complex and technical aerospace idea into a story that everyone (even those without your deep topical knowledge) can follow and get excited about is how you build a successful pitch and start to build a successful company.
Story 4: A Dinosaur's Guide to Getting Internships
I guess my approach to internships is a little ‘old school’. I have never done a technical interview. I don’t write cover letters. I especially don’t copy paste the same stuff from my resume into the little boxes on the online portal. All I do is talk to people and see if we get on. The opportunity usually flows from there.
The best example of this is when I was trying to get a gig at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. They do have internships, but they opportunities for non-US-persons are comparatively scant. So I went online, found the emails and phone numbers of the people that were doing research that I was interested in and got to calling/phoning people. I even mailed out some resumes with little gifts (Australian-themed stickers/patches/keyrings) in the envelopes (massive boomer move I know).
It took 19 ‘cold reach outs’ before I got a response from a really great guy who ended up becoming a mentor of mine. I got 30 minutes with him over Zoom (it was the COVID era) and I read his last 15 latest papers on Google Scholar as preparation. Turns out that reading was a waste of time! When it got to the call we chatted about hobbies, travel, our backgrounds. All non-work stuff. In the last two minutes I said “hey I have some thoughts that might be relevant to your research” and rambled off some poorly thought out ideas. He said “sounds good, I’ll put you in touch with the right people”. I had a phone call with his connect and had the same style of chat: chopped it up like we were old buddies, this time for an hour! After almost no discussion on research/work/technical stuff they asked “when can you start?”. I started the following Monday.
For someone who can’t stand the typical application process, this is pretty much as good as it gets. As much as I hate to admit it, there is actually something ‘resume slingin’. And to talking to people in a casual & authentic way. I highly recommend that folks give this a shot; especially if you’re like me and struggle with the competitively, stress, and dehumanizing aspects of the ‘normal’ internship process.
Happy hunting this internship season! 🎯🔫🤠
Story 5: An Internship Famine to Feast
In this story, I’m going to walk you through my wild roller-coaster of an internship search that culminated with a huge payoff just before the summer began.
The second semester of junior year saw me making a massive push to secure an internship in the aerospace industry for the summer. In January, I spent my days furiously revising my resume, crafting a personal project website, authoring cover letters, and much more. By February, my materials had been finalized and I began applying to every company/role that I was interested in.
The next few months of the year got super hectic for me. Classes ramped up, I was swamped with leadership commitments to student organizations, and for the cherry on top, I got COVID. Even so, I thought it was ok because I had already all my applications for the summer. Except despite my hundreds of applications, there was absolutely no bite.
Soon it was April, and there I was with no internship and summer a month away. As a last ditch effort, I completed another mass of applications and cold messaged various engineers on LinkedIn. Luckily, some interviews started to trickle in this time! Things were finally starting to turn for the better.
Until they weren’t. Many of the leads didn’t work out for a variety of reasons. There was a SpaceX interview that I was really excited for, but it didn’t go well. Another position was filled internally with a returning intern. And a third one tried to call while I was in the middle of directing 50+ volunteers at one of the largest engineering exhibitions at my university. By this point, it was now mid-April and I thought my chances of landing an internship for the summer had gone straight to zero. I vividly remember hitting my breaking point and crying to my boyfriend after all of this.
But I still wasn’t quite ready to give up yet. I filled out a mass application for NASA and a couple other companies, along with reaching out to previous mentors (ex-rocket club members, my research group, and my professors). And with that, the dam began to break.
In the span of those last two weeks of April, a lot happened:
NASA and another company reached out and set up interviews!
Before that NASA interview even occurred, I was notified of an offer from another team at NASA. No interview, not even a phone screening. A straight offer!!
I landed another interview with SpaceX and was given less than 24 hours of notice!!!
This is the craziest part: I did all three interviews the next day AND got offers for all of them that same day! My interview with SpaceX went so well that I knew immediately it was the team for me!!!!
All said in done, in the span of a week I went from having no offers to having four. Finally with an internship in hand, I was able to relax for the last few weeks and prepare for a summer working on SpaceX’s Starlink GNC team! Something I found interesting was that nothing in my resume changed from my first to my last application! Luck definitely plays a factor in the process, so be persistent and do everything you can. Still, don’t feel like you’re less of an engineer if you can’t find a summer internship. Internships are obviously great but there are a ton of other ways to build experience like summer research programs! Plus, it’s also totally fine to take a summer off!
Hopefully, my story gives you some confidence, motivation, and perseverance!
Conclusion
They say history happens in a week, and it seems like internships follow the same adage based on that third story. And how about mailing some Aussie bribes to get a foot in the door? I might have to remember that one for my own personal use down the road, seems pretty darn effective! As for that first story, VCs weren’t even on my radar as an engineer applying for internships until now. The unique perspective on the industry paired with the variety of connections you gain definitely make them a very appealing internship target for the future.
As with all these stories, it doesn’t seem like there is one right way to land any internship. Some come through connections, some through online applications, and some even through the mail! Personally, I find it useful to keep one question in mind when applying for internships: How can I stand out. That point has been highlighted again and again by the stories in this series.
And with that, it’s a wrap on Part 2! I hope you’ve enjoyed the stories we’ve shared, and of course if you found this article useful, have feedback, or have your own story you want to tell us about, shoot us an email at admin@theoverview.org.
To infinity and all that,
Mark