Caterpillar Inc.

Machine Operator

June - August 2018 • Boonville, MO

What I liked

I enjoyed the atmosphere and the people I worked with during my time there.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Product Development Intern

May - August 2018 • Aurora, IL

What I liked

Caterpillar provided many professional development opportunities from networking with senior leaders in the company to special speakers and sessions on resumes, linkedin, sustainability, etc. I also liked the mentor program and the travel to other Caterpillar facilities.

What I wish was different

I wish I would've been given more challenging projects and had less downtime.

Advice

One piece of advice to incoming Caterpillar intern is to make the most of all the professional development opportunities offered, and ask for more projects if it's feeling slow.

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Data Analyst Intern

May 2018 • Champaign, IL

What I liked

Flexible hours, great learning opportunity, lots of freedom, decent pay

What I wish was different

Advice

Be authentic, they can tell when you're not

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Welding Engineering Intern

June - August 2020 • Peoria, IL

What I liked

Working on meaningful projects and learning new things.

What I wish was different

I wish it had been in person instead of virtual but other than that it was great.

Advice

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Procurement intern

May - August 2021 • Peoria, IL

What I liked

Connections made

What I wish was different

In person instead of virtual

Advice

Stay organized and timely

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Warehouse associate

August 2021 • Clayton, OH

What I liked

It was as good as a warehouse job could be. I liked all the overtime and the solid starting pay. Most people are friendly. Good safety rules. Most people, coaches, and team leads are pretty friendly, helpful, and understanding as long as you do your job.

What I wish was different

No mandatory 6 day weeks. Our numbers were legitimately impossible to hit and this made it so CAT never had to give people hardly any money through the gainshare program. These people already don't make enough money, are stuck in warehouse work (which is already miserable enough), mandatory 6 day weeks (not so much anymore since AWS; but for a year it was two 6 day weeks, one 5 day week), HR can barely hide their contempt for you (I don't blame them, though). Who pays for a recession? These people.

Advice

Don't take the place TOO seriously (except for actually doing your job as well as SAFETY). Warehouse work is miserable after a month in my opinion, and I don't think an employer could ever fix that.

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Design engineer

February 2022 • Peoria, IL

What I liked

Caterpillar does a wonderful job of giving you experience in diverse roles. They make an effort for their interns to get exposed to different jobs in order to find what is the right career path for themselves.

What I wish was different

Advice

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Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Order to Delivery Intern

May - August 2023 • Minneapolis, MN

What I liked

The nature of the work was challenging and engaging.

What I wish was different

I wish I would have received more onboarding.

Advice

A return offer should not be expected, be prepared to move to undesirable locations.

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Corporate Intern - Engineering

May - August 2022 • Lafayette, IN

What I liked

I enjoyed that I had the opportunity to work on individual projects with other interns. It was great to work independently and learn many practical aspects of engineering. I liked that the intern program directors planned many informational meetings about what people in different functional areas of the company work on.

What I wish was different

I wish there were more people back in the offices. Many people in my group were still working remotely 80% of the time. This reality was largely dependent on the team I was placed on.

Advice

Take every opportunity to learn. Everyone I met was very happy to help explain things to me, which grew my understanding of corporate business and real world engineering in huge ways.

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Product Support Intern

May - August 2023 • Tucson, AZ

What I liked

Good pay. Received a housing-relocation stipend. Got to learn about a Fortune 500 company and how they are run.

What I wish was different

Wanted to work in the engineering department

Advice

APPLY! Do your best to be proactive and take on as much as you can to learn the most in the role.

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Cooling System Validation Engineering Intern

May - August 2023 • Peoria, IL

What I liked

I felt like the work that I was doing was truly valuable to the company and was not busy work. I was able to gain and develop many new skills, especially those that are essential to validation/testing engineers. I got lots of hands-on experience instrumenting machines and running tests and was rarely behind my computer screen for more than 2-3 hours daily.

What I wish was different

The only thing that I wish had been different was the pace at which I received work. Due to the fact that it is a large company and my role involves working with lots of people, I found myself waiting around on others a lot which made it hard to find work at time.

Advice

The biggest piece of advice that I would share about this experience is that there will be many opportunities for networking and touring other facilities. Make sure you attend as many as possible. You are able to meet lots of new people, not only other interns around your age but full-time employees and managers too. Being able to talk to these people will not only help grow your network but also provide opportunities for internships and full-time jobs in the future.

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Machinist

May 2022 - October 2023 • Boonville, MO

What I liked

I enjoyed working with the people that I did. The management was very friendly and helped foster a healthy work environment. Caterpillar really tried to let all levels know what they were contributing to and how their work was valued. Overall I had a great time with this company.

What I wish was different

Caterpillar was good about making decisions quickly but some decisions are made without the machine operator in mind. Although the management is great at helping the workers, they struggled to handle tough situations. Training wasn't always extensive and it caused problems with quality.

Advice

It gave me a fantastic experience as a factory worker. It encouraged me to pursue engineering and it taught me skills that I wouldn't know without it. I loved this job. My advice for you is to just go for it even if it sounds too out of reach.

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