The Dakota Panel plant here in Rapid City is an excellent place to get real engineering and project management experience while in school. They give interns a ton of freedom in their projects which translates really well into the work you’ll find in a full-time position.
What I wish was different
Advice
Definitely be ready to collaborate with both operators and management on everything you do. You never know who will have the piece of information you need for completing your project.
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One person found this helpful
Mechanical Engineer Intern
May - August 2020 • Plano, IL
What I liked
Location and the internship projects.
What I wish was different
Wish I was at concrete rather than prehung but I still learned a lot where I was at
Advice
Work hard
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One person found this helpful
Truss Designer
April 2017 • Eau Claire, WI
What I liked
The office experience that the job has offered me has been great. I have experience with CAD everyday through this job and this has helped me to vastly improve my critical thinking and design skills. Also, I like how flexible they are with my school schedule. This is a great opportunity for anyone looking for a steady job in college that doesn't involve working in retail or at a restaurant.
What I wish was different
I wish they would have been able to have a position more applicable to my major for the summer. Even though I wasn't able to work in the field that my major is I still was able to learn many things from this job. This gave me a good taste for what office life will be like in the future.
Advice
I would say that when you are first training to not try to think you know everything right away. It can be very overwhelming at the beginning and it takes a while to be able to take all of the information and training in and understand it. Overall, if you are able I would definitely recommend this job to a friend as this is great experience and you are able to work in a great work environment.
