Southern Company

Engineer

January 2023 • Dadeville, AL

What I liked

Engineering experience

What I wish was different

The industry and company I chose

Advice

Make sure you’re internship or co-op is in the industry you are interested in

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Technology Innovation Intern / Data Science Intern

January 2023 • Atlanta, GA

What I liked

The company culture is amazing, everyone is genuinely helpful and collaborative. Throughout my rotations I had the chance to have multiple mentors, both formal and informal, who gave me great advice and helped me connect with other people at the company. I also thought the work was really interesting, and my managers (from both rotations) were interested in giving me work in topics/fields I wanted to work in. I had the chance to learn a lot of different skills and programming languages that I otherwise would not have, which was really cool.

What I wish was different

Wish I could stay longer!

Advice

Be open to networking, everyone there is interested in uplifting each other. Do a lot of get-to-knows and really make an effort to know the members of your team!

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Web Applications Developer

January - August 2023 • Birmingham, AL

What I liked

This internship allowed me to gain so much more insight as to what life after school will be like. I was able to tackle much larger projects than I had at school, but I never had to feel like I was drowning. I loved my team and the company culture at Southern Company is amazing. Everyone was very friendly and helpful during my internship.

What I wish was different

Advice

Communication is huge here. My team had things planned to integrate me into the group, but they also listened to my input to make sure I was doing things I would enjoy. The company also has an amazing student program called Students of Southern Company and I would highly recommend getting involved, it was a great way to network and learn more about the company.

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Technical Co-Op

January 2022 • Bucks, AL

What I liked

I loved my time at Plant Barry. I worked with the plant project engineers to in which, I managed several projects to replace parts in the plant during outages and some during normal operation. While I was responsible for these projects, I did have a team of people working with me which taught me how to work better with others. This was especially helpful during the long, strenuous outage periods in which we were working with the same people every day, all day. At some point, we all got to that point of exhaustion, but usually when one of us did, we had our teammates there to lift us up and help us back on our feet. I would say the environment at Plant Barry spoiled me in a sense. We were like a big family. The preach "Safety first" and they really do mean it. There was always someone watching out for you. When I first got there, they allowed me to take it all in my first semester and just learn as much as I could. Then by my summer semester, I was leading my own projects. By the end of my year, I was working with the same responsibilities as the engineers I worked with. People there are so friendly and actually want to see you succeed. I will never forget the people who helped me along my way and I am forever grateful to them for all they did.

What I wish was different

I wish I could have had more time. Not a say goes by that I don't miss being up there, but that is all the more reason why I have to finish school.

Advice

Don't hold yourself back. I never dreamed I would be given the opportunity to go work at Alabama Power. This company is one of my top two choices and, with no previous engineering experience, they chose me to be part of the co-op program. That was the best decision I ever made. If you get the opportunity, don't hesitate to take it. Even if it sets you back a year, you will be ahead in the end. Also, take initiative in your job if you do get to work there. Go out and seek work. That is what your employers want you to do. They want you to soak up every bit of knowledge that you can while you're there. They want you to make mistakes so that you can learn from them, but not to repeat those mistakes. They don't expect you to know anything originally. Get ready to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, because if you don't do it, they will. They want to see how you will handle things and how you will adapt to this new environment and how you will interact with these new people.

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Electrical Engineering Co-Op

May - July 2022 • Birmingham, AL

What I liked

I loved getting exposure to the Research and Development department. It gave me the opportunity to see a potential avenue for my career moving forward and allowed me to help with an ongoing research project under my assigned mentor.

What I wish was different

Due to the department I was in, I worked remotely so I rarely interacted with the majority of people during my time working there.

Advice

Don't be afraid to ask questions and make connections! Students of Southern Company is a great resource, and everyone there is happy to help you and wants you to succeed.

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Test Engineer

June - August 2020 • Marietta, GA

What I liked

I loved the hands-on field experience, working with friendly, knowledgeable professionals, and gaining practical skills to apply when I graduate school.

What I wish was different

Due to COVID safety restrictions, I wasn't able to see as much variety of job sites as I had hoped to see. Still learned a lot and would highly recommend!

Advice

Go all in with your internship! I encourage you to ask all the questions you can - even if you think it's dumb or unimportant. The engineers I worked with loved answering my questions and sharing all the experience they could with me. Seeing my questioning attitude prompted them to bring me in on other projects and help expand my horizon.

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HR Total Rewards Intern

June 2019 • Atlanta, GA

What I liked

I loved getting to learn about each group within Human Resources. I was included in multiple projects, and my work was shown to the SVP on HR! The Intern Program at Southern Company also seeks to provide networking opportunities among interns and employees within the company. We were able to see so many different parts of the business, from administrative to operational to communications.

What I wish was different

Nothing-- it seriously is the BEST internship/job experience I have ever had.

Advice

Be confident in yourself and your work-- put in your very best and stand by what you do. This displays so much about your character and work ethic.

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Risk Informed Engineering

May 2015 - August 2017 • Birmingham, AL

What I liked

The work I was given was substantial and I really felt like I made a difference. I was never told to just do busy work and my co-workers valued my work and my input. I learned a lot in my department.

What I wish was different

I wish I had more work to do the first few weeks.

Advice

Remember to work hard and always ask questions. Internships are a great way to gain more industry knowledge and network.

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Supply Chain Intern

May - August 2018 • Atlanta, GA

What I liked

Experienced Several different areas of the the SCM team at Southern Company Worked alongside industry professionals to help improve processes and procedures Networked with other students across the company working in other areas of the business

What I wish was different

A more balanced workload. Sometimes I was slammed with work, other times I was walking around the office trying to find work.

Advice

Be proactive and work hard.

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Civil Engineering Intern

May - August 2018 • Birmingham, AL

What I liked

I loved the ethics and morals they follow. I love the amount of trust and reliability that they showed me and the amount of respect every single employee I came across throughout my whole duration there displayed towards me. The innovation that the company possesses is very, very attractive to me and what stands out the most. A huge thing was being able to see how the things I have learned while in school studying engineering translated over into the actual job field.

What I wish was different

I wish I could have had a longer time there. I did not want to leave. I felt like I was just now getting the hang of everything and experiencing more and more and adding to my experience every single day and also the relationships that I had developed while I was there was another huge thing that I did not want to end. All in all, a wonderful and gratifying experience. I'm humbled to of had this opportunity, even if I am not offered to come back.

Advice

One piece of advice I would share about this experience is not to ever go into anything with a closed mind. Go into everything you do, whether it be a job, internship, a game, etc with an open mind and always keep your eyes open for different things that could help you in your process of becoming what you are wanting to be in life but also keep an eye out for the things that you need to distant yourself from that could possibly hurt you or delay you in the process of becoming what you are wanting to be.

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Power Distribution Engineering Co-Op

May - August 2018 • Columbus, GA

What I liked

Very hands on experience. They had me working out in the field on day one and allowed me to work on my own pretty quickly after getting there. I also got to assist in storm restoration and that was a great learning experience.