Rachel Blaydes, our very own Public Policy Chair, has had quite the professional experience. A fourth year Material Science and Engineering major, Blaydes has worked as an intern at the Naval Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Materials Engineering Lab as a Process Support Engineer, Northrop Grumman as a Systems Process Engineer, and Wood PLC as a Steels Solution Intern.
Blaydes is a great example showing just how crucial joining organizations, clubs, career fairs, and maintaining connections is in acquiring a job or internship. Blaydes started her professional journey by applying to the Naval Lab in high school. For three summers, Blaydes worked with the industrial depot at the lab troubleshooting quality issues and working on projects that improved quality, reduced turn-around time, and eliminated carcinogens.
Blaydes loved her time at the naval lab exclaiming that “getting to adjust processes and actually see the effects of what you do is awesome to me and I enjoyed all of the hands-on work I got to do there.”
Attending career fairs are key to finding a job, along with reaching out to people and making connections. Blaydes obtained her internship at Northrop Grumman through our SWE conference, where she spent a summer running material qualification practices to discover if new materials meet existing standards. Amazingly, Blaydes got her next internship at Wood PLC through one of her neighborhood friend’s brother. It’s crazy how many opportunities await us if we participate in the field and network.
Finally, Rachel has some advice for you SWEeties who are wondering exactly how to get started on an internship:
Utilize career fairs, this is your chance to shine beyond what's on your resume and show that you're a great communicator who is excited to work for the company!
Leverage your connections - know someone at the company you want to work for? ask if they can refer you for a position or put you in contact with an HR manager
Don't be afraid of rejection! I've gotten "no's" from plenty of companies, but since I keep asking I've broken through
Make your LinkedIn pretty! don't have connections at the company you want to work for? research the company on LinkedIn and send PERSONALIZED CONNECTION REQUESTS to people in the area you want to work in.
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