Originally posted on October 6, 2017
Doing an internship is very important for civil engineers. Why? Because the engineering field is about creating designs and executing projects, not just analyzing and coming up with theories. Here are five important aspects that make the work placement so valuable.
Get a hands-on experience
You can spend years of studying, performing calculations for university assignments and making hypothetical designs yet never grow as an engineer. In order to truly understand why calculations are made, what is crucial for a design, how to deal with clients and their demands, you need to spend some time at a company and see how these are handled in real life.
Understand why you study certain subjects
In the Delta Academy, studies are practically oriented – every subject is related to the working field. However, sometimes you might ask yourself – how is this going to be applied? Learning how to write a research paper, keeping a logbook for your projects, statistics… you might be surprised to find out how often these are involved in the work as an engineer!
Gain a practical perspective
When doing university assignments, whether you realise it or not, there is a lot of freedom. For example, when you make a design, you don’t consider the financial aspect as much, nor whether it is easy to fabricate and maintain, what are the material costs or if the client would be satisfied with it. These are only few of the limiting factors that you will witness in the working field and the sooner you start to take them into account, the better!
Find out what suits you
Without doing an internship, you might have a very different idea of what you are good at and what you enjoy doing. Therefore, spending a semester in the line of work that you intend to grow in is crucial to making a realistic decision about your future career. Do you enjoy being on a working site? Is an office job appropriate for you? Are calculations appealing to you or do you prefer project management? These and many other questions you will be able to answer after your traineeship to help you shape your future.
Grow your network
Last but not least – making connections with other professionals. Engineering is based entirely on teamwork, and during your internship you will meet people active in all phases of a project. This is the time to start networking – if you show commitment, curiosity about the job and desire to develop, it will be appreciated and noticed by your supervisors, and once you graduate and are ready to start working, this is what will be most useful for ensuring a good job.
Excited to become an engineer and deal with real life problems both during your study and your internship? Have a look at some of the incredible engineering projects in the Netherlands for more inspiration.