Intern: Laura Friedmann
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Company: John Deere
Location of Internship: Harvester, East Moline, Illinois (Virtual this summer)
Internship Title: Product Engineering
- Why did you choose the company that you work for?
- I chose to work for John Deere because of the quality of the company and the immense job opportunities it provides. Talking to coworkers it is clear that you can do almost anything you want within the company from test engineering, software, design, manufacturing and much more.
- What were some of the requirements for your internship?
- My internship is in product engineering which has been mainly focused on Creo, which is a 3D modeling software. I have focused on value improvement projects where I will create a design, propose the ideas to a group get feedback and modify. In addition to that I have done some MATLAB but it is mainly 3D design.
- What is your favorite part about your internship experience?
- My favorite part has been able to connect virtually with other interns who are sharing the experience of navigating an online internship. At John Deere there are several other NDSU interns, we connected and set up weekly meetings to socialize, talk about our excitement to come back to campus and share knowledge from the internship.
- What is the most challenging part of your internship? How have you overcome these obstacles?
- Being a virtual internship this summer I struggled with knowing who to turn to for help when I was stuck at work. I could not just walk down the hall and pick a couple people in the office to talk to and have them point me in the right direction. When I realized this was a problem for me, I made it a goal to talk to two new people a week to broaden my network, this help immensely as they would connect me with someone who would then connect me with more people helping me reach who I needed to help answer my questions.
- How did you find your internship?
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Through an NDSU Career Fair
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- Why was it beneficial for you to register your internship for credit through the Internship Program?
- Being able to get tech elective credit for my internship allows me to graduate a semester early and lightens up my course load during the school year making more time to focus on my other classes. It is a great opportunity!
- What advice would you give a student who is in the process of applying to an internship?
- When I was a freshman I thought, “who would hire me I have no experience”. But I knew that if I went to the career fair I would at least have a shot. So I went with enthusiasm and confidence and landed an internship for the summer after my freshman year! My advice to students searching is ” the worst they can say is no”. If you go up to a booth at the career fair and they don’t seem interested that’s okay because you just gained experience talking to an employer.
