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Internship vs. Graduate Job

Former Community Member
Former Community Member

Hi,



I am currently a 3rd year MEng engineering student, but I have the option to leave this year with a BEng.



I currently have two job offers: one is a summer internship, the other is a full time graduate role.



However, I am not sure which one to take.



 



Graduate Job Benefits:




  • Full time, permanent job




  • Working in an area which is where I want to work




  • In a city which I prefer




  • No more school.




  • No more applying to jobs



Graduate Job Negatives:




  • Having a BEng as oppose to an MEng will prolong me becoming chartered




  • Starting salary is nothing special




  • No guarantee they will sponsor me to do an MSc (for chartership)



Summer Intern Benefits:




  • Only 8 weeks




  • I can go back to school and finish with an MEng/MSc which helps towards chartership




  • Possibility for sponsorship through final year and guaranteed job




  • I really liked the person who interviewed me



Summer Intern Negatives:




  • No guarantee of a job/sponsorship afterwards




  • In an expensive city and I would need to find accommodation.




  • Not sure what exactly I'll be doing.




  • Much smaller company than graduate job (but still a multinational)



 



One option I considered was doing both, since I could technically fit the 8-week summer placement in after my degree and before I start my graduate job, but that might end up being stressful.



If you were in my position, what would you choose?



Thanks.


Parents
  • 0
    Hi,


    Good question! As I've just posted in answer to a slightly different question, don't do a master's just to get Chartership, the extra evidence that you'll need to show for your CEng application if you "only" have a Bachelors is not that much - if you're doing an interesting job that you enjoy you can easily pick up that extra evidence whilst getting paid for it.


    More critical is how Bachelors / Masters affects your long term career prospects, and that very much depends on the type of work you want to do and the industry you want to do it in. So look at job sites for the type of job you might want in five years' time and see what qualifications they are asking for. That should help you a lot.


    It's difficult because it's very much a personal decision and there's no "right" or "wrong" answer, each way just leads you down a different career path, and often can still end up at the same place. 


    A few specific comments on your pros and cons:
    • "I really liked the person who interviewed me" - irrelevant, there's a good chance that you won't end up working for / with them anyway. If if you start working for them they can easily move on shortly afterwards. (If you've had a chance to look around the company and like the overall atmosphere that's different.)

    • "Not sure what exactly I'll be doing" - interesting point, very often even in a new permanent job you won't be sure exactly what you are doing, and in fact in the most interesting graduate jobs you shouldn't be - the whole point should be to get a range of opportunities and options as you start to explore the real world. But you should have been given some idea of what areas you will have the opportunity to explore.

    • "Much smaller company than graduate job (but still a multinational)" - But what do you want? Big companies appear to be stable, and appear to offer logical progression plans, but equally you can feel you are stuck in the machine. Small companies can be chaotic and risky, but also full of opportunities - small companies (or stand alone parts of big companies) can create new opportunities to specifically suit you, but it is up to you to show what you are capable of. So do you want stability (although beware that's often a bit of myth in big companies) or risk and opportunity? Again no right answer, just what suits you.


    In the end, whatever you decide if you go into it with determination and the right attitude it'll be fine in the long term! I think the one bit of definite advice I would give when choosing an organisation to work for is: if everything else is equal, choose the one that seems to employ people you'll enjoy spending 8 hours a day with.


    Good luck,


    Andy
Reply
  • 0
    Hi,


    Good question! As I've just posted in answer to a slightly different question, don't do a master's just to get Chartership, the extra evidence that you'll need to show for your CEng application if you "only" have a Bachelors is not that much - if you're doing an interesting job that you enjoy you can easily pick up that extra evidence whilst getting paid for it.


    More critical is how Bachelors / Masters affects your long term career prospects, and that very much depends on the type of work you want to do and the industry you want to do it in. So look at job sites for the type of job you might want in five years' time and see what qualifications they are asking for. That should help you a lot.


    It's difficult because it's very much a personal decision and there's no "right" or "wrong" answer, each way just leads you down a different career path, and often can still end up at the same place. 


    A few specific comments on your pros and cons:
    • "I really liked the person who interviewed me" - irrelevant, there's a good chance that you won't end up working for / with them anyway. If if you start working for them they can easily move on shortly afterwards. (If you've had a chance to look around the company and like the overall atmosphere that's different.)

    • "Not sure what exactly I'll be doing" - interesting point, very often even in a new permanent job you won't be sure exactly what you are doing, and in fact in the most interesting graduate jobs you shouldn't be - the whole point should be to get a range of opportunities and options as you start to explore the real world. But you should have been given some idea of what areas you will have the opportunity to explore.

    • "Much smaller company than graduate job (but still a multinational)" - But what do you want? Big companies appear to be stable, and appear to offer logical progression plans, but equally you can feel you are stuck in the machine. Small companies can be chaotic and risky, but also full of opportunities - small companies (or stand alone parts of big companies) can create new opportunities to specifically suit you, but it is up to you to show what you are capable of. So do you want stability (although beware that's often a bit of myth in big companies) or risk and opportunity? Again no right answer, just what suits you.


    In the end, whatever you decide if you go into it with determination and the right attitude it'll be fine in the long term! I think the one bit of definite advice I would give when choosing an organisation to work for is: if everything else is equal, choose the one that seems to employ people you'll enjoy spending 8 hours a day with.


    Good luck,


    Andy
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