AEC Internships: The Small Firm Advantage

For anyone aspiring to become a civil engineer or land surveyor, internships can be a pivotal step in their career. Not only do they reaffirm your career goals, but they also apply classroom knowledge to real-world experiences and bolster your resume.

Imagine an internship program that offers one-on-one attention from tenured professionals, collaboration with diversely skilled experts, the ability to tailor assignments to your passions, and the opportunity to shape real projects. That’s the small firm advantage. Often overlooked, internships at small AEC firms offer unique opportunities.

1. Individualized Attention

At small AEC firms, you receive individualized attention from highly experienced professionals, expediting your learning curve. Working alongside tenured team members such as Professional Engineers or Professional Surveyors allows you to absorb additional information, apply it directly to your assignments, and ensure your project succeeds. Additionally, this personalized attention allows you to develop a genuine relationship and a long-lasting industry connection – which can be instrumental in your young career.

2. Varied Workload

Because many professionals at small AEC firms juggle multiple responsibilities, they have an assortment of unique skills. Your experience may not be any different – which is a good thing. Getting exposed to diverse tasks allows you to explore different niches within the profession – opening your eyes to new possibilities. It also supplies you with an assortment of skills, which builds the foundation of your career and enhances your versatility for future roles.

The workload variety also supports collaboration with other professionals from different departments across the firm. This reinforces newly learned knowledge, exposes you to a large array of experts, expands your industry network, and, perhaps most importantly, illustrates how team members collaborate to achieve a common goal. Overall, small firm internship experiences mirror what day-to-day collaboration looks like after graduation.

3. Flexibility

Small firm AEC internships are structured to ensure skills and capabilities are developed, but they also have the capacity to be altered to better suit your preferences. When applicable, your workload may be adjusted to amplify your passions in addition to predetermined responsibilities. This makes your experience the most valuable it can be for your career goals.

Because your assistance is needed on many crucial projects and certain tasks will benefit your career, you won’t have complete autonomy over your workload. However, the flexibility of a small firm internship enhances your experience and gears your portfolio to fit your career goals better.  

4. Project Impact

Perhaps one of the biggest attributes of interning with a small AEC firm is the fact that you’re making a real impact on projects and communities.  

Tasks, regardless of perceived importance, are crucial to delivering projects on schedule and within budget. Small AEC firms must operate efficiently, ensuring that all efforts are crucial to the project and optimized effectively. If actively engaging in project intricacies appeals to you, pursuing an internship with a small firm may be the ideal choice.

A common concern about pursuing an internship at a small AEC firm may be the misconception that there won’t be capacity for full-time opportunities after graduation. Although this may be the case for a few companies, overall, many small firms use their internship programs as a recruitment tool, allowing you to secure your after-graduation plans before syllabus week begins.

That’s the Metro Consulting Associates (MCA) difference. In addition to our internship program being developed to help interns grow their technical and professional skills through various projects and training, we select interns with the intention of joining our team full-time once they graduate.

From civil engineering to land surveying, MCA offers different programs to suit your career goals.

If you’re interested in learning more about MCA’s internship opportunities, contact us today!