Launch Your Career: How to Choose Your Internship Wisely
This new blog series offers tips and advice for university students and recent college graduates exploring career opportunities in the exciting high-tech world. Check back for additional postings on similar topics throughout the year.
It’s Up to You
Your internship’s direction depends on your choices, actions and perspective. There’s an endless variety of internships available, so you can and should be picky. An internship is your chance to expand your experience in addition to your assigned job and immerse yourself in a real-world work environment with room to experiment. Choosing an internship that allows for this kind of exploration can reveal new paths and open up new possibilities. You might want to ask yourself a few questions before you begin your first internship.
1. Do You Get to Test Drive?
You test drive a car to see if it suits you, so why not test drive a line of work? An internship allows you to sit in the driver’s seat and experience the job’s daily challenges along with the cadences and demands of the workplace. Look for an internship that allows you to explore what truly interests you to decide if it’s a good fit. You can only learn so much in the classroom, and physically immersing yourself in a work environment can help you determine if you want to continue down a particular career path.
It was this type of opportunity that helped Navneet decide to become a Mobile Products Electrical Design Engineer at Qorvo. “My manager, my mentor, and the entire team taught me so much about the tools, challenges and the solutions one faces when you design in reality versus what you learn in college. This was vital to my successes as an intern and in my new role at Qorvo,” said Navneet.
2. Are You Just Pouring Coffee?
Some companies limit interns to mundane, basic tasks and expect them to simply observe staff members working on projects with little personal involvement. Look for an opportunity that encourages you to get hands-on experience. Interns can work on real projects, develop papers for industry publications and engage in tasks that advance design projects.
For example, Ryan, a PCM Devices Test Engineer, said, “The opportunity to work on these in-depth projects has shaped me into a well-rounded engineer. My internship prepared me professionally and enabled me to bring previous experience in research and semiconductor devices to my current Qorvo role.”
3. Who is Your Mentor?
Having a dedicated mentor is an excellent resource when starting an internship. Typically, their role is to introduce you to other team members, explain the communication channels available, show you the labs and common areas, as well as guide you through initial training. This one-on-one orientation establishes a firm foundation for your term as an intern or even when hired as a recent college graduate. Monisha, a Qorvo RFIC Design Engineer, said mentoring was key to her internship experience. “The learning comes not only from the work I do on the designs but also through the encouragement, support and guidance of my colleagues. They are always approachable and ready to help.”
4. Is Your Voice Heard?
At Qorvo, we consider interns as part of the team. A typical day will have you involved in real work, where you will get to contribute your talents collaboratively with employees. This is your opportunity to apply the skills you learned at university, bring your fresh perspective and deepen your knowledge of the industry through real-world applications.
Make sure your internship provides opportunities to attend meetings where you have a voice in decision-making and have the chance to make suggestions and share ideas with the team. This type of interactive education is an excellent preview of how a collaborative team transforms ideas and visions to produce real-world products.
5. How Can You Get Involved?
Whenever possible, take advantage of opportunities to learn about the other functions throughout the company and expand your connections through networking and social opportunities. At Qorvo, for instance, there are many ways to accomplish this. Here are a few examples:
- Through Qorvo Cares programs! Qorvo Cares is our commitment to cultivating good — goodwill, good connections and good fun — all to build strong communities among Qorvo employees and the world around us. The program focuses on two main areas:
- Community Engagement: Engaging with and giving back to the places we call home is the ultimate definition of good. The Qorvo Cares Community Engagement program provides our employees opportunities to get out in the neighborhood and spread kindness, generosity and support.
- STEM Education – Inspiring the next generation
- Good Neighbor Relations – Strengthening our communities
- Environmental Stewardship – Helping shape a better future
- Employee Events: Innovation thrives at Qorvo, especially when we take a break for fun. From site picnics and holiday parties to wellness fairs and 5K run/walks, we celebrate healthy minds and strong bodies, all while building lasting connections.
- Community Engagement: Engaging with and giving back to the places we call home is the ultimate definition of good. The Qorvo Cares Community Engagement program provides our employees opportunities to get out in the neighborhood and spread kindness, generosity and support.
Enjoy the Ride
Ultimately, it’s up to you to make the most of your internship regardless of where you land. However, understand that you have some control to set yourself up for success. Finding an internship that meets some of the criteria discussed above will pave the way to go above and beyond: to seek additional opportunities to learn, contribute and network. You’ll surely get your return on this investment.
Have a direct impact on the technologies that help get rockets to space, make smartphones smarter, and connect the Internet of Things. Explore Qorvo Internships.
Once you’ve landed an internship, learn how to make the most of it. Read the blog post: Five Tips to Maximize Your Internship.
