Participants of mechanical engineering internships are expected to follow directives from engineers and managers while acquiring practical experience. They participate in crafting various materials and they produce reports and paperwork. Also, they operate tools and devices and assist when needed. The interns report to managers and supervisors when issues arise. Additionally, they assist with validation testing, product specification verification, product performance testing, regulatory safety testing, product durability, and reliability testing. Lastly, they follow all company policies, procedures, and business ethics codes.
Applicants for this internship must be currently enrolled in a degree in mechanical engineering. Recent graduates can also apply. You must possess communication, attention to detail, teamwork, technical, multitasking, and organization skills, and you must be proficient in Microsoft Office, SolidWorks, and computer-aided design software. Also, you must be familiar with test and measurement instrumentation systems. These interns earn an average salary of $56,149 annually. This falls between $35,000 and $89,000.
How to Become a Mechanical Engineering Internship
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a mechanical engineering internship. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.15 an hour? That's $37,744 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 12,800 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Mechanical Engineering Internship Do
There are certain skills that many mechanical engineering interns have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed creativity, listening skills and mechanical skills.
How To Become a Mechanical Engineering Internship
If you're interested in becoming a mechanical engineering internship, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 77.5% of mechanical engineering interns have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 8.7% of mechanical engineering interns have master's degrees. Even though most mechanical engineering interns have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a mechanical engineering internship. When we researched the most common majors for a mechanical engineering internship, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on mechanical engineering internship resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a mechanical engineering internship. In fact, many mechanical engineering internship jobs require experience in a role such as engineering internship. Meanwhile, many mechanical engineering interns also have previous career experience in roles such as internship or research assistant.
Mechanical Engineering Internship Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a mechanical engineering internship can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as mechanical engineer, progress to a title such as manufacturing engineer and then eventually end up with the title manufacturing engineering manager.
Average Salary for a Mechanical Engineering Internship
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Mechanical Engineering Internships
1. Michigan Technological University
Houghton, MI • Private
2. Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, GA • Private
3. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
4. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
5. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
6. Iowa State University of Science and Technology
Ames, IA • Private
7. Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD • Private
8. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
9. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
10. University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI • Private
Top Skills For a Mechanical Engineering Internship
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.1% of mechanical engineering interns listed solidworks on their resume, but soft skills such as creativity and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Mechanical Engineering Internship Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Mechanical Engineering Internship templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Mechanical Engineering Internship resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Mechanical Engineering Internship Demographics
Mechanical Engineering Internship Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among mechanical engineering interns, 12.8% of them are women, while 87.2% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among mechanical engineering interns is White, which makes up 71.6% of all mechanical engineering interns.
- The most common foreign language among mechanical engineering interns is Spanish at 33.9%.
Online Courses For Mechanical Engineering Internship That You May Like
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The foundation of engineering design is often coupled with validation. Simulation is a great tool that allows engineers to test, validate, and modify designs before they become a physical prototype. When used early in the process for simulation driven design and throughout the development process, simulation can help drive the design, make informed design decisions, speed up time to production, and most importantly, identify and eliminate costly design mistakes. Like any other tool though, it mu...
Best States For a Mechanical Engineering Internship
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a mechanical engineering internship. The best states for people in this position are Hawaii, California, Alaska, and Maryland. Mechanical engineering interns make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $47,186. Whereas in California and Alaska, they would average $46,501 and $43,689, respectively. While mechanical engineering interns would only make an average of $42,308 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Arizona
$42,275
Avg. Salary
2. Alaska
$43,689
Avg. Salary
3. District of Columbia
$45,752
Avg. Salary
How Do Mechanical Engineering Internship Rate Their Jobs?
Top Mechanical Engineering Internship Employers
Most Common Employers For Mechanical Engineering Internship
| Rank  | Company  | Average Salary  | Hourly Rate  | Job Openings  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intel | $57,447 | $27.62 | 24 |
| 2 | Honeywell | $51,674 | $24.84 | 16 |
| 3 | General Electric | $50,793 | $24.42 | 34 |
| 4 | iRobot | $47,382 | $22.78 | 30 |
| 5 | Alcoa | $46,574 | $22.39 | 17 |
| 6 | Cummins | $42,427 | $20.40 | 32 |
| 7 | Motorola Solutions | $41,805 | $20.10 | 19 |
| 8 | Caterpillar | $41,329 | $19.87 | 23 |
| 9 | Siemens | $38,140 | $18.34 | 32 |
| 10 | Tata Motors | $37,744 | $18.15 | 20 |
Becoming a Mechanical Engineering Internship FAQs
How do mechanical engineers get internships?
Mechanical engineers get internships through different paths, including through the university, from online job postings, networking, and contacting prospective companies. Internship experience plays a large role in your ability to land an entry-level mechanical engineering position; therefore, it's very important to do your research.
How much do mechanical engineering interns make?
Mechanical engineering interns make $43,000 a year, on average ($21.00 an hour). The range in pay for mechanical engineering is between $32,000 to $58,000 a year. Factors such as location and company type impact how much a mechanical engineering intern can make.
What is the best internship for mechanical engineering students?
The best internship for mechanical engineering students is one that will provide practical hands-on experience and good mentorship opportunities.
For example, companies like Google, Salesforce, General Electric, Intel, and Siemens all provide excellent mechanical engineering internships for students and pay well, as well as provide important hands-on experience.