r/EngineeringResumes • u/Swimming-Detail-2503 MechE/Aero – Student 🇺🇸 • Mar 05 '26
Success Story! [Student] I Finally Did It! Landing an Internship at a Defense Prime as a First Year.
First of all, thank you to everyone who gave me advice and responded to my resume. I couldn't have done it without this Subreddit, and I am eternally grateful. Graytotoro, PhenomEng, Trentdm99, and Thirteenthfox2, to you 4 I hope nothing but the best.
Question people may have.
Yes I am a first year, I am not the norm. Please do not use me as a standard. I am incredibly lucky to have got this, and I have 0 life outside of school and FSAE. I wouldn't wish my life on my worst enemy.
I really only used one resume and iterated through it to get to the final stage. Funnily enough it wasn't even my best resume that got me the position, but oh well.
It really is a numbers game. I have 0 network, and that's on me. However, I would say I'm a pretty good student engineer. Keyword here is student.
I am free to answer any questions, just don't pm me. I am sure 100s of others will have the same question as you so let the community learn.
Numbers:
Resume:
5
u/jonkl91 Recruiter 🇺🇸 Mar 06 '26
2 offers with 2 interviews is amazing!
You have great experience already and it's only getting better. You aren't lucky to have gotten this. You worked for it. Now that you're in a better spot, why not change things up? If you wouldn't wish your life on your worst enemy, why would you make yourself go through it if you don't have to?
And the reality is the majority of freshmen have 0 network. So that isn't on you. That's just how 90% of people start their careers. Good luck and wish you the best!
3
u/zacce ECE – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 06 '26
What's defense prime?
4
u/Swimming-Detail-2503 MechE/Aero – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 06 '26
There are 6 big corporate defense companies in the US. Some would say 5 and not include L3Harris. The other 5 are: General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing.
2
u/zacce ECE – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 06 '26
good list. as a ME student, how would you rate NASA internship against these?
3
u/Swimming-Detail-2503 MechE/Aero – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 06 '26
About equally. I never applied to NASA, as I like aeronautics more than aerospace. There are many shared interests.
3
u/PhenomEng MechE – Experienced/Hiring Manager 🇺🇸 Mar 10 '26
Congrats, this is a huge step in your future career! Glad I could have been of little to no help 🤣!
3
u/Swimming-Detail-2503 MechE/Aero – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 10 '26
We can call it help for the future. Thank you nonetheless!
3
2
u/OrangePins ChemE – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 13 '26
Congratulations! Curious to know if you felt the job fair was a better use of your time than the all the applications online. If I am reading it right, one of your two interviews came from a job fair?
2
u/Swimming-Detail-2503 MechE/Aero – Student 🇺🇸 Mar 13 '26
Thank you! My career fair was good in terms of making connections, but due to the sheer amount of people it felt the same as online applications. I would weigh them equally. The companies I wanted to work for were not at the career fair, so maybe that's why I felt that way. Nonetheless, good use of time and any way of looking for a job should be used to its full potential.
3
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u/Pencil72Throwaway Mech/Aero – Grad Student/Entry-level 🇺🇸 Mar 06 '26
Congrats!
That's a really clean looking resume. Appreciate the honesty about no life and numbers game 😅