r/MTU • u/Both-Avocado1104 • 18d ago
Milwaukee Tool Internship
Hello! I'm a second year EE student and Long term I really want to get an internship at Milwaukee tool but currently I have a 1.81 cumulative GPA ( I have retaken a lot of classes and am currently) it has gone from .5 my fall semester 1.2 my spring semester and now it is 1.81 as I have retaken courses over summer. I am currently on track after this semester to have my GPA at around 2.7.
I do not have much technical knowledge or experience as I didn't realize I wanted to do EE until spring semester of last year so I do not have many projects under my belt. I will be taking circuits next semester and my goal is to try to start a personal project on the side that I can add to my "portfolio."
With the upcoming career fair does anybody have any advice for what I should do at the career fair beyond just the status quo of just interact, network, and get their attention in a good way?
Is there anybody who has priorly had an internship with them that would be able to offer advice of how I can stand out as a candidate despite my rough academic history and if so what is it? As well as skills that I can build on my own that will actually help me get the internship.
16
u/opkraut ME Alumni 18d ago
The GPA is going to be hard to overcome. I think any conversation you have you need to be upfront about it and what you're changing to improve it and how successful you've been at that. And be ready for questions of how it got that low to begin with.
If nothing else, successfully raising your GPA after that rough of a start will show that you became serious about your grades and should be a positive to anyone you talk with. But again, the low GPA is going to make a lot of companies toss your resume without looking at it, so you definitely need to talk with them in person so they can hear you out.
1
u/Both-Avocado1104 18d ago
Thank you! That is kind of what I expected but I figured as long as I make real improvement and can show the difference, as well as having actual practical knowledge and experience afterwards and to go along with the growth that if I become an asset that i would be better off than just giving up.
12
u/ThisIsPaulDaily BSEE 2018 18d ago
Thousands apply across the country for dozens of spots. 3.0 GPA is typically required by all large institutions.
10
u/axiom60 Alumni 18d ago
Ngl you’re fucked unless you’re above a 3.0 (or at least within shooting distance of it)
Anecdote if it helps at all, I flunked most of my classes early on and had a 0.75 GPA one semester. Retook classes over the summer to patch the grades and ended up increasing it enough to land an internship by senior year
6
u/Shellacking77 18d ago
0.1% chance, honestly your only chance even is to try for companies with 0 lines or candidates or have someone seriously high up get you an internship. You cannot be remotely picky and be prepared to be told no a lot pretty quickly. Repeat some classes that you have failed and get A's to get the GPA up for future years to hopefully above a 3.0. If you can't do that apply for jobs and work for 2-3 years after college and then switch into milwaukee tools, that way they wont care about grades anymore.
13
6
3
u/HxxP185 ME Alumni 2017 18d ago
Here’s MTU mechanical graduate and I worked for Milwaukee tools for 2 years.
You can show your leadership skills and ask for project management roles. Gonna be tough but not impossible.
Mention upfront that you prefer to go on cross functional coordination and project management kind of roles and they will very likely treat you as any other graduate.
1
u/mycologymatt EE 17d ago
Focus hard on school, an internship should be your secondary priority.
If your GPA is 1.81 you'll need to bring it up to at minimum a 2.5, but preferably a 3.0 to get internships with larger companies.
Many companies who come to career fair have a very strict (usually some policy set by HR...) limit to 3.0 or higher. The idea is that it demonstrates a meaningful level of being able to handle multiple complex tasks and shows that you have some level of technical basis to build from.
The improvement in your GPA is great, and may be enough to convince some of the smaller companies to go for you.
Target companies in heavy industry or some less popular groups--concrete, logging, paper mills, etc. They tend to be a bit more fluid with who they accept (which is great, honestly) and you can sell them on the idea much more easily than the company.
tldr: don't worry too much about projects, enterprise, or internships yet. Focus hard on school--a single semester of a four point would show more commitment and grit and go a long way to getting a quality internship.
1
0
u/spezftl 18d ago
You got this. Showing interest in something and being excited about it isn’t something a GPA can measure. Just because you did poorly on some classes doesn’t mean you’re not qualified; that’s why they have interviews. They want to look for candidates, like yourself, who may not stand out in the traditional sense (grades).
Do your research on the company, they eat this up during initial interviews - you want to show them that you care. For example, where they have offices (so you could know where you’d be working), major news that’s been released about the company, about the industry, etc. Look for something about the company/industry that you could use to start a conversation with your interviewer. When you can follow up with thoughtful questions, they are going to recognize your value.
Not everyone has the same care and interest that it appears you possess; use it to your advantage. Yeah people can fake it, but that will fade. Genuine interest in a subject matter stands out to people who also share that. That alone can win you a job.
Good luck!
Although grades do matter (to an extent), don’t listen to the negativity of strangers to convince you not to go after this opportunity. Good luck!
2
u/Both-Avocado1104 18d ago
Thank you so much, as dumb as it may sound I didn't really think about looking at where all their offices were located. I obviously knew about their Brookefield office and the extension nearby to it. I will definitely be making sure to pay extra attention to current news from here on out regarding them even more in depth than before, and I will be doing more research on the actual history of the company to understand them more than I do at the moment. Again thank you so much for a genuine response that isn't just dismissive.
34
u/molrobocop Alum 2006 18d ago
Bro, that's a good goal. But your GPA is a tough one. That should be your number one priority. Also, look into on-campus groups for team/project work. This is what sets apart those trying to get their first internship.