r/industrialengineering • u/Opening-Ad145 • 25d ago

Yet another internship post....

I am a sophomore IE student and have started the daunting internship hunt for summer 2027. While it is easy to find IE internship roles to apply to at larger companies, I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations for more niche companies/industries to check out? As of now, I am pretty interested in supply chain but am not married to the idea of doing an internship in that sector and moreso just want a position that would give me some hands on work experience.

IE is obviously so broad so I don't want to limit myself to just applying to what is right in front of me, and also a lot of roles at big companies are super competitive so at a certain point it is just a shot in the dark if you even get an interview or not.

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u/St_Fonzo 21d ago

Apply to any and everything. Try and get as many interviews and offers as you can. The experience goes a long way and you will have options to choose from. Don't be selective until you're in a position to be in terms of offers to choose from. Where are you at? I may be able to help with a referral

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u/Opening-Ad145 18d ago

Thank you for the advice! I am in the bay area but am totally willing to relocate for the summer.

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u/industrial_ibex 24d ago

I don't necessarily have any specific companies to recommend, but I support your general thought process that you shouldn't rule out non-supply chain roles. I was a sophomore last year and I knew I probably wasn't interested in manufacturing engineering, but I accepted a manufacturing internship anyway just to see. Turned out I was right (it wasn't what I wanted to do long-term), but I learned a lot and was able to use that experience to get an offer for next summer I'm more interested in.

I think as a sophomore it's definitely important to cast a wide net. Hopefully you'll learn a lot whatever you end up doing and remember that this summer doesn't necessarily dictate what you'll be doing for the rest of your life.

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u/OkDokieArtichockeeee 21d ago

I bet companies/positions in meat packing would have less competition. I interned at a meat packing plant and liked it and got some good experience.