Civil and Environmental Engineering Internship Story: Bohler
Sarah Wright
Civil and Environmental Engineering
What company did you intern with and where are they located?
Bohler - They are a land development consultant that specializes in civil engineering. I worked in their Warrenton, Virginia office. They have over 30 locations across the east coast including Atlanta and Nashville.
How did you identify and apply for your internship? Are there any specific resources you used to find the opportunity (i.e. Handshake, career fairs, other recruitment events)?
I am very interested in land development, and I have heard about Bohler being a premier land development consulting firm, so I went on their careers page and contacted their recruiting team to inquire about internship opportunities. They also attend career fairs, Lunch and Learns, and post job opportunities on LinkedIn.
What was the application process like?
The application process was simple. I applied for the position and then they quickly got back to me to schedule an interview and complete the official application. I had a zoom interview with other staff engineers so I got a feel for who I would be working with over the summer and then they offered me the position within two weeks.
Tell us about your internship experience. What types of tasks and projects did you engage in? Was there a particular project or part of the experience you learned the most from?
I helped coordinate projects in a team environment and designed plan sets based on local jurisdiction requirements for commercial, residential, and data centers. I shadowed surveyors so I could experience what they do on the day-to-day basis, and I got use us all the equipment including drones, which was super cool. I also met up with fellow interns in our region, and we got to meet other head managers in offices and ask them questions. Most of the projects I feel like I benefited from are the ones where I did a site visit and saw how the design we laid out in Civil3D was going to come into play and see it develop overtime.
In what ways did this internship help you prepare for your next destination after Auburn?
This internship gave me the opportunity to intern for Bohler again this upcoming summer! It helped me realize that I enjoy the land development/ site planning side of civil engineering and I can't wait to return and learn so much more!
In what ways did your coursework or other experiences at Auburn prepare you for your internships? Are there specific topics or skills you learned from classes that you put into practice on the job?
AutoCAD/ Civil3D was super helpful because I was constantly using it and at the beginning of my internship, I knew the basics but by the end I gained so much more knowledge that I will continue to build upon. Another class that was helpful was surveying. When out on the field for the day I already knew how to set up a total station and use the prisms which was an advantage.
Do you have any advice for other students looking for internships like yours?
Attend career fairs and continue to build a professional network. The relationships you create now will help you tremendously when starting your career after graduation.