Cold Calling about internships?

[Hacp]

I recently got an internship offer at Company A doing materials research. The pay is the average for an engineering internship, 16-18 dollars an hour. It provides good work experience and is something on the resume, and the people there seem great, but I'm not really the research type. I can maybe do it for 5-10 years before I go crazy, I estimate! They gave me a deadline of 10 days to accept the offer.

So, I was thinking about cold calling companies that I had applied to previously, more specifically pharmaceutical companies, because that seems like a growing field that will need my expertise :awe:. What should I say to them if I am desperate for an interview in the next week? I know I need to act cool and sell myself but I don't know how to subtlety hint that I got another internship offer and I am on a time limit?

Only a few kids in my class have gotten internship offers this year so they are hard to come by, I don't want to let the opportunity slip by while waiting for something that might not pan out. I have only gotten two offers so far, one doing the materials and another as a lab tech working for 10 bucks an hour(lol). Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[gophins72]

i'm assuming this is a summer deal. accept the offer, take the experience. learn from it, then decide whether it's something you dont want to do.

 

[TecHNooB]

the atot hr crowd don't seem to be fans of cold calling.

 

[xSauronx]

how long is the internship term and how much longer do you have in school? might not hurt to take it for the pay and some level of experience, and then after the intern period is up go elsewhere (obviously, be looking for another position before your current one ends)

i took an internship with IT at a hospital, knowing what i got my hands on may not be awesome, but needing the pay and work experience. i have til december there, so im starting to poke around and see what other positions i can find in the area, particularly ones that will be more interesting.

/crossing my fingers

 

[DrPizza]

You "lol" one position based on the pay? The difference between $16 and $10 an hour for a 2 month summer job is about $2000, which sounds like a lot, but in terms of the experience you'd gain, it's actually rather trivial. (compare it to the cost of a college class)

That said, the lab tech position might suck compared to the other position. You haven't said what you're majoring in. You haven't said what you're interested in pursuing. (except to rule out materials research.)

Experience is experience, and the better the experience in college, the more desirable you will probably be after graduating. You're right about one thing - you're lucky to have gotten an internship opportunity. From what I've seen, at least with my son's major, internships are a little tough to come by. (He's apparently getting an internship - it helped that he's a favorite of all his professors - they told him about the opportunity and connected him with the right people.)

 

[HAL9000]

Paid internship's are a rare thing over this side of the water. I say good for you!

 

[Hacp]

i'm assuming this is a summer deal. accept the offer, take the experience. learn from it, then decide whether it's something you dont want to do.

Yes, it is a summer deal. I am glad that I did receive an internship offer and that they liked me, but research is not why I am majoring in engineering. I want to sit behind a control panel and chill :awe:, but not many manufacturing companies or chemical plants are looking for interns. Lab work is def not what I want to do, or else I'd be a scientist. I'll keep looking until the day before the deadline.
​

 

[Hacp]

Paid internship's are a rare thing over this side of the water. I say good for you!

From my experience, paid internships are the norm. I tried looking for unpaid gigs too but no one was looking for unpaid during the summer. I asked a few dozen companies.:\

 

[HAL9000]

From my experience, paid internships are the norm. I tried looking for unpaid gigs too but no one was looking for unpaid during the summer. I asked a few dozen companies.:\

Interesting, that's not the case over here, it's very rare if you find a paid one, they might pay your travel expenses if your lucky, like a train ticket season pass or something if commuting to london.

 

[RbSX]

From my experience, paid internships are the norm. I tried looking for unpaid gigs too but no one was looking for unpaid during the summer. I asked a few dozen companies.:\

It's not the norm.

 

[coxmaster]

It's not the norm.

Really? Because all of them i've looked at and applied for are paid :hmm:

 

[Imp]

How does one internship define the rest of your life?

People probably end up where they start because they're lazy and don't want to start over, they find out they actually like it, or they have experience so it makes it easier to get better jobs in the field. Nothing's stopping you from finding a job in another field later when there are more to go around.

 

[Q]

$16-18 an hour for an internship 'OK' pay? I think someone has a little too much handed to them in life.

 

[MikeMike]

$16-18 an hour for an internship 'OK' pay? I think someone has a little too much handed to them in life.

this

 

[gorcorps]

It's not the norm.

It depends what field you're in. For most engineers internships are paid, but at the same time you actually do stuff. You're just an office monkey like some of the internship stories I've heard.

Anyway OP, I say you can cold call all you want but in the end you should take what you can get for an internship. I wouldn't suggest that for a permanent career, but having ANY work experience at all will help you land further internships or jobs in a field you might actually enjoy. $18 is also damn good for an internship almost anywhere.

Also, while I'm mainly a metallurgist I do have some materials background and contacts and I can tell you that you don't have to get stuck in a research position if you don't want to. This internship will NOT lock you in to a field for the rest of your life if you don't want it to.

 

[DanDaManJC]

$16-18 an hour for an internship 'OK' pay? I think someone has a little too much handed to them in life.

for most cs/ee internships that's actually pretty average. it's not about being spoiled or anything, that's just the going market rate for interns

 

[Hacp]

$16-18 an hour for an internship 'OK' pay? I think someone has a little too much handed to them in life.

When I say OK, that means that's about what the going rate for an intern would be. Great pay would be 20+, which most interns never get. I like the people at the company, and I am definitely willing to give them a fair shot because I think the person who interviewed me and who I'll be working under is a great person, but I just wanted to see if I could get some experience in a preferred field. Heck I would even prefer an unpaid position at a pharmaceutical company's cell/drug manufacturing plant or any chemical plant.

I'm writing a few scenarios as we speak. I'll probably call about 5-10 companies tomorrow and ask them.

 

[Rage187]

Really? Because all of them i've looked at and applied for are paid :hmm:

Might be an industry thing. Each software company I've worked for has paid the interns and it usually results in a real gig once they graduate.

 

[Rage187]

$16-18 an hour for an internship 'OK' pay? I think someone has a little too much handed to them in life.

Usually 60% of what a first year salary would be.

 

[RedCOMET]

Take the internship, it may be a way of getting your foot int he door at that firm to do something else. Having the inside scoop on how they operate will help open up doors to their other business units and may lead you to find a job within the company you may like doing when it comes time do do your search for full time employement.

Additionally, this can be used as a networking opportunity. The people you may meet at this gig may not be their in x amount of monthes and if they know and like you, they may be able to direct postings your way when you begin the full time job hunt. or another internship depending on your level of schooling.

 

[KGB]

You're a kid with no experience and certainly no 'expertise'.
Take the existing offer (which is very generous) and don't look back.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Take it. Anything that keeps you from trolling here is good in my book.

 

[Rage187]

I'm with the group. Take it, internships are hard to find; paying internships are even rarer.

 

[Hacp]

You're a kid with no experience and certainly no 'expertise'.
Take the existing offer (which is very generous) and don't look back.

That was a joke.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

When I say OK, that means that's about what the going rate for an intern would be. Great pay would be 20+, which most interns never get.

Seriously? Damn, I must be luckier than I thought.
Finishing up a co-op and I'm getting $35 + overtime.
More importantly, I get pretty interesting assignments and interact a LOT with upper management (up to the VP).