The summer has successfully snuck up upon me already.  I can’t believe that in less than two weeks I am going to be done with my sophomore year. It seems like every semester goes by faster and faster, and I just want it to slow down. However, I have some great summer plans that I am looking forward too. In the Fall I attended the Viterbi Career Expo. This program is run by the Viterbi Career Center and they coordinate many engineering companies to come to campus in the fall and hand out information while students are invited to come and talk to employer, submit their resumes for positions, and get contact information. It is a great experience and I went my freshman year in order to ask questions about how I could be competitive for the applicant pool in the coming year, and try to figure out which companies and jobs I would like.

This year was different however; I really had my sights set on Abbott Laboratories. One of my friends had interned at one of their facilities in the last summer and she loved it. Their internship programs focused on personal development of each intern and aimed at keep them around for subsequent summers, even offering some jobs after college graduation. I wanted to get involved with pharmaceuticals for the longest time and I thought this would be a great company for me.

I successfully overhauled my resume and made a cover letter the day before. The morning of, I put on my best suit with my lucky orange stripped tie. With cologne in hand, I went and took a math quiz and then went over to the Abbott booth. The line was long and with every passing second I got more nervous. When I finally got up to the booth a nice young lady took my resume and looked it over. She was in the rotational program at Abbott and was a recent USC graduate in chemical engineering. She asked me a couple of questions and then introduced me to another one of her colleagues. After that they said they would call me if I got an interview in the coming week.

The next few days went by so slow but when my phone rang with a number that it didn’t recognize I eagerly picked it up. During that phone call I schedule my second round interview and after that interview I learned that they offered me a position for the coming summer. I was hired as a Core Diagnostics Intern this summer and will be working in Chicago starting in June. Before that I am going to go home to Massachusetts and see my friends and family for a bit since I haven’t seen them in about five months. I am so lucky to have this opportunity and can’t wait to go explore Chicago this summer. I already bought my tickets for Lollapalooza, a large music festival out there, and have recently learned that some of my other Biomedical Engineering friends from USC are going to be working there as well. I have a feeling that it will be a great opportunity and I will learn a lot. I will let you know specifically about my projects and what I do this summer after I get back from summer vacation, but I am looking forward to a great summer.

One Comment