XtremeSpeakFreely

Well, internship.

I still have my on-campus job working at a computer lab. I'm leaving the grocery store, however.

While bagging groceries about a month ago, I noticed a customer wearing a company polo shirt for Logan Clutch. I had a knee-jerk reaction and asked him if he knew if his company was looking to hire an intern or a co-op student for the summer. He said they were thinking about it, and asked where I went to school, what I was majoring in, and when I was planning on graduating. I told him all of that, and at that point, he started looking through his wallet. I thought he was looking for his discount card which customers often lose, but a couple seconds later, he says "Shit. I'm out of emergency business cards." He looks at the cashier and asks for a pen and on the top of his receipt, he writes:

Logan Clutch
[phone number]
[first name] Logan

I asked the president and CEO (I later found out) of the company if he was planning on hiring an intern.

The first interview, we went over what I've done in school and what I was planning on doing, hours I would work in the summer, and what he wanted me to do. He gave me a tour and had me meet with the VP as well. The second interview of sorts, he gave me another more in depth tour introducing me to the people I would be working with (apprentice almost) before I learned the ropes. He told me my hourly wage and said that if they like me, I like working there, and if I wanted to, they would plan to retain me after graduation in about a year and a half. They were more than willing to work around my class schedule, scheduling me mornings before class (Tuesday and Thursday) and all day Friday as I don't have class. He said that if I wanted more hours, I could work some Saturdays if there's enough demand for the products (which he noted was going up).

For the rest of the summer, I'm going to be out in the shop apprenticing (of sorts) guys assembling the clutches they make. They make clutch and brake products for generators and industrial applications.

Come the school year, I'm going to be moved inside to I'm assuming a mostly-inside-but-some-shop-work status, where I would be doing a lot of AutoCAD work updating drawings and such, and on days where demand is high, I would be out in the shop assembling stuff.

I couldn't be happier because I can't stand being behind a desk 40 hours a week (I've done it) and I hate back breaking labor 40 hours a week (I've done it), so this seems to be a great medium, be it 50:50 or 60:40 one way or the other. I love getting dirty and working with my hands, but I also like air conditioning, so it works out because I fill two voids they didn't know they had. They created a job for me (not from stimulus money thunder, don't get too excited) not because they were looking to hire someone (website says no openings), but because after seeing my resume and talking to me, they thought I would be a good addition to the company.

I start Monday in the shop, 9am. Couldn't be happier. Went out and bought some Dickies pants for working in the shop and some Georgia work boots (two things he said I needed to buy). He also said that because I didn't have that stuff already, that he would reimburse me 75%. Awesome.

Side note: If you need work boots and have wide feet, avoid Red Wing completely. They didn't fit me at all, and I tried half a dozen different models of just Red Wing. I tried on Timberlands, Doc Martens, and a couple Wolverines. The first pair of Georgia Boots I tried on, before I even had the laces tied, I said to myself, WANT. They are like walking on pillows, and were cheaper than Red Wings too.

Great news, good luck.

Coming out of school in a year and a half and already having that much real world work experience can really open opportunities and gives you a leg up on other students.Great opportunity to get your foot in the door. And even if your looking for a different career path work history always makes a resume more attractive,

Good luck

Ps: Be responsible and on time & Never turn down any work they need you for,unless it's a scheduling issue with your classes.

Sage advice

They're very accommodating when it comes to my class schedule. During the first interview, he said I would be working full time during the summer and on breaks, and then asked what my class schedule looked like to see if I could work during the school year. I told him classes were hard to move around because some are only offered at one time during a semester, but that didn't bother him because he wants me to work whenever I can there. I offered to work Saturdays and he said sure.

Good for you, man! Looks like you made a good impression.

Nice job taking some initiative.

Thanks for sharing your positive employments story. Grats on getting with a company that actually makes things!

Agreed. And when you actually perform a physical service like HVAC servicing, your job can't easily be sent overseas.

Figured I would post a follow-up.

I love this job.

I've spent the past 3 days in the shop learning how to assemble the different clutch models. I still don't quite know how to assemble one from start to finish without asking questions, which I guess is okay. My mentor/teacher, Miro, said (to Andrew (CEO/pres/owner of company) that he was surprised how much I knew about tools and how to use them and that I was learning faster than he had expected. Andrew was pleased.

My hands are absolutely destroyed, but I love going into work and learning how it works and gets put together. A bearing press and 3 different kinds of LocTite have become my new best friends, along with air drills and half a dozen T-shaped Allen wrenches. I have what seem to be four paper cuts on one finger alone, but I'm eager to go back for more because this is really interesting to me. I get to pull the parts (sometimes 30 different parts for one clutch) from their warehouse, set up on a bench next to Miro, and start assembling what I can remember. The friction discs are really shredding my hands, as are the spines on the output shafts. The clutches themselves, when fully built, weigh between 40 and 60 pounds, which doesn't seem like a lot, but they're hard to move in and out of a bearing press when they're cylindrical and about the size of a gallon milk jug.

Getting to talk to the CNC guys and the old skool shop manager about their machines and everything they know is really interesting. They're really eager to share what they do and teach me anything. I feel like an annoyance and that I'm slowing them down, but they don't seem to mind or they don't tell me they do, and then keep on explaining and teaching. It's great.

I've been given my own projects like disassembling RMA clutches and reassembling them from the kit paired with them (someone else pulls the repair kit parts), and testing refurb clutches being shipped out.

I was even asked today if I would be interested in taking a 4 day course on SolidWorks, which is a 3d solid modeling program. They wanted to know if I was interested in taking it because the course costs a lot of money and the company is footing the bill, and didn't want to foot the bill if I wasn't planning on staying with them for long. I told them that I liked when during the second interview, they said they would retain me after college, so I would be happy to take that class. It's nice that they're willing to invest to teach me and make me into something that would be valuable to the company.

All in all - I'm glad I spoke up and initiated conversation with Andrew while bagging his groceries, because this is working out great.

Sounds like fun.

Bust your ass, that's all I gotta say. Sometimes you get in a situation where you working hard makes others look bad, and they let you know. F*** em, bust your ass.

The only other thing I gotta say is, if you F*** up. Own up to it. As soon as possible. I know a lot of guys that will try to justify or make excuse's. Screw that. To any honest man none of that is needed.

Get yourself some good fitting work gloves and close those small cuts with super glue. Gorilla glue brand works great... only use a tiny amount of superglue with your finger completely closed so the skin will be streched and won't break open again when you bend it. This totally relieves the sting.

Yeah, dude... wear gloves! I'm sure you can find a pair of 5 fingered gloves that allow mobility, but still protect you from cuts.

Gloves are an impossibility due to the small parts that go into making a clutch. They would also get full of oil and grease, making it a pain to take them off and put them back on when I need to touch something and not get grease on it.

Your baby butt soft fingers will get work hardened after doing some manual labor for a few years.

The best engineers are the ones that have spent time in the trenches