naval research enterprise internship program intern
June - August 2019 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
Being able to travel to NC with my team
What I wish was different
Get a laptop on network rather than having to use mifi hotspots
Advice
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Intern
June 2021 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
The people and the project I was assigned (classified)
What I wish was different
Onboarding process should be faster and more efficient next time.
Advice
It's a government job so expect crappy circumstances. Just roll with it and accept the money.
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Student Trainee - Engineer
May - August 2020 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
Learned a lot about the organization and gained experience that was different than what I had done previously.
What I wish was different
Advice
Ask questions to get a good understanding of what it would be like to work there full time.
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Computer Science Intern
February - September 2020 • San Diego, CA
What I liked
being part of a team
What I wish was different
more one on one mentorship
Advice
it's a great experience to work for a good company with lots of resources. I learned a lot.
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Electrical Engineering Intern
May 2017 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
NIWC Atlantic has a lot of opportunities for students, particularly STEM, with work in many different fields. A lot of the workforce is somewhat old so they are bringing in many new professionals and there are several networking events to meet others. Some of the work being done is uninteresting but mobility between different groups is easy and often is heavily encouraged. There is a pretty decent mix of research, design work, and managerial style work and the people are generally friendly to talk to so finding work you want to do is not very hard. Also, interns often are able to come back during winter break, and working during the school year typically an option.
What I wish was different
NIWC is both government-funded and a large company so it is a bureaucratic nightmare. It is pretty common to see a project be heavily delayed because they're waiting on parts to be ordered or because they have to go through an external manufacturer. Because of this a lot of manufacturing is starting to be done in-house and they have large warehouses of random parts, but it still is a severe issue.
Advice
If you don't like what you're doing, talk to people about it. There's a pretty high chance you can get moved around even within ~3-month span of a summer internship.
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Student Scientist
July - August 2019 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
Great learning experience, they offered lots of training and interesting projects.
What I wish was different
Lots and lots of paperwork and ended up starting late because HR couldn't get it out in time which cost me money in rent down there when I wasn't working and then had to find additional housing since I had to extend the internship
Advice
Communication is key and call rather than email. Also don't use your school email to communicate because it is unreliable with their email service.
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Engineering intern
May - August 2019 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
Very helpful co-workers. Flexible schedule. Good location.
What I wish was different
The work that I was told that I would be doing was different from the work I was actually given. I was in more of a QA / project management role when I was told that I would be doing something specifically in the field of engineering.
Advice
Don't be afraid to ask questions and seek out work when you don't have anything to do.
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Student Intern, Engineering
June 2018 • Charleston, SC
What I liked
Team atmosphere, meaningful work, flex schedule
What I wish was different
The mentoring could have been better. On-boarding process was long.
Advice
Take advantage of every opportunity in your competency, talk to your teammates regularly, and be patient.
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Mechanical Engineer
March 2018 • Virginia Beach, VA
What I liked
It's great hands on experience.
What I wish was different
It's a very slow on boarding process.
Advice
Give it time. After an internship it is highly likely to get a full time offer or another internship.
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Data Scientist Intern
May - August 2018 • North Charleston, SC
What I liked
I liked that I was learning new algorithms and classification techniques.
What I wish was different
Mentoring could have been better.
Advice
I thought it was a really good opportunith to learn about new technology. The people there were helpful and care about you.
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Mechanical Engineering Intern
May - August 2018 • Hanahan, SC
What I liked
The close environment. It was so easy to network.
What I wish was different
Nothing, I enjoyed everyday.
Advice
Make sure you take advantage of your resources and the people around you. Make sure you network. Do as much research as you can.
