1 Surges IN•depth September 2017

SEPTEMBER 2017SURGESPOW

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IN•depth

INTERNS WITH POWERPOWER’s internship program reaches new heightsBy Olivia Ryker

Editor’s note: In the spirit of encouraging our interns to “Do Good Work, Have Fun, Make Money,” we asked POWER-Oradell Marketing and Proposal Development Intern Olivia Ryker to write an IN .depth article on POWER’s internship program. Thanks to Olivia, POWER-Boise’s Tiffany Murphy and all who provided assistance on this project.

From Syracuse to Sacramento, POWER interns across the country are expanding

their skills with the help of POWER’s internship program. Starting with just four

interns in 2006, the program has grown to include more than 60 interns in 15 of

POWER’s offices.

Relaxed environment,

challenging work.

Samantha Wickes, civil/

s tructural intern for

POWER-St. Louis, is

learning the processes an

engineer must go through

to de s ign ove rhead

transmission lines.

PHOTO: ASHLEY WATSON

“I like to give our interns assignments and have them take responsibility for completing work for clients. It’s a good way to teach them the key

components of the duties and roles.”

SPOTLIGHTINTERN

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POWER-Boise’s Tiffany Murphy, the company’s college recruiter, says interns are typically selected via college career fairs or other on-campus events such as resume reviews and mock interviews, during which

recruiters can get a true feel for the students they are inviting to join their com-pany for a few months.

But what do these interns do once they get here?

Do good work

Interns at POWER don’t fetch lattes or spend all day filing old documents. Like everyone at POWER, interns are expected to contribute, to complete actual work and projects for the departments to which they’re assigned. Department managers say they want the experience to be rewarding for interns and prepare them for a career in engineering.

“It’s important to involve them in project work,” says Joe Cote, substation depart-ment manager for POWER-Syracuse. “I like to give our interns assignments and have them take responsibility for completing work for clients. It’s a good way to teach them the key components of the duties and roles, so they understand what a career in their chosen field actually looks like.”

Interns are treated the same as entry-level engineers in Cote’s department and across the company. Cote says he holds his interns to the same standard as an engineer, though he gives them more leniency due to their inexperience. Still, they are assigned to client projects and asked to perform actual design work right out of the gate.

“I’m not a fan of typical ‘intern’ assignments because those menial tasks don’t give them a good experience,” Cote says. “In the end, my goal is to ensure that they fully understand what it is we do in substation engineering.”

Meredith BussellSchool: Texas A&M UniversityPosition: Civil/Structural InternLocation: POWER-Fort WorthDepartment: PD Overhead Lines

“My summer with POWER was filled with meaningful projects and kind coworkers who were always willing to answer my questions. I gained invaluable experience from working in an environment that was both professional and friendly. I am thank-ful for the opportunities POWER has given me to learn through combining my school knowledge with hands-on experience.”

Real-world experience.

(Far left) Colter Castilleja, left, was

hired full-time at POWER-Syracuse

after completing his internship. Here,

he’s shown mentoring civil/structural

intern Robert Mertz, who said he

appreciated the opportunity to apply

his knowledge to real projects.

(Left) Jared Lambrecht, Electrical

Engineering Intern in Billings, Montana,

had the opportunity to work on a power

substation project on the other side of

the country, in Rhode Island.PHOTO:KAREN WOODSIDE PHOTO:LORI YORK

One major project I assisted with was helping select college career fairs to

test a new Snapchat Geofilter designed to draw more traffic to our booths.

3 Surges IN•depth September 2017

Other tasks include assisting senior engineers with other assignments as well as checking the work of other engineers—paired with a senior checker, of course.

POWER-Fort Worth Overhead Lines Intern Josh Ridley appreciated the chance to take what he learned in the classroom and apply it to the real world.

“It’s a challenging internship and I actually stay busy with relevant work all summer,” he says, adding that he spent most of his time on the CTT Limestone-Gibbons Creek 345 kV transmission line project located in East Texas.

As a Marketing and Proposal Development Intern, I personally was able to assist with social media strategies and researching target markets. One major project I assisted with was helping select college career fairs to test a new Snapchat Geofilter designed to draw more traffic to our booths. I researched the demographic breakdowns of each college, then matched those breakdowns to Snapchat’s demographics in order to determine where the filters would be most effective [see

“Wait…Snapchat?” sidebar]. Applying research skills to real-world problems was truly a challenge, and a rewarding one.

Have fun

But POWER isn’t just about work—the second leg of the three-legged stool is to have fun. At POWER, it’s important for interns to feel like they are part of a team that enjoys their work and also gets to partake in the company culture.

Murphy says that POWER interns are invited to the annual summer Outages, if the timing is right, and are included in office activities such as Beverage Friday (soda for those who are underage, of course).

POWER-Boise Power Delivery Substation Intern Kayla Saunders says POWER has established a fun and friendly place to work, a culture unmatched by other companies.

“Between office events like Lunch ‘n’ Learns, our Beverage Fridays and the friendly atmosphere, POWER makes culture a priority while still keeping the work environment professional and motivated, a perfect balance,” says Saunders.

SPOTLIGHTINTERN

Christopher FolkesSchool: University of Central FloridaPosition: Electrical Engineering InternLocation: POWER-OrlandoDepartment: PD Distribution Services

“I can honestly say that my time spent interning with POWER has resulted in one of the best summers of my life. Not only did I gain valuable experience, but I also had the opportunity to utilized practical engineering skills. In addition, I felt like I was able to contribute to the company by assisting the team with designs and working on various projects that allowed me to incorporate concepts that I learned throughout my studies.”

A crash course in POWER values.

(Far left) Nick Eschbacher, left, and

Mike Grassi, interns for POWER-

St. Louis, learn the importance

of working as a team to provide

quality services to our clients—while

having fun.

(Left) Ashley Belcher, also in POWER-

St. Louis, is learning along with other

interns that building trust with clients,

gaining a different perspective and

having fun while making a difference

are all key POWER values.PHOTOS: ASHLEY WATSON

POWER offers co-op positions, which typically allow students to alternate

their time between employment and study.

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In an example of that balance, Cote says he looks for interns who take a positive outlook when it comes to their work as well, not just the “fun stuff.”

“We look for someone who shows a can-do attitude. Someone who is open and willing to learn, who shows passion and optimism when faced with a challenge.”

Ridley, too, says the thing he enjoys most about POWER is its culture.

“The office environment and the quality people I get to work with are what make working here so enjoyable.”

Make money

Unlike many summer internship programs, POWER’s offers compensation, fulfilling the third leg of the three-legged stool. Paid internships can help bring new perspec-tives and creative ideas to the company by opening the opportunities to more students. Paying interns also shows that their work is valued and that quality is expected, just as it is of any other paid employee.

Internships can also morph into other employment opportunities. POWER offers co-op positions, which typically allow students to alternate their time between employment and study, either by taking a semester off to work at POWER full-time or attending school and working at POWER part-time simultaneously. Interns, in contrast, typically just work full-time during the sum-mer months.

Interns are also often hired on full-time. Since they’ve already been vetted by POWER recruiting and proven that they can handle real work, hiring interns as engi-neers once they graduate is a no-brainer. Murphy says approximately half of POWER’s interns go on to become full-time employees.

But, of course, the value of being able to work in your field, even just for a summer, is priceless.

Olivia Ryker served as an intern in POWER-Oradell’s Marketing and Proposal Development department this sum-mer. She is a marketing major entering her junior year at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

WAIT…SNAPCHAT?My major project was researching the demographics of Snapchat users and figuring out where we could most effectively use a geofilter to reach out to new recruits. All of that sounds like Greek to someone who doesn’t use Snapchat, though!

SO WHAT IS IT? Snapchat is a popular messaging app that allows users to send photos to each other that disappear after the recipient views them.

WHY DO WE CARE? Because 77 percent of female college students and 50 percent of male college students use Snapchat. In addition, 41 percent of all 18 to 34-year-olds in the United States use Snapchat daily. Snapchat is the best platform on which to reach college students. Snapchat users are also a relatively diverse group, making it an ideal platform to reach out to minority students.

GOT IT. WHAT’S A GEOFILTER? One of Snapchat’s main appeals is the ability to overlay a fun filter on a photo and send it to other users. A geofilter is a special filter that is only available within a certain location. For example, Sun Valley Resort and Bald Mountain near the Hailey office feature three special geofilters only available at the top of the mountain or on resort property.

COOL. SO HOW ARE WE USING THEM? We took the list of college fairs POWER was planning to attend and chose specific colleges where we felt Snapchat would be most effective—engineering schools with a higher proportion of women, for example, or a more diverse student body. We settled on four college fairs to target. The first geofilter will go live on Sept. 6 at Texas A&M.

New technology.

From left to right, Joe White, Ian Higginson, Jake Groat, Dustin Vincen and

Lizzie Bastian pose in the new POWER-Boise NexStation Lab. Bastian and

Vincen are both POWER SAS interns, and they were able to test the new

lab this summer with support from White, Higginson and Groat (who is a

former intern himself).

PHOTO: JARED HASKETT

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WHERE DO OUR INTERNS COME FROM?

POWER typically hires interns in the civil and electrical engineering fields who are recruited through college career fairs. What makes POWER stand out is that they send both engineers and recruiters to these fairs, so potential interns can meet the people they may be working for later.

THIS YEAR, POWER HIRED INTERNS FROM:

• Boise State University• California State Polytechnic

University, San Luis Obispo• Clarkson University• Clemson University• Colorado School of Mines• Iowa State University• Louisiana Tech University• Michigan Tech• Milwaukee School of Engineering• Missouri University of Science &

Technology• Montana State University,

Bozeman• Oregon State University• Portland State University• Rochester Institute of

Technology

• Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

• State University of New York, Utica

• Texas A&M University• The University of North Carolina

at Charlotte• University of Central Florida• University of Florida• University of Maine• University of Missouri, Columbia• University of Missouri, St. Louis• University of Rochester• University of Southern California• University of Wisconsin,

Platteville

INTERNS SUMMER 2017

1

4

2 4

1

5

1

6

4

1

4 1

1 1

4

2

9

1

1

5

1

1

DIVISIONS: Power Delivery 52 / Facilities 4 / Generation 1 / Ops 1 / PCI 1 / PTE 1

DIVISIONS: Power Delivery 52 / Facilities 4 / Generation 1 / Ops 1 / PCI 1 / PTE 1

Learning valuable life skills.

POWER-St. Louis Civil/Structural Interns Nick

Trunko, left, and Mary Kate Rodlund say they’ve

enjoyed their experience at POWER and they would

recommend this internship to other students.

PHOTO: ASHLEY WATSON