Recruiting for Engineering at Harvard

OCS

The career fairs are not very helpful, since there are many people at fairs and sharing resumes. However, OCS has several resources on engineering-specific career pages: general, bioengineering related.

Career fairs can be helpful; a former facebook policy intern got their position through connections made at a CS50 career fair. An intern at Tesla got their first college internship through the i-lab startup career fair.

Additional tips

Connect with people on Linkedin. Harvard alumni/upperclassmen are great, but they don’t just have to be Harvard affiliates! Most people are excited and happy to help interested students. By contacting people on Linkedin, you can sometimes get an interview for a job before the job posting is even up.

• Intern at biotech startup Emulate got the position by reaching out to a senior scientist on Linkedin.

Keith Karasek, the SEAS Director of Experiential and Career Development, can help guide you and connect you with upperclassmen who may have worked in a field you’re interested in, or at a company you want to intern at. See here for more information about scheduling a 1-on-1 session with him.

Research at labs. Students can cold email professors and express interest to get research opportunities! Start by looking through the SEAS website and the news to see what kind of research you're interested in. From there, find and email a PI/postdoc/PhD student with your resume and ask to set up a meeting. Research offers a lot of general flexibility, since you determine your own schedule (5-20+ hrs part time).

• Intern at SpaceX and Waymo got their first internship at international company Parrot by giving a tour of their research lab to the CEO of Parrot. They also interned as a sophomore at Apple in Japan, an opportunity that may have been difficult to get as a sophomore in America.

  • Bioengineering student had a discussion about their academic interests with their lab PI—this led to their PI introducing them to a contact at Novartis, where they were offered a summer internship position.

Freshman/Sophomores

Conduct research through various grants/programs (PRISE, HCRP grants, etc.)

• Freshman Intern at PRISE reached out to a professor to find a project before they even got accepted to the program. The intern applied to PRISE with details of the lab already set (possible projects, which lab/PI, etc.)

• Go to an international company/startup. They are more likely to hire younger college students, and it’s a great way to gain a study abroad experience while also exploring your career.

Environmental engineering: All Ivy Environmental and Sustainable Development Career Fair, a large career fair hosted in Columbia involving Ivy league recruitment.

Recruiting for Engineering

The Recruiting Timeline

Mechanical and Engineering

ME/EE recruiting is typically done on a rolling basis, one season before the internship/opportunity. For a summer internship, recruiting is done in winter; for a fall internship, recruiting is done late spring/summer; for a spring internship, recruiting is done in the fall. Summer internships usually open applications mid-fall and are open until February. For engineering startups, recruiting is done far later, typically from January to May, with bulk hiring done in March/May. Startups will even hire students a few weeks before their start dates.

Bioengineering

Biomedical Engineering firms recruit on a similar timeline to ME/EE. Certain firms can be on an earlier timeline (applications closing mid fall), but it depends on the company.

Environmental

The recruiting timeline is fairly late: applications open up late December/January, and opportunities aren’t locked down until later in April/May. Government internships are fairly slow, are you won’t hear back for a while.

The Recruitment Process

Submit a resume/cover letter.

Your resume should include technical projects (internships/work experience, school projects, school clubs, research, etc.) and technical skills (hardware, software programs, etc.). A cover letter should be supplemental and distinctive from your resume. In addition to expressing why you want to work at the company/position, you should also explain new aspects of various projects/technical skills.

SpaceX recruiter says they refer to a cover letter when they want more information from the resume regarding specific projects/research/etc.

Behavioral Interview

pretty standard, just be prepared to answer some stock questions + talk about yourself. Be genuine!

Technical Interview

Mechanical/Electrical Engineering recruitment typically involves one or more technical interviews, whereas Bioengineering/Environmental Science and Engineering recruitment usually does not unless applying for an ME/EE role within the company. If the latter two industries do want to get a sense of your technical skills, recruiters may ask you to submit some work (lab report).

Engineering technical interviews are very different from SWE interviews, since each company does it differently and there isn’t an aggregated source for all the technical questions. Huge variety in the kind of questions asked, since it covers a fairly wide group of fields (mechanics, thermodynamics, circuits, etc.). Here are three standard parts/types of a technical interview:

Fundamental physics/engineering principles: solid mechanics and statics, material properties, thermodynamics.

• Ex: if you have a ball that’s hollow/solid at the top of a hill, which one reaches bottom of hill first; describe the stress graph of two different materials; what is elastic/plastic; what are the three methods of thermal transfer; what’s an RLC circuit.

• These are all questions you should know from classes.

Some interviewers like to throw curveball questions.

• Ex: five different ways to double the deflection of a cantilever beam (formula may have four variables but you need creativity to come up with a fifth way).

• You definitely need to prepare for these. Check Glassdoor/Google for interview questions that previous interviewees got asked at the company. Ask your recruiter for a detailed job title (not “engineering intern”, rather “embedded firmware engineer”). Look up that job title on LinkedIn to find a job description from other people who have worked at that company. See what technical skills they used during their time at the company, and study those technical skills to prepare for the interview.

• Intern at SpaceX/Waymo made a cheat sheet of fundamentals they learned from classes.

• Intern at Boeing/Tesla made a cheat sheet for many engineering classes they completed at Harvard. Prior to interviewing for XX position, they would review the classes that were most relevant to that position.

Project: take home or during the interview.

• Ex: redesign a toaster, simulate a power graph for xxx, etc.

• Intern at Boeing/Tesla highly recommends citing any sources used during take home projects. If you don’t, you run the risk of being drilled in a later interview about a topic you don’t know well.

Technical questions about past experiences: describe a project you worked on.

• Ex: why did you pick xx material, why did you choose four instead of six wheels, how did you decide on the tire material, etc.

Additional Tips

Be proactive, you don't have to just work with Harvard people. Grow a network through Linkedin, and don’t be afraid to reach out and ask for advice/help! You can also use the Harvard Alumni directory to directly reach out to Alumni working at companies you are interested in.

• Intern at Boeing got their internship through someone in their scholarship network. They later successfully interned at Tesla after switching Tesla recruiters through a Harvard alumni.

Have hands-on experience in a project. Companies care less about grades/GPA and more about dedication to a project.

• Bioengineering student says a common feeling is not feeling as prepared as other engineers with hardware skills, since bioengineers don’t learn CAD/hard programming in core classes. To remedy this, they were active about trying to find and shape their own personal project - useful to gaining those technical skills, and also good to put on a resume.

• For Environmental Science and Engineering, students say that professors are very open to students - even freshmen - joining a research team.

• An intern at Boeing/Tesla highly recommends doing personal projects, and thoroughly documenting them with photos on a personal website. Harvard is incredibly supportive of personal projects: the active learning lab staff is always happy to help, you can use free materials from the active learning lab (sheet metal, 3d filament, etc.), and Harvard even has a NECTAR grant available to fund personal projects.

Take a gap semester or Co-op. Some engineering students do this to either have an extended internship experience, or try out two different career options and companies. Since many engineering internships work on a naturally longer basis (longer onboarding, extended wait for materials to be bought, iteration and design process is naturally slower, etc.), some students take a gap semester to have a thorough internship opportunity. Others prefer to take a gap semester just to gain more career experience by working at more companies.

• Intern at SpaceX/Waymo took their junior spring semester off to explore the aerospace industry (spring) and autonomous driving field (summer).

• Intern at Tesla took their junior spring semester off to have an extended internship at Tesla exploring two different teams.

Utilize MIT! We are next to one of the best engineering colleges in the world. Take advantage of the professors, labs, and classes offered at MIT - reach out to upperclassmen to see what MIT courses they recommend, cold email professors/PIs working on interesting projects, etc.

Introduction to Engineering

Overview

Engineers apply a variety of fields - math, physics, design, biology, etc. - to solve real-world problems. At Harvard, there are four engineering concentration tracks offered: Mechanical, Electrical, Bioengineering, and Environmental Science. Within each four concentrations, students can choose either the Bachelor in Arts (AB) or Bachelor in Science (SB) degree. In general, the SB option has a lot less flexibility in class exploration - it requires 20 courses, compared with the 14-16 required courses for the AB degree. The SB programs are all accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. Dependent on the industry, some students may find it necessary to take the SB track. Others, like students interested in Biomedical Engineering, find that an AB program suffices and gives the necessary pre-med course selection flexibility. Ultimately, most companies care about your experience (internships/projects), and less about the degree.

Engineering Pathways

General

Besides industry, many Harvard engineers enter the finance/consulting fields, as well as academia. Given the more theoretical approach Harvard takes to teaching engineering, many engineering students also graduate equipped with the critical thinking skills desired by finance/consulting companies. Going into academia follows an bachelors -> PhD -> Postdoctoral Fellow -> Associate Professor -> Tenure Track timeline. Typically, you should do research as an undergraduate and ideally write/publish a paper while you are an undergraduate. A great, more structured way to do this is through a thesis (required for the SB track and highly recommended for the AB track).

Mechanical

At Harvard, there are many ways to explore Mechanical engineering. Students who want to get involved in mechanical engineering can be involved in different stages of the engineering process from product design and concepts to manufacturing engineering and mass production. Some clubs include HURC, HUAERO, and HPVT.

An intern at SpaceX/Waymo recommends joining a club if you want first-hand experience building things. If you prefer a more structured experience under the guidance of a professor/PhD student, research is another great option.

Electrical

In industry, electrical engineers can choose to focus on pure electrical engineering concepts (analog circuit designer, chip designer, etc.) or go into a role that combines electrical engineering with software (lower level code) or mechanical design. At Harvard, there are many ways to explore Electrical engineering. Some clubs include HURC, HUAERO, and HPVT.

For electrical engineers, an interest in being a principal engineer in industries like construction/civil engineering/aerospace/etc. typically requires an accredited degree in order to sign off on drawings and climb the ranks. However, other industries like the automotive industry/consumer products are much more relaxed and don’t require an SB degree. In general, the degree choice comes from what industry you are interested in, and how you envision your college experience looking (if you want more freedom to discover other areas, etc).

Bioengineering

Bioengineering is a very broad field, with four major pathways people choose to take: medicine, academia, startups, and industry. The biomedical engineering track is great for people interested in both medicine and engineering; many often do the AB track to offer more flexibility in course selection. Students hoping to break into industry typically focus on either the mechanical or electrical side. There is no limit to the biotech industry: medical devices, prosthetics, surgical robots, biomaterials, etc.

At Harvard, there are many ways to explore Bioengineering topics. For clubs, the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) is usually the primary option. If you have an interest in biology or medicine, clubs such as the Harvard Undergraduate Biological Sciences Society (HUBSS), CrimsonEMS, and others, are also available.

For one bioengineering student, doing CrimsonEMS was one of their most valuable experiences. It made them realize that they were comfortable participating in the role of an EMT and didn’t need to become a full-fledged physician to still have a huge impact on the medical field.

Wyss Institute is a research institute composed of several bioengineering-focused labs.

Environmental Science

ESE is a fairly new concentration at Harvard, but concentrators go on to work in a variety of different fields: industry, policy/law, academia, and consulting. Most students interested in industry pursue the SB degree and do another higher education degree (Masters in engineering), due in part to an interest in further research and also to gain access to greater career prospects. Students not interested in industry usually go on the AB track, and work in environmental consulting, at an environmental law firm, or do other policy/social justice work.

A student interested in environmental policy and law chose to do so because they were interested in the socioeconomic justice component of environmental policy. They went on to intern at 350 raising climate awareness through grassroots outreach, and Facebook and Mozilla for technical policy.

At Harvard, there are many ways to explore Environmental Science and Engineering. Some clubs include Engineers Without Borders, Divest Harvard, and HUCEG on campus.

Requisite Skills

Mechanical

• Computer Aided Design (CAD): Solidworks, NX for Design

• Finite element analysis (FEA)

• Excel - basic modeling, calculations, etc.

• Basic hardware knowledge from research/school clubs: HURC, HUAERO, HPVT, etc.

• Machining: lathe, mill, welding, cnc machining

Electrical

• Printed circuit board (PCB) design: Altium, EagleCAD, KiCad

• AutoCAD

• Some understanding/expertise in either software or mechanical domain: general programming language (Python or other variant), coding with a Raspberry Pi/Arduino, Solidworks/Fusion 360/CATIA

• Hardware: circuits, embedded systems

Bioengineering

• The appropriate qualifications depending on the bioengineering industrial focus (if it’s more Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering oriented). Not necessary, but can be helpful for competitive industry jobs.

• Skills learned through classes: Matlab/Python/COMSOL - fluid mechanics simulation software

• General interest in healthcare, basic understanding of biology and different body systems

• Wet lab experience: working with lab samples, doing research, writing lab reports

Environmental Science

• Atmospheric chemistry

• Radiative balance work (effect of greenhouse gases on Earth’s warming)

• Climate modeling

• A solid understanding of all the different energy sources

• Remote sensing/Technical mapping

• Environmental toxicology, knowledge of environmental health hazards/pollutants

• Environmental risk assessment

• Lab experience; the newer nature of the concentration means there are fewer courses with hands-on lab work