For engineering students preparing to enter the AEC industry, an internship is often their first opportunity to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to real projects. It can also help them begin to determine where they want to take their careers.
But even with that experience, there can be a missing piece: preparing for the transition from college student to full-time professional.
Sabrina Brandenburg, who leads the firm’s internship program, knows that transition involves more than technical preparation. Starting a career also means learning how to navigate a professional workplace, build relationships, manage new expectations and find a place within a much broader industry.
That thinking helped shape LAUNCH, DRMP’s comprehensive internship program, which combines hands-on project experience with intentional opportunities to explore DRMP’s engineering disciplines, connect with experienced professionals and firm leaders, and prepare for the practical transition from college to a full-time career.
The program builds on DRMP’s established internship program by adding structured experiences beyond interns’ day-to-day project assignments. Through dedicated workshops and open virtual forums, interns can explore career paths across the firm and ask candid questions about entering the AEC workforce.
Learning by Doing
Those sessions complement the experience interns gain every day with their project teams.
For Colby Bowers, who will return next year for another internship with DRMP, that meant gaining experience with modeling software and learning more about the roadway design process. His summer project experience also helped him identify transportation as an area he would like to pursue.
“This summer in the LAUNCH program really helped me come to this conclusion through the diversity of projects that I was a part of,” said Bowers, who plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. “Every project felt unique, and they all had a separate challenge to them that would make them different.”
Bowers also saw how engineers work together on projects.
“The biggest takeaway, however, was working with others on projects while being able to ask questions from co-workers and learning the collaboration and teamwork the engineering process has,” Bowers said.
The willingness of his colleagues to answer questions and involve him in the work stood out throughout his experience.
“My favorite part of the program is the people that I had the privilege to work with at DRMP,” he said. “Every day I came to work, they were ready to teach me something new, and I am so grateful for that.”
Exploring DRMP’s Engineering Disciplines
While interns spend much of their time working with their individual teams, LAUNCH also introduces them to the range of work happening across DRMP.
During the “Disciplines at DRMP” session, professionals from roadway, traffic design, traffic analysis, structures, drainage, construction services and surveying gave interns a closer look at their work, career paths and the projects their teams support.
Brandenburg developed the session in response to something she had heard from interns: Students can enter the workforce with a solid engineering education but limited knowledge of the different specialties available to them.
The workshop allowed interns to learn directly from professionals working in those areas and consider disciplines they may not have previously explored. Brandenburg also encouraged interns interested in returning to DRMP to consider another discipline if they wanted a different experience.
“If they tried roadway and it wasn’t their favorite, they could come back and try traffic design or structures,” Brandenburg said. “If you want to try something new, learn something new, you can come back to DRMP.”
For Amanda Woods, PE, Executive Vice President and Florida Engineering Business Unit Leader, giving interns that broader perspective is an important part of the experience.
“LAUNCH gives interns the opportunity to see the range of career paths available within DRMP and learn directly from professionals working in those disciplines,” Woods said. “We want them to leave the program with a better sense of the work that interests them and the confidence to make informed decisions as they begin their careers.”
Connecting with DRMP Leaders
Interns also had access to members of DRMP’s leadership team.
During a dedicated leadership session, firm leaders spoke with interns about their roles, the work they support and the priorities guiding DRMP. They also discussed their own career paths, including experiences that helped them grow, lessons they learned and advice they would give someone entering the AEC industry.
Rather than a formal presentation, the session allowed interns to ask questions and hear how established professionals developed their careers over time.
Asking the Questions College Doesn’t Always Answer
Technical preparation is only part of making the transition from engineering student to full-time professional.
During National Intern Day, LAUNCH focused on the practical side of that transition. Interns participated in a workshop that addressed adjusting to a structured work environment, developing workplace relationships, managing time and priorities and building confidence early in their careers.
Brandenburg also wanted interns to hear from people who had recently experienced that transition.
During an open virtual forum, a panel of DRMP professionals who went from interns to full-time employees answered questions about the challenges they encountered, what surprised them and what they learned.
“I wanted our interns to get that perspective too, not just coming from HR and L&D, but from our engineers,” Brandenburg said.
Interns submitted practical questions about starting their careers, including whether college or working full time was harder and how much time the panelists took between graduation and starting their jobs.
The answers varied, giving interns different perspectives on the transition.
For Brandenburg, the goal was to help interns feel more prepared for the change.
“I really wanted to build their confidence going into that next stage,” she said. “There are going to be some challenges, but you’re not alone in it.”
From Internship to Career
That support continues when interns return to school.
Some interns work with the firm during the academic year, while others return to campuses that are too far from a DRMP office or step away because of their course loads. In either case, Brandenburg said DRMP emphasizes that school comes first.
That message has resonated with students.
“I heard comments from interns like, ‘I love that DRMP puts an emphasis on school first, internship second,’” Brandenburg said.
Interns who return to school are encouraged to stay connected with DRMP through check-ins, career fairs, office visits and continued contact with their teams. Some return for another internship, while others move from intern to full-time employee after graduation.
Bowers will be among those returning to DRMP for another internship.
“The LAUNCH Internship Program has been such a welcoming experience and allowed me to learn so much,” Bowers said. “It allowed me to grow as a worker and as a student.”
For other LAUNCH interns, their time as students is nearing an end, and a few will soon begin their full-time careers with DRMP.
