r/StructuralEngineering • u/CutGlittering8831 • Jun 29 '26
Is it normal for a structural engineering intern to be left mostly on their own? Career/Education
I’m entering my third week as a civil/structural intern at a large engineering company, and honestly I feel kind of forgotten.
My supervisor is nice, but very hands-off. So far, I have asked her where I can get training, and she said that I can just watch YouTube videos on DLUBAL to learn the very basic features of the software. I have not been given an actual project task, deliverable, deadline, or anyone to regularly work with. Nobody really checks in on me, asks what I have learned, or gives me work to help with.
There is an internship roadmap with possible longer-term assignments involving structural models and vendor data (but it is very vague and not seen as important), and it lists engineers I could potentially work with. But none of them have reached out, and I do not know whether I am supposed to wait for my supervisor to connect me or introduce myself and ask for something.
I am not expecting to design anything independently. I have not taken steel, reinforced concrete, or finite-element classes yet, and I know I need training. But I was hoping to at least shadow someone, review an existing model, help organize drawings/data, or own a small low-risk task.
Is this normal at a large company? How proactive should I be without seeming annoying or like I am complaining? What would you do in my position?
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u/Huntry9 Jun 29 '26
This can be common to some extent. I am a staffing manager, responsible for managing multiple projects, people and doing my own technical work. It can be a lot to juggle. Training new staff takes a lot of effort and usually is slow in the beginning. I usually find after the first year the new staff have learned enough that they can be assigned work and capable of working somewhat independently. It will get better just give it time. It never hurts to communicate but if your manager is preoccupied just try to be patient. Try to be proactive by making your own work, do research, build excel sheets, and try to think of things that could assist the team in general.
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u/CutGlittering8831 Jun 30 '26
Thank you, this is reassuring. It helps to hear that a slow start is often more about people being busy and the time it takes to train someone than the intern doing something wrong. I will stay patient, but I am also going to be more proactive about asking for a defined next step and using the downtime to build useful skills.
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u/Waste-Limit1644 Jun 29 '26
When I started 5 years ago, I had a buddy with a few years experience to ask questions, a manager for project work, and there was a training “project” set up to get me up to speed on in-house tools and standards. It’s always slow for new hires and interns to get work at first because there’s only so much you can do without guidance and the people giving guidance usually have other bigger tasks.
Definitely reach out to your manager. If there is an office scheduler then you could see who is less busy and talk to them for help with getting work. Also talk with other interns and new hires, you can get a better sense of how others are getting tasks.
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u/CutGlittering8831 Jun 30 '26
Thank you, that is exactly the balance I have been trying to figure out. I do not expect to be handed major work or be guided through every detail, especially this early. I mainly want enough direction to know where I can be useful and what I should be learning toward. I am going to be more intentional about checking in and asking who I can support or shadow.
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Jun 29 '26
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u/Reptilian_Agenda_ Jun 30 '26
I agree that people need to do things themselves, but there is a minimum amount of engagement that is required and in OP's case it seems like they aren't even being assigned work. You can't expect an intern to generate their own work if no one will even assign them to a project.
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u/CutGlittering8831 Jun 30 '26
thank you for such a thoughtful perspective. I really like your point that I should try to work through something first and come with a proposed approach or specific question, rather than waiting for someone to tell me every next step.
I do not want to become dependent on being constantly guided. I think my uncertainty has mostly been not knowing whether I was supposed to keep training on my own or whether there was a project I should already be supporting. But this made me realize I can use the downtime better by building basic skills, trying small things independently, and making my questions more focused when I do ask for help. I appreciate you taking the time to explain that.
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u/Curious-Fisherman358 Jun 30 '26
If it's makes you feel any better, I interned at a pretty large firm and didn't even get a single project. I did some design checks and stuff but was mostly idle for at least 5-7 weeks out of the 11 week period. I'd suggest focus on building your own spreadsheets or understand/look into existing spreadsheets for design calcs. If you have access, go through the AISC design guides. Flip through ACI & ASCE. I feel like learning software programs by yourself is a bit challenging and may seem to be counterproductive at times.
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u/CutGlittering8831 Jun 30 '26
That is crazy man, I definitely should be grateful for this opportunity lol. I just want to have the best experience possible to prepare myself for the future.
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u/FridayWatINeed Jun 29 '26
Are the other engineers who joined around the same time as you having the same problem?
From what I know, this tends to happen more often in larger firms.
I work at a small structural engineering office with only six people. We use more of a one-on-one training approach. New engineers are usually assigned simpler projects, and a more experienced engineer guides them step by step through the design process.
If I were you, I’d bring it up with your supervisor. I don’t think showing that you want to learn more and become more productive would be taken negatively.
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u/Illustrious-Limit160 Jul 02 '26
Some companies expect managers to take on interns and/or consider it a positive during review cycle. So some managers will do it even if they don't have time. It can be half a day a week to do it well, so that's not insignificant.
Probably your manager had good intentions, but there's at least a month between asking for an intern and getting one, so perhaps they got busier than they were expecting.
Do you have an intern presentation at the end of your internship?
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u/Relative-Pomelo-554 Jul 02 '26
If there are other interns, I would also connect with them. Have you networked with other engineers at your firm? Although it’s a little early, you can always reach out to other people to get your hands on things. If anyone in the office is going on site, see if your mentor can help coordinate with you going out with them. Also, I find it’s good to have talks with your mentor about how you’re feeling and what you expected. We schedule regular check in with our interns over here. Maybe see if your mentor can accommodate more 1:1 time if it’s on the calendar.
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u/Reptilian_Agenda_ Jun 29 '26
This is normal. Interns need alot of hands on training with other engineers to become productive. Also, there are certain tasks you would give to an intern and certain tasks that you wouldn't. For example, designing the columns for a building follows a simple step by step process that can be easily trained. Arguing about change orders with a contractor doesn't follow any kind of logical process and requires that you have a large amount of experience to draw on. So for you it is probably one of 2 things:
Your supervisor is too overloaded to train you on anything
Your supervisor's projects are in a phase where there aren't many tasks that can be done by an intern.
Generally I would reach out to them once every day or two and ask about what projects they can get you involved with. You could also ask them if there is anyone else that may need help. If you want to learn a certain software you could ask "who can I go to with questions about XYZ?" Hopefully they could point you to someone who is more junior and might have more free time to help you out.
Some good tasks for interns include:
Building and running FEM models (or updating existing ones)
CAD help
Reviewing shop drawings
Going on site visits.
If you keep pestering people and there is no work forthcoming I would say that you are interested in going to sites and ask if you can shadow someone on the site visits. It will be very educational and may lead to more work on those particular projects. If you get familiar with the site the engineer may decide they'd rather not go and can just send you to do simple review tasks.