Epstein's Intern Class of 2018

More often than not, when you talk business with someone outside of your professional industry, team, or day-to-day operations, youre usually surprisingly inspired by what you learn. The same can be said of an internship program. Bringing aboard people who arent inside your company every day can enhance perspective, provide mentorship opportunities and increase productivity.

It is for reasons such as those that Epstein has always, and continues, to offer summer and full-year paid internships, as well as co-ops. Internship opportunities are typically available in each of Epsteins technical disciplines: Architecture, MEP, Construction, IPE and Civil Engineering. This results in the firm welcoming between 8-10 interns every year.

Epstein internships are available to students who are currently enrolled in college. Our preference is to bring in a junior entering their senior year who has previous internship experience within their chosen field of study.

One of the main reasons for our program is to create full-time candidates we can hire after they graduate, said Criss Paccione-Anderson, Epsteins Director of Corporate Services. We also typically look for Midwest students that are local to Chicago.

Most companies do use an internship program as a year-round recruiting tool because, by doing so, they will have an ongoing pipeline of future full-time employees. The internship is often viewed as a trial run; an opportunity for both sides to test out a new working relationship. Epstein usually retains 2-3 interns every year, transitioning them into entry-level positions.

Conor OBrien, for example, was an Electrical Engineering intern for Epstein during the summer of 2017. He was hired as a full-time Electrical Design Engineer this May.

Of his internship, Conor said, I was almost always busy, which was very different in a good way from other internships that I have had. I assisted on many different projects, and all that really helped me when I got back to school to finish my last two semesters.

Conor added that the internship also allowed him to get a good feel for not only the assortment of services Epstein provides, but also the office culture. Returning to the company was a pretty easy decision; it feels great to be back.

We also have two students who interned with us last summer returning for a second internship this year.

In addition to attaining possible prospective candidates, our internship program affords us the opportunity to mentor future architects, engineers and designers that will go on to influence the world around us. Being a part of our expert environment provides real, hands-on experience; thus giving these young professionals a chance to see if the career they envisioned for themselves is, indeed, what they want to pursue.

Epstein is proud to help the interns make professional connections, as well as lasting friendships! And everyone gets involved from our most senior employees to the newer ones who were in the interns shoes just a year or two before. Weve found encouraging our employees to educate and teach others can assist in building strong moral and creating more leaders within our firm.

Each summer, Epstein takes time to carefully develop our internship program, complete with presentations, field trips, professional meetings and lunches out of the office. In terms of both todays workload and tomorrows workforce, implementing such a program has been an excellent way for Epstein to further facilitate success.

As such, and without further ado, we are thrilled to have the following students join us this summer:

• Mia Abbott, Business Development
  • Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Illustration major with a focus in communications
• John Stefik, Civil
  • Ohio State University, B.S. Civil Engineering
• Christine Greene, MEP (electrical)
  • Kansas State University, B.S. Architectural Engineering
• Cristian Treto, CO
  • University of Iowa, B.S. Civil Engineering (Math minor)
• Phil Holli-Arcus, CO
  • Bradley University, B.S. Construction Management
• Jonathan Zambrano, IPE
  • University of Missouri, B.S. Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering
• Jessica Hufford, MEP (mechanical)
  • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, B.S. Mechanical Engineering
• Yolany Heredia, based in our New York office
  • New York Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Architecture
• Sean King, Architecture
  • University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Bachelor of Architecture
• Joyce Lam, Architecture (ACE Mentor Program of America)
  • William Jones College Preparatory High School

A huge welcome to this years intern class, and good luck!