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At Olsson Associates, we encourage our interns to practice skills beyond making copies or even analyzing algorithms by inviting them to participate in our Student Ambassador Program. We even pay them for it and give them free clothes.
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There’s a lot more to being an engineering or design consultant than plan sets. We encourage our interns to learn about marketing, giving presentations, working with clients, interpersonal skills, and effective communications. It’s like a crash course in the real world.
>>> Program Description
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The Student Ambassadors Program, launched in the summer of 2006, gives our student employees a chance to develop communication, public relations, and interpersonal skills – all valuable tools for an engineering career, but not always highlighted in academic programs.
Besides this valuable experience, the students will earn a $250 bonus for each semester they participate and will receive special Olsson Associates Student Ambassador apparel (T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts) so they can represent the firm on their campuses.
Olsson Associates receives less tangible, but important benefits from the program, says Olsson President Patty McManus, who helped design the program.
“We want our engineering students to learn about the real corporate world, where communication and interpersonal skills can be just as important as technical skills. We don’t want their work experience with us to be just cranking out one project after another – we want them to experience the types of activities they’ll be participating in when they enter the workforce after graduation. We want them to know how much we value their presence here. Becoming an Olsson Associates student ambassador will one day make them a more valuable employee—a more valuable Olsson Associates’ employee, we hope!”
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>>> What do I have to do if I become a student ambassador?
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Olsson student ambassadors are encouraged to take an active role as a liaison between the firm and their campuses, professors and students, making sure Olsson is represented during technical conferences, and engineering and other special events on campus.
The Student Ambassadors Program is open to all college-aged students working at Olsson Associates, whether they’re summer interns or year-round employees. Ambassadors must:
- dedicate five hours per month to ambassador duties.
- agree to help with planning and/or implementing student activities, and participate in focus groups.
- give feedback on students entered in the college recruiting database, assist Olsson’s Human Resources (HR) department in making contact with student organizations and professors, and notify HR of special speaking or presentation opportunities on campus.
To become a student ambassador, interns must complete several predetermined tasks, including such things as attending a city council or planning meeting to learn how the city process works; visit an Olsson project site with another employee to see a design transition from a concept to a finished project; or interviewing a professional engineer who has taken the exam in the last five years to learn about the Fundamentals of Engineering and Professional Engineering exams.
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>>> Ambassadors
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Meet our 2007-08 student ambassadors
Jayson Carey – Rolla
Max Gade – Lincoln
Derek Gardels – Omaha
Brian Geiger – Kansas City
Derek Nieveen – Lincoln
John Parizek – Lincoln
Steve Raisor – Phoenix
Drew Seybold – Phoenix
Katie Sobczynski – Phoenix
Matt Suddock – Kansas City
Andrew Synhorst – Lincoln
Brian Degen - Lincoln
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>>> Alumni
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