Summer Interns Make the Most of their Opportunities

Cianbro Institute

By Olivia Carson, 2022 Summer Intern

As I was finishing up my sophomore year at the College of Business at Husson University, I applied for a summer internship with Cianbro on a whim. As a sophomore, I thought it was unlikely that they would offer me a position, seeing as I wasn’t a junior or senior in addition to the scarcity of quality HR internships available. However, I was familiar with Cianbro because my uncle had been a team member for more than 20 years, and aware of the company’s reputation for putting people first. Needless to say, I was surprised when I got the call from the recruitment team offering me a summer internship.

On May 19, I joined the majority of the 36 summer interns hailing from 17 colleges and universities across the country at the Cianbro Institute in Pittsfield, Maine. The interns represented schools such as the University of Maine, The Ohio State University, Virginia Tech, and Harvard.

Together, our intern class worked alongside seasoned professionals in various business units and markets, with a broad focus on engineering, contracts, human resources, information technology, and more. While my internship in HR was based primarily in the office setting, one of the common threads between many other interns was a desire to get out into the field.

Megan Fuller, a mechanical engineering major in her third year at the University of Maine, worked on the Hampden Bridge Bundle project in Hampden, Maine, this summer. “I wanted hands-on experience. I wanted to be working with the crews in the field,” said Megan. “I also wanted to apply some of the knowledge I’ve learned in the classroom.”

Travis Nadeau, a senior at UMaine majoring in business information systems and business administration, wanted to get a different type of experiential education in information technology. Travis had the opportunity to work on various projects, most notably helping improve efficiency with tool tracking. It’s Cianbro’s culture, however, that most impressed Travis.

“It really is what everyone says,” said Travis. “The people make all the difference.”

As the interns reconnected for our closeout presentations in early August 2022, we had the opportunity to reflect on our time at Cianbro and evaluate how we will use the tools we’ve learned from this summer moving forward in school and our future careers. Some of the seniors even accepted full-time positions with Cianbro.

“It’s true what they say in orientation: ask questions!” said Andrew Haining, a senior at Maine Maritime Academy majoring in international business and logistics. “Everyone is ready and willing to help.”

Personally, when we welcome a new crop of interns in May 2023, my advice to them will be to take advantage of your resources. Cianbro’s summer internship truly is what you make it, and there’s a lot you can learn and gain if you put in the effort.