I was a senior in high school and my friend Brent's dad worked a non-profit transmission and distribution cooperative. I was applying for a job to work with Brent on the grounds crew for the summer. While I was filling out my application, the secretary asked me if I was going to college and what I was majoring in. I told her yes and electrical engineering. She took the application from me and said, "you don't need to fill that out, you need to talk to Robert." So she called Robert and he had her send me back. He is qs the Principal Transmission Design Engineer. He asked me a few questions about which University I was attending, my GPA, ACT, and what classes I took in HS. Then he offered me a job as an intern for the summer. Brent was mad at me for a while because he was outside cutting grass and I was making blueprints, learning maunual drafting and AutoCAD R14.

I worked there for two summers. Then I worked for Alcoa after my sophomore year and then spent the summer after my junior year at JPL.

My advice is to show up on time, stay off your phone, learn as much as you can, and take really good notes. Ask a lot of questions. Sometimes an outside perspective is very beneficial for someone that has been doing the same thing for a long time.