The overall environment was very positive as the employees are all very passionate about their projects. I received a lot of support from other employees at JPL.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Mechanical Engineering Intern
May - August 2023 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
Amazing and inspiring environment surrounded by rigorous and very smart engineers.
What I wish was different
Location
Advice
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RF Systems Engineering Intern
May - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
Greatest place to work on earth.
What I wish was different
Wish it wasn't in LA.
Advice
Keep a work life balance. With as exciting as the work is, it's very easy to dive in and spend all your free time just doing more work.
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UIUX graphic designer
June - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I loved the location. The people were so open, free and loving.
What I wish was different
I wish we had been given a little help or guidance to where would be a great place to reside for the summer.
Advice
I highly recommend anyone who is given the opportunity to get an intern at JPL NASA to take it! It was an amazing experience. If anyone does decide to take it come with an open mind and do not come expecting anything.
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Engineering intern
June - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
Amazing environment, everyone is super passionate about their work and willing to explain things to students.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Mechanical Engineering Intern
June - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
So many cool opportunities to learn! There are thousands if different projects going on at JPL and everyone is open to share what they are doing.
What I wish was different
Compensation is not competitive... but worth it for the work you're doing
Advice
If you have the opportunity to work at JPL - do it! It's an amazing experience.
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Quality Engineering Intern
June - September 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
It's one of the most amazing places to intern. They have a huge intern program, you work on real and important projects, and the full-timers are super helpful to interns.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Mechanical Engineering Intern
May - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I liked the work I was assigned and the overall missions I got to work on. The work environment and location was a plus. I had my own responsibilities but I also had mentors to help me out and answer questions. I got a lot of different experiences with all the teams and projects I got to work on, they were all in different phases of a project life cycle. So I would get to see the design phase of one project then spend the other half of my day assembling or testing a component for another mission. I liked the people I got to work with and the projects I got to work on.
What I wish was different
Transparency about full-time hiring outcomes.
Advice
You don't have to be a genius to work at NASA. You just have to be willing to put in a lot of effort. Just try your best, be open to learning new skills even if its not in line with your major.
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Information Research Science Intern
June - August 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
There were always ways to network with other scientists and engineers. They held many events and lectures, which were really cool and interesting.
What I wish was different
It's more of a personal preference, but it would have been nice to have weekly meetings with AART (African American Resource Team). They only had 2 events during the 10 weeks I was there.
Advice
Talk to as many people as you can. Let them know what your career goals are and what you're interested in. It's NASA, Cal Tech, and JPL; Therefore you must network!!!
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Payload Systems Engineering Intern
June - September 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I enjoy being surrounded by people passionate about their work. JPL employees love to share their knowledge and welcome being asked questions. The culture is relaxed, welcoming, and encourages exploration and growth. Presentations, talks, and tours are always fun as you get to see cutting edge technologies in development and getting ready to explore the solar system!
What I wish was different
Advice
Make sure you network. At internships, you will be surrounded by some of the most knowledgeable people in your field-- get to know them! You will learn a lot from people who are passionate about their work and not only can this help inform what you want to pursue as a career but they may keep you in mind for future opportunities.
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Telecommunications Intern
June - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I really loved the people I got to meet there. Everyone I met was very receptive to talking to interns as well as taking time out of their day to explain things to them. I was emailing random JPL employees asking to have lunch and coffee just to network and get to know people. I did that at least twice a week and never got a no.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Intern
June - December 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I love how much freedom and trust I'm given by JPL. I have a big voice in my team's decision making process.
What I wish was different
Advice
Ask questions and know that you're going to mess up. The people I know who have the best experience, both for their bosses and themselves, are the ones who don't try to be perfect.
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Undergraduate Research Assistant
July - September 2018 • La Cañada Flintridge, CA
What I liked
Co-workers were very accessible.
What I wish was different
Ling drive.
Advice
Work hard.
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Software Engineering Intern
June - September 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
What I wish was different
Advice
Internships are largely random in terms of how meaningful the work is and how much opportunity you have to grow.
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Research Intern
May - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I enjoyed the learning experience from this opportunity. Researching for NASA JPL was by far the most beneficial educational experience.
What I wish was different
I wish it lasted longer! It was a 10-week internship and I discovered a lot in the short time. If I had more time I believe that I would have discovered a lot more.
Advice
Take the opportunity! It was a life-changing experience and I regret nothing about it.
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Telecommunication Engineer
September 2017 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
The atmosphere - it's similar to Caltech labs in that people expect a lot, but it's still a friendly and relaxed environment.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Engineering intern
May - August 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
There were lots of opportunity for continued learning, including nearly daily seminars on a broad range of topics related to NASA/JPL's missions.
What I wish was different
I wish the internship was much longer.
Advice
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Mars 2020 Ground Data System Intern
June 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
Cool work
What I wish was different
Paid poorly. Staying in la was rough
Advice
Try to explore across the lab
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Mechanical Engineer Intern
June - August 2018 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
It was a learning internship so there was a lot of room to grow and I did not have to do tedious tasks like a lot of interns do but got to work on a real project that would benefit the other members of my team as well.
What I wish was different
My mentor was very busy so he was not extremely involved in answering questions and also was very vague about what my assignment was.
Advice
I would say if you work at a company like JPL it is super important to take advantage of your environment and network and ask as many questions as possible and really utilize your resources.
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Electromagnetics Engineer
February 2019 • Pasadena, CA
What I liked
I love the environment. The people I work with are often the best or only person in the world in their specific field. JPL also does a great job at hiring passionate employees. The people at JPL love what they do and care about their impact. The responsibilities have been great as well. I am only 20, and this last summer I ran one project, I was the lead mechanical engineer on another, and I managed five interns.
What I wish was different
It is a government facility, and with that comes a lot of due process. But other than having to wait a while at the IT building to get laptop issues fixed, I really cannot complain. JPL is an incredible work environment and I absolutely love it.
Advice
I have come to learn that you should not over promise, but separately be confident. Don't tell your managers what they want to hear, but give them the truth and they will likely respect that more. If you are confident in your abilities, you can learn a great deal of things on the job. It just requires trusting that you will figure it out, and some humility to admit that you don't know everything. Every work environment, but JPL especially has all sorts of resources to learn new skill and knowledge. Whether that is books, courses or people, use them.
