What It is Like to Intern During a Pandemic

From Knoxville to Mexicali, this summer’s internship class is embracing the virtual workplace.

We checked in with our interns across the company to understand how they are getting to know the working world in these unique circumstances. 

Here’s what they had to say.

Emma Padgett, University of Florida

Major: Finance and international business

How has your virtual internship been?

Interning for a corporation that serves diverse and exciting industries in a fast-paced, dynamic environment allows for something new to learn and to work on every day.

What is a project you are working on?

I’m working on a cost center simplification initiative to maintain organizational accountability by reallocating cost centers. This project is crucial during COVID-19 where minimizing expenses is a huge focus.

Alexander Boston, University of Waterloo

Major: Biomedical engineering

How has your virtual internship been?

In my role as a technical product owner, there is no typical day that summarizes all the work I have been exposed to, making this experience so exciting. I appreciate the opportunity to make an impact. After starting out shadowing, I was quickly able to take over tasks expected from a full-time position.

What is a project you are working on?

I’m working on the Connected Engines Data Access System, which allows aircraft operators to automatically upload data from their engines to the cloud and view data in a web application.

Karen Esquivel, Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior University (Mexicali)

Major: Mechanical engineering

How has your virtual internship been?

I have received a lot of support and have multiple meetings a week with my mentor, my manager and our team’s project engineers, as they’re always interested in teaching me. Working from home has helped me develop organizational, communication and time management skills even more. It’s a different experience, but it’s helping shape my career path.

What is a project you are working on?

I’m supporting our project lead with administrative tasks and documentation on a new cooling system for auxiliary power units (APU) in airplanes as we enter the product delivery and support process.

Steve Nguyen, University of North Carolina Charlotte

Major:  Accounting

How has your virtual internship been?

My workday is focused on all things finance: Daily meetings with managers to track projects and working with financial leaders to understand current processes is all part of the job. Being able to impact the business in such a short period of time motivates me to do my best and give it my all.

What is a project you are working on?

My project involves a new labor planning model, which identifies factors causing gaps between manufacturing site capacity and demand forecasts, helping to minimize waste and save costs.

Pavan Chhatpar, Northeastern University

Major: Master’s degree in computer science

How has your virtual internship been?

First, we check in to discuss if our team is facing blockers. The team works great virtually, although I miss the sound of everyone's keyboards around me!  I was assigned a project to start from scratch during the internship. Ten weeks is a short time to do great things, so each day here excites me.

What is a project you are working on?

We're parsing our supplier contracts to extract insights that can help measure performance based on current output, optimizing our supplier partnerships.

Emily Smith, University of Tennessee

Major: Master’s degree in business administration

How has your virtual internship been?

Every day is different as an intern. My team is incredibly welcoming and that has made all the difference. Feeling welcome while working remote is a significant feat. Working on meaningful projects that have a global impact is what most excites me about interning with Honeywell this summer.

What is a project you are working on?

One of my projects is to design the Management Operating System for my manager’s organization; I’ve crafted a system designed to provide information that management requires and eliminates touchpoint meeting.