We believe there is no better way to learn than to get hands on experience. This year we expanded our internship program to the largest it’s ever been. Five interns joined our team for the summer including: 3 Engineering interns, 1 Quality intern and 1 Marketing intern.
Internships: Real World, Hands-On Experience
As a company with 195 employees, there are many resources here for interns. Our employees want to help students learn while mentoring and encouraging them.
We believe an internship is for hands on experience. We want to teach students about their field of interest. By giving interns their own projects, they learn by doing. At the end of the program, all interns are asked to present what they have learned over the summer to our leadership team. We believe this program provides invaluable experience. The interns agreed, “This experience has taught me more than any class could” and “I learned things I would have never learned in a school setting with the help of my knowledgeable mentor”.
Internships can be overlooked by college students, but in today’s world, it is crucial students make an internship a top priority to learn how to balance work, friends, and family; all while gaining professional experience and contacts for their future endeavors.
On-the-job experience provides lessons for role specific knowledge, but also general work skills as well. Our interns cited learning about:
- Project management
- Time management
- Improving processes
- Designing components
- Creating website content
- Writing instructions
- Collecting data
Internships are the perfect way to experiment in your field and begin to identify what you like and dislike in your work - leading you toward the job of your dreams.
The T.O. Plastics Internship Experience
We work hard to make interns feel like part of our team - because they are. We want them to experience the culture of the company as a whole. A 2019 engineering intern agreed, “Interns know they are a working part of a larger whole. Tasks that are assigned are non-remedial and truly provide the experience of working as an engineer.” Another intern stated, “I felt I was given the opportunity to make an impact within the company.” We want to give our interns a taste of the real world in their field and also let them bring change to our company. We love their new perspective and as a results driven company, we welcome ideas for improvement.
Our 2019 interns described T.O. Plastics as a “warm and inviting environment” to work in and said “the culture at T.O. Plastics is great and the friendly environment is what makes their internship program successful.” One intern said, “employees are extremely welcoming and willing to help interns learn in any way that they can"; while another one expressed that, “You can always ask for assistance to get pointed in the right direction whenever you find yourself stuck.”
2019 Internship Program Feedback
Marketing Intern
Madeline (marketing intern) made real contributions; from providing us with business analytics to assisting in an entire company rebrand and website launch. She also assisted in launching new products, marketing campaigns, SEO efforts, and keeping the website up-to-date with new products and photography.
"My experience as an intern at T.O. Plastics provided me with invaluable experience. All the employees were very welcoming and willing to help me. Not only did I get to learn more about my major but the business world as a whole. I got to observe meetings first-hand and watch how an office runs with communication, authority, and organization. As an intern, I still felt I was given the opportunity to make an impact within the company. This experience has taught me more than any class could and I am very grateful for this opportunity."
Madeline Torve
Marketing Intern
Quality & Engineering Interns
The engineering intern group tackled countless tasks from design upgrades, complex assembly tasks, professional level documentation and instructionals, and even small capital projects. They worked through countless procurement and manufacturing issues and drove more than a dozen key projects to the finish line. The quality engineering intern teamed up with the manufacturing team and rehauled our machine setup procedures, packaging issues and worked diligently investigating and resolving our primary extrusion issues.
"My internship at T.O. Plastics has been an educating experience. In my time here I have had the opportunity to learn from and be a part of a variety of projects and tasks that have shown me the process of finding things that can be improved and then taking the steps to figure out what it is that you will do to make it better. I have learned new programs to find a better way of packing the products, collected data to try and root out which parameters that you need to keep an eye on, used 3D computer modeling to design fixtures, and I have learned the importance of consistency in the quality of a product. The internship program has been a great experience because you are given tasks and projects that you work to achieve but you can always ask for assistance to get pointed in the right direction whenever you find yourself stuck."
Alvaro Robles
Quality Intern
"From the first day at T.O. Plastics, a wealth of intellect and information has been accessible to me. From process improvement to iterative design to learning the ins and outs of the plastics industry and much more, the education I have received during my time here is invaluable. The experiences I have had through meaningful interactions and constructive instruction will boost me ahead of my colleagues and give me an edge moving forward in my career. Being an intern at T.O. has been a unique experience. T.O.’s team of engineers and all other employees are extremely welcoming and willing to help interns learn in any way that they can. They also make sure that interns know they are a working part of a larger whole- tasks that are assigned are non-remedial and truly provide the experience of working as an engineer. All things considered, these are the factors that make the intern experience at T.O. Plastics successful, enlightening, and enjoyable.
Ben Zipoy
Manufacturing Engineer Intern
"This summer I gained real-life experience of a manufacturing engineer from writing work instructions to designing components. I will be able to build off this experience I would have never learned in a school setting with the help of my knowledgeable mentor. This experience taught me the direction I want to continue with my career. The best part of the whole experience was being able to work in such a warm and inviting environment which is the reason T.O. Plastics internship program is so successful."
Michael Fischer
Manufacturing Engineer Intern
"During my internship, one of the main lessons I learned is project and time management. As part of working on different projects, communication played a huge role in the success and completion of projects on time. These skills will help me in my future career in terms of successfully completing and managing several projects in the most efficient way. The culture at T.O. Plastics is great and their friendly environment is what makes their internship program successful."
Jamal Abdulrahman
Manufacturing Engineer Intern
If you are interested in learning more about available internships, contact us, or look for listings on our career page:
