With a week to go before a guided project walk-through, the Boyd Jones summer intern was feeling a little nervous. He’d spent the summer at the site of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, where Boyd Jones is building the largest project ever undertaken by a single parish within the Omaha Archdiocese. But presenting the ins and outs of the 60,000 SF addition to a group of industry professionals as part of the company’s internship program requirements was unnerving to say the least.
“My college internship coordinator came out the week before the walk-through, and after walking them through the project, it got me thinking about how I could improve the tour for a larger group and give people a better understanding of the project,” the intern shared.
That kind of experiential learning and application of lessons learned is key to completing work successfully. It’s why one of Boyd Jones’ values is continuous improvement. Through our intern program, we aim to instill the core values that we live out in the work we do every day, and as Boyd Jones interns learn the basic skills they’ll need to succeed in the industry, they’re also taught how to continue learning and growing as young professionals.
“In a Boyd Jones internship, you will become an integral member of a project team and will learn important real-world, on-the-job responsibilities,” said Tim Meyer, SVP of Operations. “Our goal is for every intern to leave our program better-prepared for their future career and proud of the work they have accomplished.”
Throughout the 12-week program, everyone receives a well-rounded experience in which they’re directly exposed to office and field functions, our clients and subcontractors on projects, our executive leadership, and the entire company through engaging social events. Each intern is paired with a mentor to ensure that our values, including continuous improvement, are emphasized throughout the course of the program. These values and other skills are instilled and reinforced through various assignments and milestone achievements along the way.
This year’s class of Boyd Jones interns worked on projects including St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, Mutual of Omaha Bank, Lindsay Corp., DC West Elementary, and Methodist Physicians Clinic. In their own words, here’s what our interns took away from the summer 2019 program:
“This experience has been incredible. I got to work in the field and also sit through meetings and see some of the bigger-picture things, and I think it says a lot that Boyd Jones has the trust in its interns to put them in front of major clients.”
“It was kind of intimidating at first, but after getting thrown in with everyone, I realized they’re all good people and I really valued the opportunity for hands-on learning. Boyd Jones gives its interns the confidence they need to succeed through real-life experience and responsibilities and there are a lot of people willing to answer the questions you’ll have.”
“Some students do learn well in a classroom setting, but others learn better in a hands-on situation. This (internship experience) supports my decision to join the industry and it’s really satisfying to see these projects come together over time.”
“I came in with a residential construction background and had never been on such a large job site. As with anything new, I was a bit unsure and hesitant at first, but with time, I learned to be more confident in my abilities and comfortable in my role.”
“One thing I’ve always told myself is to learn as much as you can from as many people as you can, and my mentor taught me a lot of framing knowledge and many small things that will stay with me for a long time.”
“Coming into the office and getting handed a 192-page document and having to understand what it all means was overwhelming, but I had good help and it turned out just fine.”
