Working at INL has been an exceptional experience. The company is deeply committed to ensuring employees have abundant opportunities for knowledge acquisition and professional development. Throughout the summer, weekly meetings were held to showcase the projects and workflows of various departments, providing a comprehensive view of the organization's operations. INL actively encourages employees to explore and connect with different areas of interest within the company, fostering a culture of curiosity and collaboration. It’s clear that INL genuinely values its employees, and this commitment is evident in every aspect of the workplace.
What I wish was different
My internship is remote, which meant I couldn't attend the in-person events. I would have appreciated a remote option for their Job Fair event.
Advice
If you have the opportunity to intern or work at INL, seize it.
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Hands-on Researcher
May - July 2023 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Loved the opportunity to work in a state-of-the-art lab with passionate people.
What I wish was different
Idaho Falls is lacking in public transportation.
Advice
Bring your own car or connect with another intern who is bringing theirs.
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HPC Intern
May 2023 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Everything! The experience was great. I solved interesting problems and had a flexible schedule.
What I wish was different
Nothing. I enjoyed everything.
Advice
Make sure to be flexible and open to learning totally new things.
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FPGA Engineering Intern
May - August 2023 • Salt Lake City, UT
What I liked
Excellent mentor and interesting work.
What I wish was different
Nothing-- it was a great experience and provided me with great work experience.
Advice
Be willing to try something you may initially think you aren't good enough at. As long as you're willing to learn, willing to ask questions, and make a solid effort, you will do just fine in this role or any other.
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Ecological technician intern
May - August 2023 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I enjoyed the people and the work felt meaningful.
What I wish was different
I wish I had done less commuting, I had to drive quite far to get to work everyday.
Advice
Your employers want you to succeed too, so work with them if your struggling.
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intern
June - August 2022 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I liked the professional development opportunities I had
What I wish was different
I wish I had a better mentor for my project
Advice
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chemistry intern
January 2019 - August 2020 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Very good pay, and they treat interns really well.
What I wish was different
Nothing
Advice
Network as much as you can while you have the internship, it will help you later on.
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Applied Systems Engineering Intern
May - August 2020 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Intern meetings to touch base and hear about what other interns are learning about.
What I wish was different
Other employees reaching out to interns to invite them to meetings or other learning opportunities. They did but it would have been nice to do more
Advice
Don't be afraid to reach out to anyone and everyone. Ask to set up meetings just to talk about what an employee does and learn about how their system or procedure works.
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Intern
June - August 2020 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Idaho National Laboratory has incredible benefits for both their employees and their interns. I not only learned about the lab and the team I worked for, but I also developed a lot of transferrable skills that I will use for the rest of my life.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Student Researcher
January - August 2020 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Cutting edge study of fuel and structural materials critical in next generation power infrastructure. Extensive use of high precision materials characterization equipment and testing apparatus. Extensive collaboration with other students. High degree of individual freedom and opportunity to show initiative.
What I wish was different
No quarantine, but what is one to do about that.
Advice
Government labs are an excellent introduction to research work. The environment is skillful and well equipped, but pressure is relatively lower and there is lots of opportunity to learn. One can always decide to come back after gaining more experience.
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Nuclear Engineering Intern
April - September 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I enjoyed the hands-on nature of the internship, which placed heavy emphasis on laboratory work and seeing how nuclear fuel gets manufactured.
What I wish was different
I would like to have stayed longer, but it would have affected my graduation date.
Advice
Be active in looking for projects. Most of the employees are willing to help you or show you what they are working on. If you express interest in their work, they will take the time to train you so you can assist them.
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Intern for High Performance Computing
June 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I really liked how much I learned while working at the INL. Everyone was so kind and willing to teach different topics. They are also really flexible with schedules.
What I wish was different
I wish I had done a internship sooner because it would have been so nice to learn even more earlier on.
Advice
I would say to apply as soon as you can and often. You can never have too many internships.
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Cyber security R & D
April - August 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
It was a great expirence and I learned a great deal from being able to work with cutting edge equipment to acomplish our different projects. There are certain things that you will onlybe able to expirence if you work for a government lab and I was lucky to have the expirence.
What I wish was different
A little bit more structure in the projects that we were assigned would have been wonderful but I feel like I still got a great deal out of it.
Advice
Be prepared to be more creative with your solutions to problems. Also not all work has a concrete deliverable. Sometimes in reaearch and developement you just have to struggle with a problem for six months before you see any kind of a break through.
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MECHANIC AT ATR
June - August 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I liked learning about what they did.
What I wish was different
A project to do
Advice
Don’t expect to do a lot of hands on work. Just be ready to watch and learn
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Nuclear Operations intern
May - August 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Very involved and hands on work. Could not have asked for a better experience
What I wish was different
Advice
Take the initiative and you won’t be disappointed. You make the internship what you want it to be
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Nuclear operations
May - August 2017 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
The safety culture and capabilities of my coworkers set high standards for my future work environments
What I wish was different
Although I understand it was a government facility, I wish I had more hands on projects as did some of the other interns. Mine was more of a job shadow
Advice
Be preparing to fight sleep. Early mornings, long drive, and many slow spots can leave you fighting a nap at times. But very worth it.
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Intern
June - August 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
People, location, work.
What I wish was different
Some daily tasks not meaningful.
Advice
Be willing to do everything. Seek opportunities to expand your skills
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Physics Research Assistant
April - June 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I enjoyed the professional environment. The national laboratory gave use sufficient space to work with. Most days I worked on the project at hand. However, some days we had various activities. The work was enjoyable in a great environment.
What I wish was different
Although the internship was at INL it came through a grant by the Visiting Faculty Program under the Department of Energy. One of the professors here obtained the grant and was able to bring me and another student. The opportunity was great, however, due to the nature of the project, I felt somewhat isolated from the rest of the research scientists at the Laboratory. I wish there had been greater collaboration with more of the scientists there. More collaboration would have allowed for more networking and connections which would have been helpful in obtaining a return offer.
Advice
I would say that in whatever situation you find yourself in, work hard. Hard work will set you apart from others. You will find satisfaction in your work and others will respect it as well.
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Mechanical Engineering Intern
January - December 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
Learning from real engineers
What I wish was different
Advice
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researcher
February - May 2019 • Idaho Falls, ID
What I liked
I enjoyed the level of professionalism and the great attitudes of my bosses.
What I wish was different
I wish the internship would have lasted a longer period of time.
Advice
If you come to Idaho Falls, INL, please come prepared to talk to other researchers and find out what other projects you might be interested in.
