It’s that time of year—many students are starting their construction internships. This special two-part series explores topics related to construction internships and how they prepare students for careers in construction.
By Dylan Markley, Project Engineer
I decided to join The Hagerman Group as a project engineer after serving as an intern for the company. My internship with Hagerman taught me a lot about construction, and about the construction firm.
The benefits of construction internships
In addition to helping build experience and provide credibility when entering the work force, a construction internship is important for many reasons. Internships take the baseline concepts learned in higher education and put them into practice on a daily basis, closing the loop between classroom and real-life settings. Gaining a firsthand understanding of different methods and concepts through my internship allowed me to attend class the next semester giving valuable input and challenging the status quo of some of the concepts.
An internship also allows you to experience different functions within a construction organization, increasing your understanding of what career path you may want to take after graduation, whether that be in project management, estimating, business development, etc.
How Hagerman helped me grow
Hagerman is made up of a great group of individuals, and the help they provided along the way was key to my personal and professional growth. An internship is what you make of it, and the environment within Hagerman allows an intern to learn and be challenged as much as possible with the security and tutoring of a mentor. The experiences I gained helped me build my understanding of daily construction processes and tasks. In addition, the internship allowed me to build relationships within the Hagerman organization. I worked with three different project managers within my yearlong internship, and while each worked under the Hagerman umbrella of means and methods, they had different approaches and styles. This provided opportunities to increase overall knowledge in construction while also strengthening interpersonal skills.
From intern to employee: what was important
Interning at The Hagerman Group gave me a great sense of the people I’d be working with day in and day out, the company’s values, and its reputation. This led me to continue working for the company after my internship.
Hagerman’s management focuses on growing responsibly to lessen the chance of layoffs during an economic downturn. During my internship, I heard stories of Hagerman’s generosity during the recession and how they kept employees working.
The environment and people within the company are second to none, providing ethical construction solutions for owners while striving to form client-for-life relationships. The company’s core values are client focus, leadership, integrity, excellence, embracing change, safety, profitability, teamwork, and innovation. I share the same passion for these values, and it makes going to work every day satisfying.
As one of the premier general contractors in Indiana and the surrounding regions, Hagerman is always in the running for projects that change the landscape of the communities they are working in. Being able to make a positive impact within those communities is rewarding from a personal and professional standpoint, and it’s a place where I can grow.
