Growing with Gilbane: Intern to Project Engineer

National Intern Day 2022

Each year, we welcome roughly 200 interns to Gilbane, who work alongside our teams in our offices and on our jobsites across the company. We were proud to recognize our 2022 summer interns last Thursday, July 28, on National Intern Day. What makes a Gilbane internship so special? Check out the video below highlighting the mentorship, family culture, hands-on experiences, and fun celebrations our summer 2022 interns have participated in!

The Internship to Full-Time Transition

Internships are a fantastic way to introduce talented entry-level individuals into the company. Students are hired as interns for just a short time, and in that time, we’ll assess how well they adapt and contribute to our projects and fit in with our company culture. Gilbane seeks individuals who embrace our family culture and core values. There is no better way to evaluate performance than for our teams to work with interns, offering hands-on experience on real projects. Interns at Gilbane receive robust training and mentorship that provide the opportunity to build valuable, career-building skills.

Converting interns to full-time entry-level workers is a tried-and-true method for filling our company with talented young people. If a student has a successful internship experience and there is a relevant opening with the company, we will offer them a full-time position upon graduation. Since 2017, Gilbane has transitioned over 300 interns to full-time employees, averaging 60+ a year.

Growing with Gilbane

An example of this transition at Gilbane is Mariella Ochoa. Mariella started with Gilbane as an intern and is now a project engineer in Chicago, IL. We were fortunate to sit down with Mariella to hear about her journey from Venezuela to Illinois and her experience growing with Gilbane.

For Mariella, the construction business is in her blood. “My mom, dad, and brother are all civil engineers.”

Originally from Venezuela, Mariella decided to follow in her family’s footsteps and forge a career for herself in the industry. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in architecture at Universidad José Antonio Páez, she wanted to pursue a graduate degree that would be useful in her family’s construction company in Venezuela.

This pursuit led Mariella to move to the United States and attend Northwestern University, where she completed her master’s degree in Project Management. While at Northwestern, Mariella learned about Gilbane’s internship opportunities and connected with a former executive giving a presentation on campus. The connection paid off, and Mariella landed a summer internship.

That internship later turned into a full-time Project Engineer position at Gilbane Chicago. When Mariella told her family back home about her new position at Gilbane, they could not have been happier. Like her family’s construction company, Gilbane is also family-owned, something that impressed both Mariella and her father.

“The way Gilbane operates, it really feels like a family,” she said.

Mariella has been on the Gilbane team for three years. She has worked on many different projects, including several notable builds in the healthcare sector, such as Northwestern Hospital and Prentice Women’s Hospital.

“When you go to university, you learn the basics. But it doesn’t mean anything other than how you might do it. When you go to the real job, that’s when you really start learning.”

That was especially true when she started working on-site at Prentice Women’s Hospital. The facility needed work but had to stay fully operational, limiting noise, dust, and any disruption for the patients, families, and healthcare professionals working there daily. Mariella describes this site as being one that is helping her learn and continue to grow as a Project Engineer.

“Everything needs to look like you’re not on a job site,” she explained.

In this leadership role on a complex site, Mariella has found her voice, and the company has evolved in kind. She was on an all-male team as an intern but today works for a much more diverse Gilbane team. When asked how the next generation can continue to strengthen the team and find their place in the industry, Mariella says diving into the work, asking questions, and showing your willingness to learn is crucial.

“Go to a company where you can be involved on the job site. Start from there and keep growing.”