Every year HB supports student interns by offering real world experience and opportunities to work alongside project delivery professionals. By providing valuable experience, HB hopes to inspire young people to pursue careers in the industry.  

HB Intern Giselle Andrade recently celebrated a major milestone. After having worked with HB for over a year while completing her Civil Engineering degree at UTEP, she accepted a position as Project Coordinator. Giselle credits her mentors for providing a solid foundation during her journey and shares how she will apply what she learned in her new position. 

What did you learn as an intern?

My internship varied in responsibility, so I was able learn about different areas of engineering and project management. I had the opportunity to move around projects and shadowed different project managers who shared their unique styles. I learned that strong communication skills contribute to a successful team and having the ability to understand people and being flexible drives successful outcomes. 

There are a lot of components that go into a project and the amount of tasks can be challenging. The work simply can’t be done by any one person, so having the right team is important. 

What are you most excited about in your new position? 

I didn’t know much when I started, but after being exposed to everything that goes into a project, I’m excited to help people and expand my professional skills. I’m also looking forward to developing my own leadership style by implementing methods I learned.

How did the internship prepare you for a career in construction? 

Everyone in the office and field were willing to share their knowledge. For example, I shadowed Project Manager Daniel Alvarado. Daniel sketches everything out, and as a fellow artist, this showed me how to directly apply my creative talents and skills into a Project Coordinator role. So now I keep a notebook where I sketch things I see on site, which helps me understand and solve problems. 

Other Project Managers I shadowed were very analytical. This taught me that I need to be well-rounded and has challenged me to think differently and learn new skills. 

What advice would you give future interns? 

Take lots of notes, listen to every conversation, and walk around project sites and talk to people. By doing this and asking questions, you can learn the different roles that go into developing a functional team and what it takes to build successful projects.