Asking a question for my son, who is a junior mech engineer major.

He is submitting a resume for some summer internship positions. My question is how to highlight his achievements. While I'm impressed with his achievements, and I'm confident he would be a huge asset, I'm not sure they will translate well in earning an internship.

He graduated top 1% of his 6a HS, scored a 35 on the ACT, has made deans list every semester in college.....all while playing baseball as a scholarship athlete at the university.

He is still following his baseball dream (and having earned a starting spot his freshman year, that dream is definitely alive!). But he is definitely feeling the unfortunate fate of having to choose at this point.... play in a wood-bat league this summer and work on his draft status, or try to get an internship and concentrate on the engineering career.

If you know the life of a college athlete, you know they have zero extra time. So he has very little community and "society" involvement.

Anyway.....back to my question, in applying for these internships, is it enough to highlight the fact that he has been a scholarship athlete and a deans list student? Anything else that would help him? Or has choosing baseball sealed his fate?

Thanks for any input!

Senior Aerospace Track athlete perspective: I didnt quite have the test scores or GPA as he has and wasn't able to get an internship. It sounds like he needs to decide what he wants to do after graduation first. If he would rather play for a minor league team after graduation instead of an engineering job then he should do baseball this summer. If he didn't get an internship last summer and needs his ENGR(x) requirement I would look into joining an Aggi3 Challenge team. For my resume I have 3 bullet points under athletics: 1st highlighting academic honor roll stuff, another with the (Managed full academic course load with X hours per week of practice, weight room team meetings, competition and travel) that the athletic advisors tell you to put on, and then one highlighting athletic achievement so like all-SEC teams or something like that.

Can't believe it, but I'm actually going to suggest the baseball route. That's a very short window of opportunity with tremendous upside and most available when he's young. Engineering opportunities will ALWAYS be waiting for him and should be used as the backup plan. In my eyes, he's proven that he isn't afraid of hard work. If I were to see a resume of a kid that had tried a professional sports career and failed, but still got an engineering degree with a good GPA, I don't care if he had an internship or not.

Only the top 10% of NCAA players are drafted into the MLB and even less of those advance beyond minors. Is he in the upper tier of that top 10%?

agnerd said:

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Can't believe it, but I'm actually going to suggest the baseball route. That's a very short window of opportunity with tremendous upside and most available when he's young. Engineering opportunities will ALWAYS be waiting for him and should be used as the backup plan. In my eyes, he's proven that he isn't afraid of hard work. If I were to see a resume of a kid that had tried a professional sports career and failed, but still got an engineering degree with a good GPA, I don't care if he had an internship or not.

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Appreciate both responses!

And for the record, he has always been very realistic about his baseball future. He knows that its a major long shot. But....as long as there is still a chance, he is going to continue putting in the work and seeing what happens.

Not at this point. And like I just stated, he realizes that.

But he got some attention this summer in a wood bat league after a great season. He was having a really solid soph year until Covid cut it short. If he has an exceptional Junior year, (and this fall's scrimmages were exceptional) then who knows.....

But this wasn't a post about deciding whether or not he should give up baseball, even if he is starting to feel the pressure of having to make a choice. He has played since he was 4 and i believe he is going to see it through.

This was about how to leverage the fact that he has achieved deans list while playing a varsity sport (which is like having a full time job). Or whether or not that even matters

It looks alright on the resume, in my experience it is more important how you sell that side in cover letters and interviews. His GPA should be enough to get his resume in the door

Are you in DFW? I believe I can offer some pretty decent perspective both from the college side, baseball (college and pro) and then engineering for a global company....no internship, drafted and then corporate life.

Appreciate it! No, unfortunately he is in Ohio currently, and Houston during the breaks. But would love an email address in order to connect at some point. Scott3641 at me dot com is mine.

Like I said, he is well aware an MLB career is definitely not where he will make his living... he has plenty of past team mates and friends who have been drafted already and he has seen their very difficult road.

but I think there is something there, deep inside, that tells him, "getting drafted or signing a contract, will justify the sacrifice and investment made over the past 17 years".

Either way, I have no doubt he will be better off having learned to work his tail off, fail, deal with failure, and develop time management skills....

Thanks again for the reply's.

I say try baseball and enjoy it. Life is short - go pursue a dream while you're young, even if you acknowledge the expectations. He's got his whole life to work. No one is on their death bed thinking, "boy I sure am glad I dropped into the corporate grind right outta college instead of trying to play baseball for a bit longer!!"

No hiring manager is going to hold that against him. And if they did, they're not someone worth working for.

A disclaimer: I took a pause from the corporate life for a year and traveled the world backpacking and volunteering. It was the best decision I ever made. And I'd have never forgiven myself had I chickened outta that opportunity because of what we're "supposed to do."

I noted your email - I'll reach out this evening or tomorrow.