Growing with Gray: From Internship to Full Time

Thanks to this hands-on training and experience, these students walk away from their internships with a better understanding of the industry and can seamlessly transition into full-time work. Over the years, Gray has been fortunate to retain many of these talented individuals and, in fact, some of the company’s key team leaders today actually began their careers as interns—even our chief operating officer.

We had the opportunity to talk with some students who recently completed internship programs within the Gray family of brands, then joined the Gray Family full time. They provided insight into why they chose Gray.

Can you describe some of your responsibilities during your internship?

Cameron Bailey, Gray Project Engineer – Last summer I was tasked to update the OAC meeting minutes and packet for a customer. I spent most of the time in the field. The OAC meeting was the meeting between the customer, the General Contractor (Gray), and the Property Owner. The meeting consisted of progress updates, progress pictures, weather delays, and outstanding punch list items. I was also tasked with materializing a punch list for each trade on site.

Riley Musick, Site Safety Technician – When I first arrived in the Lexington Office, I was given the task of collecting data in regard to severity of our incidents that happen on sites all over the country. Jim Grant, Vice President, Safety and Field Operations, and Bill Carey, Director of Safety, gave me a general direction for the end product they were searching for, and to my surprise, gave me a lot of leeway in how I planned on completing the task. It stood out to me that the Vice President and Director of my department gave an that amount of freedom when preparing part of a presentation that would eventually be presented to the hundreds of Gray employees who would attend or view the combined staff meeting.

Jenna Brey, Project Field Engineer – For my daily tasks, I performed safety audits, assisted in quality audits, attended OAC meetings, typed up daily reports, took progress pictures, presented site safety orientations, and tracked man hours.

How did your responsibilities evolve or develop from the beginning to the end of your internship?

Wesley Robinson, Gray Solutions Systems Technician – The responsibilities grew overtime. As you become more comfortable and get your feet wet in the work, you start to get more and more involved. The team you work with does a good job of keeping you involved and in the loop, so you feel valued and important.

Isaac Lucas, Site Safety Technician – From the beginning I was given “full-time” responsibilities and tasks. My knowledge and growth developed over time with experience and help expand myself to greater potential during my transition to direct hire.

Sean Coughlan, Spec Engineering, a Gray company, Supply Chain Coordinator and Technical Buyer – Once I demonstrated competency in the areas that were planned out already, I was able to make suggestions about what kind of experience I wanted to have by the end of my internship, and we found ways to do it.

Alex Hildebrandt, Project Engineer – In the beginning, I was not as knowledgeable about operations as I am now. As time went on throughout the internship, I gained the respect and trust of my team and was eventually able to oversee and coordinate daily operations of certain trades.

How was your internship different than you imagined it would be?

CB – When I started my internship, I thought I was going to be running to get coffee, making copies, switching out updated drawings, and cleaning. I did all of that and so much more. I was very impressed with how much the intern program involves the interns and allows us to learn with hands on tasks.

SC – I’ve always pictured interns start out with just getting coffee, reading manuals, and shadowing real employees, but I got so much more real-world experience than I could’ve imagined.

JB – I didn’t expect to fall in love with construction as much as I did. When I first got on site, I was very unsure if that was where I wanted to be, and by the time it ended, I didn’t ever want to leave.

How did your internship prepare you for post-graduation?

WR – I was able to learn what to expect a workplace to be like and how a business operates.

IL – My internship allowed hands on interaction in the field and with many subcontractors that made an easy transition to full-time. The knowledge and confidence in decision making is something one can never reach in a classroom setting.

Join Our Team

Our interns are a vital part of Gray, and Gray is a vital part of their education. We are always looking for talented individuals to join our team. Internships are offered for nearly every aspect of the business, including for the fields of architecture, civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and construction management. In addition, Gray also offers internships for any of our support departments such as Accounting, Marketing, and Information Technology (IT).

If you are interested in an internship with Gray, please visit here. Or for more insight into life at Gray, visit here.