Chemical Engineering Co-Op Story: Johnson and Johnson
Abigail Ford
Chemical Engineering
What company or organization did you co-op with and where are they located?
Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine - Athens, GA
How did you identify and apply for your co-op? Are there any specific resources you used to find the opportunity (i.e. Handshake, career fairs, other recruitment events)?
I participated in co-op interviews at Auburn back in fall 2021. This is directly how I interviewed for and obtained my position.
What was the application process like?
Application, video interview, in person interview (on campus), offer
Tell us about your co-op experience. What types of tasks and projects did you engage in? Was there a particular project or part of the experience you learned the most from?
I worked as an operations engineering co-op for the pharmaceutical production process onsite. I worked with process engineers to manage the daily and long term success and optimization of the processes run and products produced at our site. I gained experience in document and change management, capital project proposals, evaluation of process/batch data, and even earned a Six Sigma Yellow Belt.
In what ways did your co-op experience help you prepare for your next destination after Auburn?
This experience gave me a wide array of technical experience and knowledge in a manufacturing environment. I learned how to problem solve and trouble shoot process deviations quickly and learned about a range of different equipment used in the pharmaceutical industry. This experience prepared me to land a full time role as a consultant in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry for after graduation.
In what ways did your coursework or other experiences at Auburn prepare you for your co-op work experience? Are there specific topics or skills you learned from classes that you put into practice on the job?
Overall, a general understanding of how to problem solve and ask the right questions is what best prepared me for and grew me during my co-op.
Do you have any advice for other students seeking a co-op experience?
Jump in! It can be very scary to start a new role, but jumping in and spending time soaking up as much information as you can it always to your benefit. Spend the first few weeks “being a sponge”, so that then you can apply your knowledge in the long run.
