Driverless Car Engineers

An internship or part-time job in an autonomous vehicle company or in the self-driving engineering department within a large company is a good way to learn more about this industry while gaining valuable work experience. Search the Web sites of companies that may interest you, such as BMW, Cruise, Tesla, among others, for job opportunities. You can also find job listings on sites such as Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and SimplyHired, to name just a few.

Read online publications and articles about self-driving vehicles to keep up with the engineers and companies involved in this field. Follow them on social media sites such as LinkedIn and X to learn their insights and news. Another excellent way to explore this profession is by speaking with people who work in the autonomous car industry. Ask your school's career services office for help with setting up information interviews with driverless car engineers. Be sure to prepare a list of questions before you meet. You should also try to arrange a job-shadowing experience with an engineer.

Participate in autonomous vehicle competitions to learn how to create AV algorithms and build mini-vehicles. For example, Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, offers an Autonomous Vehicle Competition for high school students. Visit https://www.anl.gov/education/high-school-autonomous-vehicle-competition for more information.

Get involved in summer exploration programs in engineering, software development, artificial intelligence, and related fields that are offered by colleges and universities to build your skills and meet people with shared interests.