An Interview with the JR Merit Interns
July 25th is National Intern Day, and we’re thrilled to introduce you to our 2024 summer interns Cooper, Daniel, Dina, Anders, and Caden. They’re an incredible group of tenacious and driven individuals. We sat down with them recently to hear more about how they came to JR Merit and what they’ve been up to so far this summer.
First off, share a little bit about yourself and your studies in construction
Cooper: I’m a senior in college, and I’ve been working in construction since I was 17. I fell in love with the tangible results of hard work in this industry and I’ve been hooked ever since. This is my second summer interning with JR Merit.
Daniel: I’m a mechanical engineering major and I just finished my first year at Oregon State Uniersity. I worked in construction for the past two summers. I like being outside and like Cooper I’m drawn to the idea of tangible results. I built tiny homes in high school, and realized I didn’t like being outside in the heat as much as I enjoy the organization that it takes to deliver a construction project; I like seeing the full scale of it all. I wanted to ramp up my experience from residential remodels to larger scale projects, which attracted me to JR Merit.
Dina: I just graduated. I completed two internships during college in design and manufacturing, and I applied to JR Merit because it was different and unknown; that was exciting to me. I’ve always been a planner; I like being involved in things from start to finish. I did catering in college, which involved a lot of planning of all the little pieces that need to get done. Construction is similar, but on a much bigger scale.
Anders: I’m going to be a senior next year, I’m studying civil engineering. Like Cooper, I’m returning to JR Merit for my second internship. When I originally heard about JR Merit, what they were doing sounded really cool, with the heavy civil and food processing facility projects that we do. I wondered “how do they build that?!” so seeing how projects are conceptualized and seeing them come to reality has been a really cool experience.
Caden: I am going into my fourth year at Oregon State University and am studying civil engineering. This is my second summer internship. Last year, I worked for a general contractor and was located at their Chandler, Arizona Intel site and began my experience as a project engineer there. Part of the reason I chose JR Merit is because I wanted to learn more about the subcontracting side while also being a part of a general contractor company as well. It is pretty cool to work for a company that does both and gives you a taste of both worlds, hopefully giving me a full picture of the construction management industry.
Why did you seek out an internship with JRM?
Cooper: I found out about JR Merit at a job fair last year and really connected with who I met at their booth, Alex. We talked about construction for a bit and then we talked about baseball. We had a great conversation—it was a genuine conversation with a real person, which stood out from many other conversations I’d had that day. I joined the team and worked primarily at a remote job site last summer. The people and the camaraderie brought me back, and this year I’m getting to experience the office.
Daniel: I also learned about JR Merit at a career fair back in November. I was only a couple months into being at college. I had had my resume but was not sure what the experience would be like. I talked to a lot of companies that shared their pre-planned sales pitches. They didn’t seem like they cared about me though. Alma at JR Merit’s booth was different. She was very conversational. I went home and researched the companies I met, and JR Merit stood out because of the large scale and intriguing nature of their projects. I had an interview talking with multiple people from JR Merit, and it felt like they knew each other, and knew the business. It wasn’t like a third-party company doing the hiring, it was people who liked to work together, who had built a cool community. The people have been influential in getting me here.
Dina: I have a little different story, I just graduated in June, so I didn’t learn about the company at a career fair, I found JR Merit on LinkedIn and read the project engineer job description. I just moved to Vancouver and was excited to find a company really close to home. I applied for the position, and like Daniel, the people interviewing me seemed to know each other. JR Merit is a smaller company, and I’ve never worked for smaller company before. It seemed like the kind of environment Id’ want to be in.
Anders: I met Ivan and Brienne at an Oregon State University job fair a year ago. We had a great conversation about construction, and since Ivan is an OSU alumnus, we also talked about college life. He’s also a Timbers fan. It was a great conversation and experience. It’s also about the people for me—I came back again for the people. They’re all eager to help; no one is annoyed to help, they jump at an opportunity to show you something new. It’s a very helpful environment, and it’s been great learning the process. Before coming here I’d never experienced anything in construction before, I had only worked in retail, so last summer was my first foray into it, and I’m back again for this summer.
Caden: I was deciding between an internship with a large contractor and one with JR Merit, and decided I wanted a smaller company that was looking to grow. I like working with a smaller group of peoplewhere I am able to make a bigger impact, rather than working for a large corporation where I’d be just another intern. At JR Merit, there is more one-on-one teaching that is helping me build my own learning experience in project management and the fabrication world.
What are you working on so far?
Anders: Last summer I worked on a mix of food and beverage sector projects, and some hydro projects. I also go to do some work over the school year, including piping projects, a project at University of Oregon, and some others. Now this summer, I’m working on a balance between hydro projects as well as a few food and beverage facility projects.
Dina: In my first couple weeks here, I’ve been learning how to use Procore, learning how to do submittals, and working with Troy on some smaller food and beverage projects. It’s cool to see projects on a smaller scale; some of these projects are just a week long start to finish. Last week got to go on a three-day site visit with Dakota. That was cool.
Daniel: This is my first internship ever, so I’m learning what an office space is like, doing trainings like the safety training, learning about submittals, measuring piping. There was recently a frantic week of bidding for a new job, and I’m also working on another projects that’s been going for a while. It’s interesting getting to see different parts of the project road, from one just starting to one that’s already underway.
Cooper: I was at the Fall Creek Hatchery project in Northern California last summer, mostly—I was in the office for a week then off to the site. It was a great time. I go to do whatever they had for me, and I learned a ton doing that. I worked a lot on timecards and production tracking for the site and got into turbidity monitoring. This summer I’m getting to carry some of that forward doing timecards and production tracking for different projects. I’m learning scheduling for another project, doing our weekly schedule updates. So, building on what I did last summer and taking on some new things.
Caden: So far this summer, I’ve been working at the fab shop keeping track of inventory and supporting project management for a project with Vigor. I’ve also done a lot of documenting drawings as they come in from site and getting them prepped for our union folks on the floor to build. I’m doing some material delivery, too, taking spools down to project sites.
What’s one surprising or unexpected thing you’ve learned so far from this work?
Daniel: I worked the past six summers outside doing construction or farming and hadn’t experienced an office job before. I know sometimes people who work in the field make fun of office jobs as being cushy, and there can be a perception that it’s boring or less important, but with the stuff I’m working on, I’m so mentally engaged. And it’s important work. I know that I’ve been given important tasks, Duncan has explained what I’m doing and why it matters. I wasn’t expecting to do work so important to the company, or how mentally engaging it would be. I didn’t know how well this would fit my style. I’m also getting to visit job sites, and those are really cool to see.
Dina: When I had my first interview with Duncan, he said multiple times how JR Merit likes to invest in giving a new generation opportunities to grow. A lot of companies say that, but here it really is true. We get opportunities to go to job sites—I thought it was so cool I got to do a multi-day site visit. Bigger companies don’t do that. And the project engineers are willing to teach us. I learn by observing and being able to ask questions. It’s harder for me to learn on my own. Everyone is patient and willing to teach us; they realize it helps them in the long run, too.
Cooper: I experienced this last summer too—it’s how much people are focused on the results and not micromanaging. I was expecting very prescribed direction, but I’ve been given the ability to apply what I’ve learned and run with it, bringing in my knowledge, and even changing the process. The focus is on the results, not the methods.
Caden: I like how involved Mark is in the company, how he’s here in the office. He fits in within the workforce. It doesn’t feel like he’s above other people. He’s very welcoming. Where else can you sit down and talk with the company owner for an hour?
Anders: I’ve always been told that interns are the bottom of food chain, but that’s not my experience at JR Merit. Here, everyone is super willing to help. I can ask questions openly, and people are always willing to come over and give their two cents, and if they can’t, they’ll let you know. It’s a great experience. You’re not given the answers, but people are open to helping. And there’s lots of camaraderie in the office.
What are you most looking forward to doing/learning/experiencing in your internship?
Caden: I We’re working with Vigor on the new Army landing craft. It would be really cool to go onsite and see the first landing craft that is already built, to be albe to see what we are now helping build.
Daniel: Just today at lunch, Dina was showing us cool photos from a job site she visited. I’d like to spend a couple days at a jobsite, get the experience of working in the site office, getting to see what’s going on and how work in the office helps push forward what happens in the field.
Anders: There’s a project I’ve been helping with since early January, and hopefully it will start this summer so I can be part of that!
Dina: With some of the smaller projects I’m working on, I ‘ll get to see them get done while I’m here which will be a pretty satisfying experience. I’d like to go to more job sites, get to see some of the hydropower parts, like the turbines, to see how big they are in real life, and understand how these systems actually work.
Cooper: I’m looking forward to seeing our new timecard system implemented. We’ve been working with the developer to create it. It’s good and getting better, and we’re on the cusp of being able to do Excel imports, which will save huge amounts of time each week. It would be cool to see that finalized before I go back to school.
We’re so glad you’re enjoying your summer with us and playing an integral role in some of our most exciting projects. We promise to make the rest of your time with us a memorable learning experience!