NYS Department of Health

Intern

May 2023 • New York City, NY

What I liked

Independent work, team environment, career development and networking opportunities

What I wish was different

Advice

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Engineer

July 2018 • Albany, NY

What I liked

Working to protect public health is very rewarding. I did not know that with an Environmental Engineering degree there were opportunities at the NYS DOH. You work on large scale WTPs, large capital improvement projects all throughout NYS and get hands on experience from the beginning to the end of the projects. I help communities find funding for these projects which is very rewarding. There is a good balance of office work and field work. You experience things you'd never be able to experience in private consulting while also having a great work life balance.

What I wish was different

nothing!

Advice

Take the FE exam ASAP, preferably your senior year of college, then get on the 18/20 Engineer Trainee/Assistant Engineer list from the Civil Service website. It's a survey you fill out based on relevant experience, make sure you check off boxes to anything that you've had experience with! The higher the score the more likely you'll be reachable for an interview from the NYS DOH.

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Contact tracer

May 2020 • Albany, NY

What I liked

The schedule is very flexible.

What I wish was different

More transparency from the health department.

Advice

Don’t be afraid to try something new, even if it is outside of your area of expertise there are so many lessons to learn that you did not know you needed to learn.

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Contact Tracer

May - August 2020 • Yonkers, NY

What I liked

The training I was required to complete for this position taught me valuable communication and accountability skills. Also, this position allowed me to take a very active part in trying to control the spread of COVID-19, which as we all know is currently ravaging our nation.

What I wish was different

I wish I was able to do the job in-person, as it would have allowed me to more easily communicate with my peers and supervisors. I had peers from all walks of life, and would have enjoyed picking their brains and gaining knowledge from them. However, given the nature of the job, I fully understand why that was an unrealistic desire of mine.

Advice

Patience is key. Many of the people you try to contact will be standoffish if not downright rude, and the most important skill I learned at this job was to not let it anger me, at the end of the day I have a job to do that supersedes my emotions.

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Student assistant

July 2018 • Albany, NY

What I liked

I liked the fact that everyone at the office was welcoming. They understood that I didn’t really have any experience working in the field and were glad to show me the ropes .

What I wish was different

I don’t wish anything had been different.

Advice

I would advice students to network and grab whatever opportunity they have to learn even if it doesn’t necessarily apply to the field they wish to pursue.

1 One person found this helpful