The construction industry will need to attract an estimated 456,000 new workers in 2027 to meet demand, according to Associated Builders and Contractors. Preparing that workforce takes more than recruiting. It takes employers willing to invest in people.
Phillips Infrastructure Corp. makes that investment through its internship program, giving college students the chance to meaningfully contribute to active projects, learn from experienced professionals, and begin building a career that can extend well beyond the summer. Here’s what sets the Phillips internship experience apart.
Interns Do Work That Matters
During her summer 2023 internship with Phillips, Maura Hancock traveled to 18 jobsites across Virginia, Georgia, and Florida. For Hancock, then a safety management student at Slippery Rock University, those visits offered a boots-on-the-ground education in how safety principles apply across different projects, crews, and working conditions.
Hancock inspected work areas, identified potential hazards, and discussed her observations directly with superintendents and supervisors. She also reviewed safety audits, offered input on new programs, and developed toolbox talks, which are brief job-site discussions that prepare crews for a specific hazard, procedure, or upcoming task.
While Hancock’s supervisor offered guidance, he also gave her space to make her own decisions and build relationships with field leaders.
“I was able to figure things out for myself and build connections,” Hancock says.
After only a few days of shadowing his mentor on a Florida project, Tucker Musser, a safety sciences student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, began leading safety discussions during morning meetings and completing daily site inspections.
“I was really able to step in and take responsibility,” Musser says.
Mentorship Comes With Decades of Experience
At Phillips, interns work alongside project managers, engineers, superintendents, safety professionals, and other employees who understand how to navigate complex projects and changing field conditions.
Some Phillips employees have spent 20 or 30 years with the company. That longevity gives interns access to institutional knowledge that cannot be gained from a textbook, including how projects evolve, how teams respond when plans meet real-world conditions, and how strong working relationships are built over time.
Halleigh Spaulding, a civil engineering student at the University of Central Florida, experienced that mentorship during two summer internships with Phillips Heavy Civil. Her supervisors encouraged her to ask questions and took time to explain the reasoning behind their decisions.
“Nobody expected me to understand everything the first time,” Spaulding says. “They wanted to help me learn.”
The Experience Can Lead to a Career
A Phillips internship is about much more than providing a line on a resume. It gives students the chance to explore their interests, build relationships across the company, and demonstrate what they can contribute.
Hogan Losch joined Phillips’ accounting and finance team in summer 2022 while studying business analytics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Through assignments in accounts payable, equipment finance, and other areas, he gained a firsthand understanding of the financial operations behind Phillips’ projects.
At the end of the internship, Losch joined his fellow interns in presenting what he had learned and accomplished during the summer to company leaders at Phillips’ Knoxville headquarters. The experience gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his abilities and show how his interests could translate into a future role with the company.
Shortly afterward, Losch received an offer to join Phillips full time. Today, he is a senior financial analyst and one of many former interns who have gone on to build successful careers at Phillips.
“Phillips gave me the opportunity to prove myself as an intern and continue growing from there,” Losch says. “People across the company genuinely want to help you succeed and get where you want to go.”
Meet Phillips This Fall
Phillips is hitting the road this fall to recruit its 2027 intern class at eight university career fairs. The company is looking for students ready to put in the work and gain real experience in project engineering, estimating, and safety. Opportunities in project controls and corporate services may also be available based on business needs.
Stop by the Phillips booth, meet the team, and find out where an internship could take you. Bring a printed resume and come ready to talk about what drives you, what you want to learn, and where you are willing to work.
Can’t meet the team on campus? Explore career opportunities at Phillips.
2026 Career Fair Schedule
Texas State University — Sept. 10, 2026
University of Florida — Sept. 10, 2026
Indiana University of Pennsylvania — Sept. 24, 2026
Western Carolina University — Sept. 29, 2026
Colorado State University — Sept. 29, 2026
Appalachian State University — Sept. 29, 2026
University of Tennessee, Knoxville — Oct. 1, 2026
Florida Gulf Coast University — Oct. 6, 2026
Slippery Rock University — Oct. 15, 2026