Blog

Denis Patino: From Summer Intern to Full-Time Employee

July 28, 2022

At HR Green, our interns are challenged and provided the opportunity to learn and grow as they experience a professional work environment. At HR Green, students receive exposure to diverse projects that allow them to see all aspects of the engineering environment during the summer engineering internship program. Our goal is for interns to continue their careers with us after graduation and carry our bright legacy into the future. 

Denis Patino, a current HR Green Staff Engineer II located in our Houston, TX office, is a recent example of a summer intern who transitioned into a full-time position after graduating. Hear his experience as a former summer engineering intern before working full-time in our water department.

Meet Denis Patino

Initially, I went to the University of Houston before transferring to a local program, then finishing my degree at the University of Texas at Tyler. I reached out to HR Green to intern during the summer of 2019. This summer engineering internship exposes you to the designs you will be looking at and the projects you will be working on as a professional. 

Before my internship, I had never looked at a set of plans. I think one of the first designs that I gave to my PM, it was a pipe, and it was sloped the wrong way. After he looked at it, he taught me how to design this project correctly. And then the next one was a lot better.

The internship was only supposed to be for the summer, but I was offered to continue my internship position into the school year. The HR Green team was very understanding when I had to focus on school projects and take time away from my work at HR Green. Once I graduated, the Houston team I was working with offered me a full-time position. It was an obvious yes.

As a summer engineering intern, I always heard stories about people who started in one department and then transitioned to another department. So it’s funny that the same thing also happened to me. It shows you don’t have to be where you start out. You can always transition, learn new things, and find new passions even while in your engineering career. 

At HR Green, several of those engineering business lines are already developed. So if you’re curious about something, there’s usually a person to ask.


Engineering Internships at HR Green

We provide a robust internship program throughout the company and in multiple office locations. Join our team during the summer or while attending classes over the school year. Additionally, we partner with several universities to offer scholarships for students. Our goal is to provide future engineers the opportunity to learn hands-on through real-world experiences. 

Engineering Internship Opportunities

Check out all the intern photos from over the last year!

Subscribe to HR Green Insights

We're dedicated to providing up-to-date knowledge and insights about the topics that matter most to you. We know how busy you are, so we will keep this simple, covering just one topic per email. Once you've subscribed, you can easily customize your preferences to receive only the updates relevant to you.

Work With Us
Work With Us
Contact Our Team
For more than 110 years, HR Green has been dedicated to providing the services that our clients need to achieve success.