By Jenna Li, news correspondent

Internship recruiters from Tesla spoke to students in Northeastern’s Society of Women Engineers Tuesday night informing students about possible internship and co-op opportunities for women within the company.

Janelle Bullock, an internship recruiter at Tesla, a multi-billion dollar corporation that specializes in electric vehicles, told the female engineers what the company expects from its Northeastern interns.  

“Besides the skills marking the requirements on our application, I look for gritty students,” Bullock said. “We have had interns that have presented to Elon Musk.”

Students will have many learning opportunities at Tesla, said Kristin Barclay, a process engineer for the company.

“The work is extremely hands on — not a desk job,” Barclay said. “There is always an opportunity to learn more.”

The female speakers told the Society of Women Engineers, or SWE, about gender roles within the company. Bullock explained Tesla’s desire to promote diversity and inclusion.

“Being a woman going into STEM, I feel more scared than I should,” said Selena Nguyen, a second-year computer engineering major. “There are definitely more obstacles to face.”

Although there are very few women in the managerial positions at Tesla, “there has definitely been a boost,” Barclay said.

Bullock emphasized that the company is working hard to make Tesla a fair and equal place of work.

Samico Kaw, a software engineer with Tesla, said the majority of Tesla employees are eager to help each other.

“If you’re working at Tesla and you have a really good idea, you will be heard,” said Kaw, who has worked for Tesla for six and a half years.

The Palo Alto, California-based company currently has over 40,000 employees and hires between 300 and 700 college interns every school term, Barclay said.

“We are trying to build from the bottom up,” said Bullock.