| Summary: | This study examined factors influencing the job satisfaction and retention of Air Force civilian engineering interns in the SMART and Palace Acquire intern programs. Intern focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten interns and four intern supervisors at a U.S. Air Force base involved in weapon system acquisition. Transcripts, surveys, exit interviews and Air Force documents were analyzed using a case study approach to identify themes. Three major
themes emerged: motivating factors that lead to job satisfaction, hygiene factors that lead to job dissatisfaction, and factors that lead to SMART intern attrition. These finding were considered through the lens of the Herzberg Motivation-Hygiene framework as well as current literature on job turnover, generational considerations, and recruiting the right talent. The research revealed that the nature of the work, feeling of accomplishment, recognition, positive feedback, work/life
balance and workplace perks resulted in job satisfaction while low starting pay and lack of hands-on engineering are causes of job dissatisfaction. Low SMART retention is primarily due to dissatisfaction with their salary exacerbated by the co-location of the more lucrative PAQ program. Additionally, the marketing as a scholarship-for-service program set the expectation of an obligation rather than a long-term career program. The findings and knowledge generated from this study are
expected to aid senior management within the engineering career field to make informed decisions on special salary tables, job assignments, and allocating resources on supervisor and employee development programs that support job satisfaction and retention initiatives.Keywords: job satisfaction, retention, engineering intern, Herzberg two-factor theory, SMART, Palace Acquire --Author's abstract
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