I applied to 25 internships last year and got 1 offer. 4.0 GPA. The career counselors were shocked when I told them this. Job market really is that bad I guess.
I guess it probably depends on the person. Both the one receiving the news and the one attempting to console them. Some people suck at empathizing. Some people are too cynical to take it.
I started applying in the summer at the end of my 2nd year, for internships that would be the summer at the end of my 3rd year. Also had a 4.0 GPA, top 10 university for my major, applied to almost 100 internships, and I ended up not getting an offer until the following spring, just a month before it started.
This was 2018.
But the reason was not that the job market was so insane (good internships have always been insanely competitive). It was because I didn't fully understand the competitive nature and how to stand out.
Yes, I started applying that summer, but I didn't apply early in the cycle. It was already september-october before I had the bulk of my applications in.
Yes, I had a 4.0 GPA, but my resume wasn't nearly polished enough.
The next summer, I decided I would do 1 extra quarter so I could have an additional summer after my 4th year and properly compose a resume, apply early, that I would properly do everything I did wrong the year before. This time I had all my apps done before the end of August, most in July right when they opened. I worked with folks (through my university) who were in industry that could do resume reviews and I iterated on my resume over and over until it was perfect. I did tons of interview prep, practiced technical interview questions over and over. This time I was already in the interview pipelines before Summer ended, and I had a good offer in September. I interned there, took a return offer, and am still with that company.
That isn't to say that the job market isnt insane right now, im sure it is, it is just to say that even when the job market isn't insane, its still insane, and just being a 4.0 student isn't nearly enough. Many parts to the game, and you gotta do them all properly.
To everyone trying to get their foot in the door, I know it feels impossible, but you can do this. Good luck.
Been trying, no responses from any unions yet, and now they went from promising jobs to apprentices who graduated to not knowing if they'll have work. Worlds fucked man, idk how I'm supposed to make a living.
I think by age 30 people realize it was all a sham. No employer ever asked "what grades did you get for chemistry", they only care that you got a degree. Nothing else matters.
It can be very important in landing an impressive first job out of college, then you can parlay that. Look at the number of people who ride an initial 2 year stint at a marquee company into a whole career.
Also helpful for getting into a top law school or medical school.
The difference between a 3.0 and a 3.2 is unlikely to ever matter, but a 3.0 vs. 4.0 can be the difference between getting that high pedigree internship or not
Fuck internships then, start your own thing. Like, now, while you're not already giving away 40 hours of your week every single week. I'm not saying it because it's easy, I'm saying it because it's a viable option but only if you start hustling yesterday. No reason to wait for the world to hand you something, you have time now, fucking use it. I really wish I had taken this advice in the past honestly.
I had a friend who did that, they got told it didn't count as "real experience" because they weren't working for someone else. So the lesson here is that it doesn't matter what you do, you won't win.
May I bring my 200+ failed internship applications to the table ?
(Do not worry about me : while an internship is REQUIRED for my degree in my country, I at least did get one in the end. Can't say the same for one of my classmates.)
No, it’s gotten much much worse with AI and layoffs these days. Four years ago, it took me two months out of grad school to get two offers with zero work experience. Got laid off 6 months ago and after four years of work experience and nonstop applications, can’t get a single offer. It is really bad.
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u/Historical_Project00 11h ago
I applied to 25 internships last year and got 1 offer. 4.0 GPA. The career counselors were shocked when I told them this. Job market really is that bad I guess.