<p>I am a third year mechanical engineering student with a fairly decent GPA (3.5) and decent extra-circulars. Last year, I applied to about 230 internships and I got 10 interviews, 2 offers: 1 unpaid one and one paid one. I accepted the paid internship, but unfortunately the internship wasn't any "real" engineering work, it was data analysis and plotting graphs, presentations, and online research, nothing what I learned from my classes. </p>
<p>I was really more interested in finding some mechanical design, CAD, or systems engineering internship but I wasn't selected for any of them. I have a good amount of leadership and engineering experience from student engineering groups, so I thought I would have an offer by now but I never realized the job market was this competitive. </p>
<p>I've applied to nearly 350 internships, mostly at aerospace and automotive companies, starting from September 2012 to now for a summer 2013 internship. I went to every career fair at my school and went to company info-sessions held on campus to hand recruiters my resume. None of the recruiters responded back to me. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I got about 15 total interviews, 7 second round interviews and even 1 third round interview, all applied online, only to find out I was rejected or the company never bothered to respond back to me.</p>
<p>I'm so sick of hearing "don't give up and keep trying". I heard that countless number of times from my advisers, career counselors, professors. Could anyone provide me with some advice? Is this the reality of the job market?</p>
<p>My D is a 2nd year MechE major at MIT with a high GPA and she is still looking for an internship for this summer too. She’s only had two interviews so far after countless applications (not quite 350). Good luck to you both. I hope something turns up for you.</p>
<p>Yes, I had already set up my LinkedIn profile. Its content is very similar to that of my resume. </p>
<p>What I have tried to get my resume through companies:
Go directly to the company’s website and apply online.
Attend Career Fairs and company infosessions held on campus.
I know it sounds desperate, but I’ve meet more actual engineers in person through my parents’ friends. I also had them take a look at my resume and asked them to pass it to management.</p>
<p>What’s interesting is I got NO interviews or responses from #2. Most recruiters basically told me I need to apply online to be under consideration for internships. All my interviews were from online job postings.</p>
<p>Be in contact with your seniors, those who are working in different companies. Forward your resume to them. Get registered with different job search engines.</p>
<p>Perhaps you may have already contacted your department’s ME alumni. Also what is the advice from your placement center & professors? </p>
<p>The current demand seems to be for CSE majors. Youe engineering placement center might be able to provide better stats regarding on-campus CSE recruitment versus ME. That may point you in exploring a minor - just to cover all the bases. </p>
<p>As a junior, it may be late to sign up for a co-op?</p>
<p>Agree, the current demand does seem to be CSE majors. Son may take summer course to have time during his senior year to get some CSE courses in, as he is a Mech Eng major as well. While he’s got more computer experience than most mech eng at his school because of his honors program, it is not enough to qualify him for CSE jobs. </p>
<p>Last year, the excuse for no consideration for internships was that with the competition, they were only interviewing rising seniors. Now that son is rising senior, we find that still, no bites.</p>
<p>I stopped going to professors and career counselors because, as I said before, they all say something along “just keep applying, don’t give up”. This is so sickening to hear. They recommended me to attend “informational interviews”, but of all the info-sessions I’ve attended on campus, absolutely none of the recruiters responded back to me. I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I was disappointed with my career counselors because the advice they were giving me were already things I knew. My career counselor was surprised to see that I did not land an internship after reviewing my resume. </p>
<p>This is very unfortunate. I only took one CS class (required for my major). What a shame, I realized coming from a top tiered university really doesn’t help. I applied to internships through my school career center AND company websites, but I’ve received more interviews/ responses through applying online.</p>
<p>Is there really anything I can do? I really planned this summer for an internship to get some kind of real engineering experience but I’m unsure if I can even land one.
It seems like the people that do get internships are generally the people with family connections to the industry, but I don’t have any engineers or scientists in my family. I’m curious of the actual statistics of college students landing internships. Unfortunately, none of my counselors or professors had any information internship statistics. Does anyone know any?</p>
<p>The only problem I can think of is your resume. Does it have any extracurricular activities that’s related to your field on it? For examples, BAJA, FORMULA team, etc…</p>
<p>I’ve been in student projects (AIAA and SAE) since my freshman year and this year I’ve taken the leadership position. I developed most of my CAD skills through my projects. The largest chunk of my resume is the projects I’ve worked on outside of class. My resume has been substantially improved since my sophomore year of college (had 2 offers back then), but for some reason I don’t understand why I haven’t even landed a single internship this year. I’m really interested in hearing more about how other people approached their internship search.</p>
<p>Hello Daivin,
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<ol>
<li>Attend career fairs held at major engineering conferences. For ex. today at SAE they have roughly 40 companies that are looking to hire, though it is not clear whether they would consider hiring summer interns.</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li><p>At many major universities the engineering placement center produces an annual placement report which details the companies that visit their campus, and the number of internships & permanent jobs offered with a breakdown by various engineering majors. Check your university placement center’s page. Although it may be late to apply for internships for this summer through your placement center, you may want to find the names of juniors who may been successful in getting internships, and seniors who may found their jobs (post graduation) through campus recruiting. If you can get in touch with those students who are about to start their internships/jobs, sending them your resume and expressing your eagerness for an internship opportunities at their companies. it may yield some positive leads.
It can be very frustrating to deal with placement center personnel who are not able to provide individual assistance. They are quite swamped by numerous job/internship seeking students. Leverage their access to information, and seek leads. Have patience!</p></li>
<li><p>Look into Kelley services for temporary engineering jobs in your area of the country for a summer assignment. Although the probability of landing a summer internship may be low since you don’t yet have the engineering credentials, it may be worth an attempt.
<a href=“https://kelly.secure.force.com/CandidateExperience/CandExpJobSearch[/url]”>https://kelly.secure.force.com/CandidateExperience/CandExpJobSearch</a></p></li>
<li><p>Search Indeed.com for companies that are looking for entry level engineers in your geographical area, and areas of your technical skills. Sometimes visiting the company’s front office and handing your resume and a cover letter that is tailored for the advertised position but seeking an internship might yield positive results. You may be an attractive (temporary) candidate until they find their ideal person since you are local, are able to start immediately, the company does not incur any expense for interviews, and it may give the company some relief if they need help immediately. </p></li>
<li><p>Try the career pages of professional engineering organizations. Do not recommend posting your resume on bulletin boards, since you lose control of the distribution of your resume.</p></li>
<li><p>Get you resume into the hands of REPUTABLE engineering recruiters.</p></li>
<li><p>If unsuccessful in getting a paid internship, you may seek an unpaid volunteer technical opportunities where you can showcase your technical prowess, and continue to seek leads from fellow engineers. At least you will have gained some practical experience, and may have some leeway in seeking assignments of your interest.</p></li>
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<p>When applying for an internship online you MUST use the key words and phrases that the job opening or internship is asking about.</p>
<p>Each internship might be worded a bit differently so you might have to tailor your resume and application around that particular job opening.</p>
<p>Computers often pick out the applications that make it to an actual person. You must get past the computer by giving it the words and phrases it is looking for.</p>
<p>The more matches…the more hits… the higher your application gets in the “pile”</p>
<p>In many companies employees are not allowed to pass along resumes of people they know. It must all be done the same.</p>
<p>If you need help finding internships applicable for just your major this entry level search engine should help. You can filter the results to see only internships.</p>
<p>As for the work you can expect as an intern, don’t expect anything groundbreaking innovative. At Boeing, the engineering interns (and Level 1s as well) all seem to get the busy work none of the other employees want. The engaging work goes to the higher level employees. Sounds like this is the same scenario at your internship.</p>
<p>This may not be helpful but you might try looking in the craigslist under jobs: arch/engineering. My son is a freshman but I like looking through the craigslist for various things so periodically look there to see who is advertising. I don’t often see actual internships but lots of companies who are looking for engineers who may not be able to afford larger placed ads or are only looking for someone with a couple years of experience. Look for ones that sound like they would appreciate your enthusiam and willingness to work hard if given a chance. Maybe one of them might be interesting in having you intern.</p>
<p>I just looked at your previous posts and figure you are in L.A. This is one from the L.A. craigslist. Posted: 2013-04-16, 2:55PM PDT. It says a degree in but since there are no required years of experience, you could still contact them. </p>
<p>Engineering Intern (Paid) (Van Nuys, CA)
Responsibilities:
Engineering intern will assist with the development and design of FDA Class 1 medical equipment. Intern will also assist with the creation of prototypes and mass production of the equipment.
The position will also involve assisting the company CEO on various projects.</p>
<p>This is a great opportunity to be part of a young, fast growing company and to work on innovative development projects. Internship begins this month.</p>
<p>Qualifications:
Degree in electrical or mechanical engineering
Detail oriented
Team player
Location: Van Nuys, CA
Compensation: $15/hour
This is an internship job
Principals only. Recruiters, please don’t contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.</p>
<p>I like this post. Looks like something son would be interested in for next summer, once he’s got his mech eng degree. Thank you for the advice to look under Craigslist in different cities. Maybe a small company would be a good start for a new graduate.</p>
<p>I put “intern” into the search to get this one but other times if you read the ad you can tell that they are a small company looking for young energy and might be a good place to apply.</p>