In a recent interview, Vaishali Sabhahit, global head of university talent at Adobe, said the company typically received applications from more than 100,000 candidates for its summer internship program in the United States and hired about 600 interns.
Spending hours practicing on LeetCode, however, did not end up helping Mr. Ross at Central Connecticut State University. He described the experience of applying, and being rejected, for 200 technical internships as “heartbreaking.”
It was heartbreaking for almost all of the applicants regardless of income level. Big tech has numerous FGLI and diversity programs; it appears others were chosen rather than the subject student. Fortunately there are lots of other jobs available besides the handful of elite tech
The primary issue seems to be that he only focused on ‘elite’ tech internships.
But I do agree that limited-income students can be at a disadvantage when networking etc, especially if they are at a non-target school.
Yes! But because “acceptance rates” are not shared, way too many talented young people might be drawn down this rabbit hole, expending time and money they might barely have, rather than focusing on the sparrow in the hand.
And, the more completely overwhelming the number of near-identical applications, the more I suspect subjective factors being used to help with “rising” some applications to the top.
I do think it’s helpful that they share the number of apps, but I can’t imagine they interviewed all of those applicants…it would also be helpful to know how many did get interviews/2nd interviews and those success rates too.
Acceptance rates are widely known. When Google is receiving over a million applications per year it is not hard to figure out. No company is reading a million resumes. That’s where software and online assessments come in.
Although, if people apply to HUNDREDS of positions without success, they already had gone wayyyyy down the list beyond Google?
Hard to say. Seems like subject appled to perhaps the elite in various industries-the top 50 in tech, top 50 in finance, perhaps consulting. Acceptance rates would be comparable
This isn’t surprising at all. Well connected students (often UMC+) who attend elite schools have a leg up on the competition. Of course, most students (regardless of background or school) aren’t going to get one of these internships because they are so limited in number. I did note that the student in the article was asked back by the financial services firm where he worked last summer so it wasn’t a wash.
Not sure either…Google, and many tech companies, banks, et. al. post many different types of internships. Some can be totally different jobs, but some can be similar jobs in a different dept or branch. So one could apply to multiple positions at the same company. Some of the companies do limit how many internships one student can apply for.
Shows me (again) how ignorant I was/am. And I’ve been IN the field for decades.
Kids do share everything on social media these days. In a way all this info sharing is good-it has never been easier to learn about opportunities, the hiring process, what is expected, the questions on the assessments. A very level playing field. Of course that results in more applications.
So does Big Consulting and IB.
Not sure what the article was intended to convey, but after going through 4 internships with our S I think there are some key things for students to consider.
Landing an internship after freshman year is the hardest. Why? Because freshman on average have less experience compared to sophomore, junior, and (in some cases) senior students. It should not be a revelation that experience - academic, research, and work - will be considered. And, BTW, experience will also be considered when you are applying for a full time position. So,…
Tech hiring IMO is generally far less influenced by “who you know” than what you know. If you happen to know an employee or an intern at company X they can sometimes throw your hat into the ring, but the series of technical interviews remain. Maybe if you’re besties with the CEO you can get in, but who knows.
Most of what many call “elite” internships are offered by large companies that have specific opportunities for FGLI, minority, and female applicants. Opportunities are there for all, but are few in number compared to the applicant pool. It’s kind of like college admissions except that ability as measured by code tests, academics, research, and experience matter.
Successfully passing a tech interview is more that just coding. So, if all you do practice Leet code you’re probably not going to impress. Why? Because the process is structured so that the interviewee will eventually be presented with a problem where they do not know the answer. Then what? How do you handle yourself? Do you get flustered, or you get calm?
The article implies that students from smaller schools are at a disadvantage. I’m not sure if this is the case or not, but there are always CC threads on which colleges send the most interns to “elite” internships.
With the economy heading south for a while and tech firms laying off engineers I would not be surprised if the overall number of internships offered shrinks across the board. What does that mean to students?
A piece of advice my D’s career center gives to students, especially freshmen, is to go talk to the companies that don’t have any lines at the career fairs. The smaller, lesser known companies can still give students rich internship experiences.
My kid just finished interviewing for one of the companies in the article last week and was not selected, but he was able to get a well paying software engineering internship from a local company through “The Social Network for Job seekers”. He applied to about 20 internships starting in late February for 4 interviews and the 1 offer. But I noticed that some top students from his well-connected HBCU got some great opportunities at big firms when applying early versus waiting until halfway through Spring semester like my soon to be rising Senior. He did absolutely ZERO prep work for the technical portions of his interviews, so it is a relief that he was selected for an internship at all.
Our S learned that the CS students at Stanford started searching for internships Sept-Oct timeframe. With that approach he landed internships every summer. Our current student D used the same approach this year (freshman) and just landed her first paid internship ( BME).
That was the time frame at Purdue as well. The main job fair is in September and most students land their internships then for the following summer. Definitely harder to find as it gets later in the year.
My D’s company and those of her friends, made final job offers before students even went back to school (so in August). I think that’s so they can go into their Fall recruiting season knowing how many openings they still need to fill.
My kid (junior) applied to few big name internships during fall hiring and got nothing. The school offered a lot of help and connections for REUs but nothing for internships. Then in January they applied to everything relevant to their major that popped up online. Maybe 30? They got 5 interviews and 3 offers. Very happy with final choice. Initially the prospect of applying felt like shooting in the dark and it was a bit overwhelming and discouraging but it became routine after a while. They feel much more confident if they have to go through the process again next year.
The 1 in 200 ratios of jobs to applications are somewhat misleading. S is doing some of the resume reviews and screening interviews for new interns at his consulting firm and they have a similar starting ratio (1000 applications for 5 internships). But well over 50% are binned immediately because they either don’t have the right to work in the US or don’t meet the minimum GPA. Only about 1 in 10 even get a screening interview, because it would otherwise be far too much of a time sink.
The most interesting thing from his point of view was that what appeared to be a very casual screening interview when he was on the other end of it was actually extremely structured with a long list of things to cover. And he is stunned how few people are able to give credible answers about why they are interested in what his firm actually does. If you are at all good and interested, then your chances are nothing like 1 in 200.