<p>Hey everyone,
So i've been applying for summer internships over this break. A few days ago, i spent about 8 hours applying for about 20 companies. Other than the automated responses which i don't really count i got back a grand total of 1 reply!!! And all that was in this reply was that oh, we can't open your resume, could you resend it?</p>
<p>Maybe its the holiday and thats why they haven't responded yet...or at least thats what I'm telling myself :(.</p>
<p>I'm still getting calls from companies I sent my resume to when I graduated from Illinois... and that was two years ago. It takes Human Resources a while for to process things in the best of times, certainly more than a week or so, and I promise nobody's getting anything done right now. We're all trying to finish our work up before quitting time today. Give 'em 'til early January then start calling them back.</p>
<p>Given the time of year, i wouldn't really be worried if it takes more than a few days to get a response. As mentioned above, wait for a bit and then give them a call. It's not uncommon to get no response and have to follow up on your own.</p>
<p>A lot of people take two weeks off for the holidays (that's when it's not the whole company that closes for those two weeks).</p>
<p>Anyway, most of the companies I talked to at my school's Career Fair last September told me not to bother applying for internships in the summer before at least January. Up until that time, they're usually busy finding interns who are willing to work during the winter semester.</p>
<p>You don't have to start stressing yet either... Last year, I applied to about 20 different places. I had a good (not great, but good nevertheless) GPA and a good number of extracurricular activities. I started applying in early February and never received any news before early April. Finally, two companies called me back for interviews and I ended up getting both jobs. I ended up signing my contract for my internship on April 20th, about two weeks before I was scheduled to start working.</p>
<p>The best time to give your resume out is during career fairs or for a specific job posting.</p>
<p>Just sending your resume to a company means they aren't going to respond until there is a position available they need filled. If they look at it again.</p>
<p>It's also not a big time of year to be appying for internships. Usually in spring is when companies are looking for students to fill summer internship positions. That is also when there are a lot of career fairs happening.</p>