<p>Does anyone have a brief timeline of how long it takes it to get an interview and be accepted into an internship?</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>It varies greatly by college. When I hired, I’d interview in mid September and would make you a site visit (or not) the same week. When you came out depended on your schedule, but if the interview committee liked you, we’d make you an offer before you left to fly back to school. Once, from first interview to site visit to offer was less than a week for a kid from a local school that drove to our site.</p>
<p>When I interviewed back in college, I went on several dozen interviews for one summer internship. The longest it took from interview to offer was 3 months. Of course you could always have situations where you’re the second choice, something falls through with the first choice, and you’re contacted 6 months later and offered a job. Similarly, the company interviews and likes you, the position closes (or there’s a hiring freeze) and 6 months later something comes open and they contact you.</p>
<p>I found it varies a lot based on company.</p>
<p>I once got an internship during the semester where it was about a week or two between when I submitted my resume to when I started working. </p>
<p>Another time I applied in late December for a summer internship and didn’t get notified until mid-April.</p>
<p>A third place was somewhere in the middle between the two above.</p>
<p>Okay I was just wondering because my school just had it’s Engineering EXPO and I’ve applied to many places (several companies of which I’m extremely interested in) and I’m kind of getting frustrated because if I don’t get an internship this summer, my resume is going to look REALLY bland and blank…</p>
<p>The companies that you met at EXPO should decide within 2-3 weeks whether or not they want to interview you. However, since I also attend your school, I would say that most students don’t get many interviews through EXPO in my experience. I got most of my interviews through submitting my resume to companies on ECAC.</p>
<p>Please be persisent and open-minded when seeking internships and cast a wide net.</p>
<p>I post this particularly to encourage people to keep at it, even long after they think it’s “too late.”</p>
<p>My S, a few years back, got an internship after summer vacation had already started. He was looking online at a local (for us) tech company’s website, found a posting; applied online and was hired the next day! Yes, it happens.</p>
<p>He’s since graduated and had two job offers (Class of 2009). The internship was likely a big help in his ultimate job search. Wouldn’t have happened if he had given up too soon.</p>
<p>Good luck to all!</p>
<p>A friend of mine got an internship at the company I was working at in June. The guy who was supposed to be working there changed his mind at the last second after everything was set. That left us scrambling and we started making phone calls. My friend had actually already taken a job elsewhere at a government agency, but he had absolutely no desire to work there, so he jumped at the offer. </p>
<p>You really never know…</p>
<p>So I got a reply from 5 companies I applied to , and all 5 of them said that they would not invite me for an interview :(. I’m really getting bummed out guys. I asked the recruiter for advice and he said that basically they wanted someone who has completed some upper division classes in ChemE (IE. Thermo, Tranport, Chem. Eng Analysis) which I will complete by Spring 2011 and forgot to put on my resume :X.
Any advice? My GPA is alright (3.2 but will go up to a 3.3-3.4) but I don’t know if this is hurting me</p>
<p>I’ve hired dozens of 3.0-3.5 ChemE freshman/sophomore interns from UT-Austin (as well as full times, and interns with higher GPAs).</p>
<p>You’re getting interviews, so your resume is probably OK. If you’re not converting about 50% of your first round interviews to second round interviews, then you need to improve your interviewing skills. Likely, you’re turning people off.</p>
<p>When you ask a recruiter for feedback, they likely won’t be of much assistance. First of all, recruiters are often told not to give feedback for legal reasons (i.e. if I tell you that I’m not hiring you because of X, then you do X, you could make a case that I’m obligated to hire you - at least enough of a case to bother most HR departments). Second, many recruiters hire on “gut” instinct. They just “know” when a candidate is good. Giving that impression (even if you’re not a great fit for the job) is often the key to being hired. Charisma plays a role, but so does being comfortable and being prepared.</p>
<p>I said I DID NOT get any interview invites from 5 companies…</p>
<p>bump…!!!</p>
<p>Than your resume is the problem.</p>
<p>Talked to an individual at my schools engineering career program. She said my resume was fine minus small details (like formatting, tabs,etc.)</p>
<p>Formatting makes a difference. The resume is typically your first impression to a potential employer. The person hiring you may take only 30 seconds to read it. I would compare resume formatting to the clothes you wear to an interview.</p>
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<p>I hire engineers to be detail oriented. If your resume has small “detail” type problems, I will more than likely throw it away.</p>
<p>I agree that you need to revise that resume, as to content (important classes you will complete in Spring) and format. Show it to more than one reviewer (Engineering Career office, other Career office, family/friend with hiring experience in today’s environment). Keep revising until it’s perfect.</p>
<p>Make sure that the resume is customized to each job situation - a resume that “looks fine” may not be fine for a given opportunity because it is too generic. Make sure that your job objective is spot on for each case, highlight the proper coursework for each situation, tailor your description of your experience to fit each job.</p>
<p>I’m not totally up on this point, but if there are “buzzwords” likely to be used for online or other resume screening, make sure you include them.</p>
<p>Also very important - have same set of people review your cover letter or any “cover” comments you are able to provide if doing online submissions.</p>
<p>Also, if you haven’t already, do mock interviews in your Career Services office, so that when you have your chance, you take full advantage.</p>
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<p>+1. Nothing turns me off more than seeing typos in a resume. One that we received included the phrase, “pooring concrete.” Oops.</p>
<p>At Goldman Sachs, they immediately make a pile of resumes with typos and those without. The former get tossed in the trash. Do they maybe miss out on a lot of qualified candidates by doing this? Sure. But it’s a detail-oriented place, and if you can’t care to make your first impression a positive one, then who’s to say you won’t do the same when representing the company to a client?</p>
<p>I just always assume that companies I’m applying to feel the same.</p>
<p>Also, +1 about the late applications. I live in DFW and at the beginning of the summer (early June-ish), I was just perusing engineering company websites and decided to send in my resume, even though none of them said they were looking for an intern. I got an email back a few days later and eventually got the internship at a prominent architectural engineering firm in Fort Worth. I didn’t do a lot of explicitly engineering stuff, since I had mostly only taken gen ed requirements, but I was a seriously overpaid lackey whom now has myriad recommendations from real engineers, and even an invitation to come back next summer and work in the engineering department if so inclined.</p>