Im currently majoring in Computer Engineering, with 54 credits and have a 3.4 GPA. I took all the core science and math courses. I participated in 2 robotics competitions that went really really bad. What internships can i apply to? would like for it to stay in NY. I applied to a few but never got a response or anything from the ones i wanted. Any suggestions for companies that actually would give me an internship related to programming (which im not very good at but would like to be) or any other engineering field?
Also, When should i get an internship by exactly? How many should i have by senior year?
The thing about internships is that there are a metric crapton of engineering students, and only so many jobs. So you have to apply to more than a few, and you might have to compromise on what you want out of it, if your goal is to score one.
First, make sure your resume is up to par. Look up examples of engineering resumes online – plenty of colleges have samples and templates available. (https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/resources/career_services/students/resumes.cfm for example) Get it reviewed by the people on the EngineeringStudents subreddit and by your school’s career center. No typos; put your GPA on it; use action words to start short phrases explaining what you achieved in past jobs or projects, etc.
Then use Indeed, Monster, any job site from your school, and career fairs to apply. DO NOT LIMIT YOURSELF. Apply to everything, everywhere. I have a very high GPA in ChemE, some unrelated work experience, research, and a decent amount of volunteering – and I applied to 20-25 internships with 2 interviews, 1 offer. And I got LUCKY! There are students who apply to 40, 50, 60 jobs without getting so much as a nibble. I wanted to stay close to home too, so I mostly applied there, but what I got ended up being far away, and I chose getting experience over being able to hang out with my family this summer.
Many students only have one internship, after junior year. Anything you can get earlier than that would be a bonus.
Start applying in August, and don’t stop until you get an offer.
I didn’t really see any unpaid ones in my search, and I’ve heard of a lot of them actually paying upwards of $20/hr. Contrast that to other fields – I helped a friend with a poli sci internship search and hardly any of those were paid, and the ones that were seemed to mostly be part-time.
The ship has sailed on internships for this current summer. And you should not be doing an engineering internship unpaid under any circumstance. Its a scam if you see an unpaid engineering internship.
Large companies with dedicated college recruiters tend to start their cycle as soon as the school year starts and wrap up around February for summer internships.
I would actually advise against blindly applying to internships. Most of the time it will sit in a computer system somewhere languishing away. IMHO, networking is way more important than having a high volume of applications out there. So go to the information sessions companies host on campus, talk to them at career fairs, make friends with your professors who have industry connections, join student chapters for professional organizations…
There is no magic number for internships where if you have x amount by the time you graduate you win a job. As many as you want is the best answer I can give you.