<p>Hey guys, internships seem pretty unattainable for me in summer 2010 (of the ones I have tried so far, no one has replied, so I gave up trying). What else other than internships can I do next summer that will bolster my resume? I am a sophomore in electrical engineering if that matters. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Research?</p>
<p>Also, it’s only October! How can you give up already? Sometimes, companies don’t even know if they’ll be hiring interns until the spring. It depends on the industry I guess.</p>
<p>When my D (also EE major) was a sophomore, she applied for internships on line. She heard nothing and by the beginning of May had decided to just come home and ‘loaf’. But during her earlier on-line aps, she had found and used an option to sign up to get an automatic email when a posting with her chosen keywords appeared. Sure enough, the auto email arrived just before finals. She did a phone interview and let’s just say she didn’t have time to loaf that summer. (turned out a hiree had dropped out at the last minute). So get on-line and don’t give up!</p>
<p>Don’t give up on an internship until both the Fall and Spring (if your school has one) career fairs are over. Also try searching local companies as another avenue. </p>
<p>While I’m a huge fan of research, you can wait until a month or two before summer to be involved.</p>
<p>Our student did an REU–it was a great experience!</p>
<p>I’ll add my own question here: When is a student most likely to find an internship? After junior year?</p>
<p>That’s what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>Junior year is the most recruited for internships since companies can typically “test-drive” a student before making a Full-time offer.</p>
<p>Sleep in and shoot the breeze.</p>
<p>I think I’m just going to look for a part time supermarket job or pursue my hobbies/volunteering. I don’t see myself getting any internships anytime soon, and I don’t know what I could research (I am not in the sciences). I’ll do another round of resumes in the spring just in case anyway.</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who take the same approach which is pretty much give up. While I realize that not everybody has the same level of motivation, aspirations, etc., I still think you should reconsider that mindset. </p>
<p>Experience is key in the job market, which I personally dont understand but nonetheless its true. For some unknown reason companies really value the miniscule experience that is gained in an internship. Once you have one internship on your resume, companies will line up to give you another one but the key is getting that first one. </p>
<p>If you get to your senior year and have no internships and a mediocre GPA, your job possibilities decrease exponentially. I would work tirelessly, and I mean take it as seriously as you do your math classes to find an internship. It will help you greatly in the long run plus, a give-up attitude does nothing to build your confidence and really has no benefit at all.</p>
<p>Have fun. Jeez. You’ll have plenty of time to let corporate America rob you of your dignity. You’ve only got your youth for another couple of years.</p>
<p>Right, don’t give up. After my freshman year, I didn’t get an offer until a week after the spring semester ended. At the place where I worked during sophomore year, we got new interns in June because somebody declined to come back to work that summer. I didn’t even hear from one company until mid-April one year and that’s when I got the offer.</p>
<p>If I was hiring, I would most definitely hire an intern who’s worked with me before. It’s not necessarily about the “miniscule experience,” but rather you know what you’re getting as opposed to an unknown with a new hire. And all that time and money you put into training that intern doesn’t go to waste.</p>
<p>I too am having the same problem</p>
<p>boom
dsadsasadsaas</p>
<p>Worst case scenario, how can I stand out to employers at the end of my undergraduate if I have no internships at all? Clubs? If so what kind of clubs are most marketable?</p>
<p>Undergraduate research and high GPA, advanced courses, special projects, etc. Stick to the basics.</p>
<p>I’m with Auburn (rickroll or not), do well in your classes, find something you are interested in and get involved (research or EC) and get internship experience.</p>
<p>
Each Engineering major has a club/organization (IEEE, ASCE, etc); join whichever one corresponds to your major.</p>
<p>Yes I have done that already. One more thing: When companies have a “minimum” GPA requirement of say 3.5, do they not care about the college the GPA is coming from? Is a GPA from college A compared equally with a GPA from college B, even if B might not be as challenging as A?</p>