<p>I was trying to find an internship for this summer, and I applied to seven tech companies and a hedge fund. I got no interviews, even though the recruiter for the hedge fund said I was a very strong candidate. Can you tell me if there's anything I can improve in my resume? Please PM me and I will send you a link to it.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Competition for summer internships is intense. It may be no reflection on you that you have not gotten any interviews yet. Keep looking!!! While some companies complete their internship openings in the fall, others keep hiring through the winter and spring.</p>
<p>It’s just a bad time. It will get better for you.</p>
<p>I came out of school during a significant recession. I sent out several hundred resumes, for technical jobs no less, and got one interview … for a job I couldn’t imagine myself taking. I ended up with two offers for ridiculously underpaid positions, took one, and worked myself up from there. Just an amusing story now (though it wasn’t very funny at the time!).</p>
<p>Just like any other job, internship is a job and you have to cast a wider net to catch it. Just send out 7 to whatever may not be enough. If a paid internship is not possible, try an unpaid internship.</p>
<p>After reading your resume before the link to it got deleted I am flabbergasted you didn’t even get called for an interview. Yes it’s hard out there, but I can’t imagine there are really many students with more impressive resumes. Honesty, at first I thought you must be a ■■■■■. No real suggestions except keep at it, and good luck.</p>
<p>I think she is trying to cast a wide net.</p>
<p>For summer internship, this is still pretty early, I believe. I wish my kids are as diligent and proactive as you. For my first job a long time ago, I must have sent out at least several hundreds before I got one after graduating, so keep at it, don’t give up.</p>
<p>Because there are so many candidates out there sometimes you need a connection. Is there anyone your parents do business with who might provide an opportunity? I know one of your children was looking for a position and we emailed our contacts. He ended up finding something through a series of connections from the first email.</p>
<p>It is still early so keep trying!!</p>
<p>I know for tech companies it is way too early - they will serious look as resumes in the Feb/March time frame.</p>
<p>One thing to consider…though I’m not sure of the specifics of whom you applied to. But if you applied to the top seven tech firms that everyone is trying to work for (including Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook) then you’ve got ALOT of competition. Even if you got the interview, good luck getting the job because there are so many kids applying.</p>
<p>Many companies are looking for techies, and have paid internships for them. Maybe scale down a bit, like it was suggested, cast a wider net. My son just got an internship offer for the summer at Freddie Mac after only one interview. Not as glamorous as Facebook, they are suffering in the news right now, but the pay is quite decent and it offers great experience. He’s comp sci/econ, don’t know if he’s going to take the job yet. But there are plenty of companies out there if you aren’t set on the tippy top tech jobs. Take what you can get!</p>
<p>If you aren’t using LinkedIn yet to keep in touch with contacts you are making, older students you know who have graduated, friends of parents who work in your field, etc., do that. Also, a couple of D1’s friends (seniors in college) have asked me for informational interviews because they are interested in the field I work in. We talked about how I got my position, what I know about companies they might want to work for (one is looking in my city, and I gave him the skinny on tons of companies in town), whether they should consider grad school, how to make the most of the jobs they have now (PT in college) to improve their resumes before graduating, what certifications are useful in my field, various ways to network in my industry, etc. So informational interviews can be a useful stepping stone to info that could help you. And I was happy to accept them as LinkedIn contacts after we talked. :)</p>
<p>The company I retired from listed a minimum GPA of 3.0 for interenships but got so many resumes that they round filed all those below 3.5. Even with that the competition was stiff and they also limited the offers to rising seniors and above. Tough times for the companies equals tough times for internships.</p>
<p>Try talking to some of your professors about some summer research even if it is unpaid. My son did that and it turned out to be just the kind of work the company that hired him after graduation was looking for. As he was already paying for a year’s lease on the house he was renting, it cost him almost nothing to do the research and was better than sitting around at home.</p>
<p>Also because of the competition you should contact the appropriate people to try to unofficially interview on the phone. You’ve gotten your materials in on time or early so you should follow up if at all possible. Don’t be foolish but anything you can do to bring yourself to the front of their minds. The person who told you that you were a very strong candidate - did you ask him/her for suggestions as to where else you might send your resume? You need to be assertive (politely, not aggressive) in this tight market. Good luck!</p>
<p>Maybe your references are bad. My mom told me that someone who applied to her business had an excellent resume except for one reference, and that killed his/her chances at the job.</p>
<p>“It is still early so keep trying!!” - I agree. At a recent parent weekend, one dad in the audience commented that he does hiring at his firm… but in the fall they are still clueless about their needs and funding for next summer. A few other parent raised their hand to say that their student had got great summer jobs last summer, but offers didn’t come til April or May.</p>
<p>In honestly, I’m anxious for my own kid to snag a summer job so we can do plan summer logistics. But so far no progress. I’m just happy he is trying.</p>
<p>Thank you for the suggestions everyone :)</p>
<p>@amtc: I’m not very good at being assertive, I don’t really know what to do besides send in applications. How do you call companies and ask them to hire you? Especially if you don’t know whether they’ve thrown out your application already? Also I don’t remember which companies I gave my resume to at the career fair, maybe that’s a bad thing :P</p>
<p>@busdriver: I shied away from Google/Facebook etc. because I figured they were too competitive and I wouldn’t get the job. (I’m not a CS major, haven’t taken algorithms yet, and can only program in C, Perl, and Python.) Congratulations on your son’s internship offer!</p>
<p>@Rush: Maybe, I guess I have no way of knowing. I think at least two of them are good because I’ve used them to get research jobs. I don’t know about the third one.</p>
<p>@HPuck: That’s a good idea. I’ve already worked on four research projects though, so I don’t think any more would help me get a job (or get into grad school for that matter).</p>
<p>@intparent: How do you find informational interviews? Do you just go up to someone who works in a company and ask if you can talk to them?</p>
<p>@momofboston: Good to know, thanks.</p>
<p>@2born: Thanks :)</p>
<p>@ebeee: My parents are both in academia. Actually, I don’t think they want me getting an internship. My dad was horrified at the prospect of me going into finance and he said computer programming was “technician’s work”…I think the only thing he would want me to be is a professor, which I really don’t want to be. Maybe my mom knows someone though, I should ask her.</p>
<p>@ttparent: By golly that’s a lot of applications! I’m not really that diligent, just gave my resume to people at the career fair, but thank you :)</p>
<p>@bovertine: lol, thanks :D</p>
<p>@artlovers: Good point. I guess I should apply more broadly.</p>
<p>@NewHope: Wow, I never imagined it would be that bad. It seems my classmates are getting internships like crazy, my friends have gotten several interviews and I haven’t gotten any. But they are probably better at job hunting than I am. Or have better resumes.</p>
<p>@parentoftwo: Thanks, I might 
I’m kind of worried about waiting that long because I might want to find a research job this summer instead and I have to start looking for those this month. I’m actually debating not doing an internship because it’s too hard getting interviews and maybe I can put off the whole work experience thing until after grad school :/</p>
<p>@colorado_mom: Wow, that is really late. I wish job offers were as “organized” as college acceptances, it would be easier to plan things. Good luck!</p>
<p>“can only program in C, Perl, and Python” - It sounds like you have a lot to offer. I don’t know much about Python, except that my son is learning it now and the placement center advisor thought it would help him find a summer internship.</p>
<p>There will be many job summer job offers made before late spring. Don’t give up! I do understand your stress… my son also has to decide at what point he’d give up and pursue a local grunt job. I’m hoping it does not come to that, especially since they are rare in our area too.</p>
<p>8 applications is not enough, keep applying!</p>
<p>“I shied away from Google/Facebook etc. because I figured they were too competitive and I wouldn’t get the job. (I’m not a CS major, haven’t taken algorithms yet, and can only program in C, Perl, and Python.) Congratulations on your son’s internship offer!”</p>
<p>My mistake, I assumed that you were CS because you applied to all those tech companies. But it sounds like you have alot of programming experience, so that’s a serious plus. I didn’t bring up my kids internship offer to be one of those annoying “look at what my kid got” sort of parents…I brought it up to suggest that since they seem to be hiring people with tech experience, and it might not be the obvious pick for CS majors, you might want to look into Freddie Mac and other govt internships.</p>
<p>Hi - What year of college are you currently completing? After her sophomore year my D took whatever unpaid internships she could find (though some of them did end up throwing her a few bucks). She did some other work on the side to make some $$. She got valuable experience and made great contacts, so that she had industry-insiders to recommend her for the following summer. For the summer after her junior year she got a paid internship based on her experience, made a ton more contacts, and expects to be working right after she graduates.</p>