It’s officially halfway through the fall semester, and for sophomores and juniors, that probably means a bit of LinkedIn and Handshake doomscrolling looking for potential summer internships. It can be very overwhelming. Hundreds of postings, countless timelines to follow, the inevitable rejections, and then going through the actual interview process. At first, most people I know, including myself, had a lot of energy going into the process, and then came out burnt out and excited to be done. While you should be excited to be done at the end of it, here are a few things that might help you not get burnt out from the internship application process.
First, you’re not alone in the rejections. It can be hard to see email after email coming back saying no, and when it’s an internship you especially wanted, it can be devastating. While there’s really no good way around rejection, unless you are lucky and find the perfect internship at the start (in which case, good for you!!), one thing that helped me was remembering I wasn’t alone. On average, a college student has to submit anywhere from 20 to 200 applications before getting an internship. That’s a lot of work and a lot of nos, so it’s important to remember that there are hundreds of other students dealing with the same challenges. And, while it can be hard to remember, what’s meant for you will work out. Keep going and stay confident!
Next, make sure to write a cover letter! A lot of applications have it as an optional component, and while it can be tiring and hard to write a letter for everything that you are applying for, take the time to write one! Showing your interest in the company you’re applying to goes a long way, and it’s also a great way to showcase yourself and explain why they should hire you in a way that your resume won’t do.
Lastly, don’t get discouraged if you have friends getting internships way before you. Each field has a different hiring timeline; it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation. Finance, accounting, and tech internships tend to be at the end of summer through the fall, but for science and the humanities (such as marketing), there will be more applications come January and late winter. The application for the internship I ended up taking didn’t open until mid-March, so don’t lose hope!