Are Internship Opportunities Drying Up for College Students?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For econ and social science majors, are any freshmen or sophomores looking at nonprofits? Unpaid, likely. But potentially very good experience that could help on the resume for next year.

If nothing paid comes through, DC is considering pitching specific non-profits on 20 hours a week, unpaid. Could fill in the other hours at last year’s summer job (retail - paid.)

Mine is trying everything and not getting any bites. Totally despondent at this point. Even my connections haven’t helped. They are not great but even the connections kids are competing against each other

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For econ and social science majors, are any freshmen or sophomores looking at nonprofits? Unpaid, likely. But potentially very good experience that could help on the resume for next year.

If nothing paid comes through, DC is considering pitching specific non-profits on 20 hours a week, unpaid. Could fill in the other hours at last year’s summer job (retail - paid.)

Mine is trying everything and not getting any bites. Totally despondent at this point. Even my connections haven’t helped. They are not great but even the connections kids are competing against each other

Any luck with their advisor or professors in their major? Usually they can help find opportunities.

[Anonymous]

DS is a UMD CS major. Will be a rising senior. Has been applying steadily since August. Had not heard back from any companies, then got five interviews in Jan. Received an offer he is very interested in and is waiting to hear back from a second interview at another firm. The offer came from a position he applied to back in Sept. As others have said, keep plugging. Although numerous companies recruit in the Fall, many other recruit for interns later in the year.

[Anonymous]

One of the PP back again with a rising junior. Still nothing. It is Spring Break already and DC has basically lost hope though is still applying and networking. I guess DC will go abroad and get a class out of the way but it sucks b/c how will they possibly get a job next summer if no internship this summer. Do companies ever hire rising seniors for internship with no real internship experience? Seems like all is lost if you can't get an internship after sophomore year (humanities major not CS/engineering).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the PP back again with a rising junior. Still nothing. It is Spring Break already and DC has basically lost hope though is still applying and networking. I guess DC will go abroad and get a class out of the way but it sucks b/c how will they possibly get a job next summer if no internship this summer. Do companies ever hire rising seniors for internship with no real internship experience? Seems like all is lost if you can't get an internship after sophomore year (humanities major not CS/engineering).

Does their school offer stipends for kids who do unpaid, non-profit internships? Look upthread. Sounds like some schools do, though they may have to do some digging (including through the major or advisors etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the PP back again with a rising junior. Still nothing. It is Spring Break already and DC has basically lost hope though is still applying and networking. I guess DC will go abroad and get a class out of the way but it sucks b/c how will they possibly get a job next summer if no internship this summer. Do companies ever hire rising seniors for internship with no real internship experience? Seems like all is lost if you can't get an internship after sophomore year (humanities major not CS/engineering).

Does their school offer stipends for kids who do unpaid, non-profit internships? Look upthread. Sounds like some schools do, though they may have to do some digging (including through the major or advisors etc.)

New poster. My college junior doesn’t have an internship yet and at this point, I’d be happy if he gets an unpaid internship. He wouldn’t, but I think it’d definitely be worth it for the opportunity.

[Anonymous]

It might be late for this, but one thing to look into is a study abroad summer program that includes an internship.

DS considered it for the summer after sophomore year - University College Dublin program that would put him in a business analytics internship for 6 weeks. He ended up getting a job locally so didn't pursue it. It was listed among the options with his college's study abroad office.

I also previously hired an intern who had done an internship in marketing as part of her study abroad experience. She had done some really interesting work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the PP back again with a rising junior. Still nothing. It is Spring Break already and DC has basically lost hope though is still applying and networking. I guess DC will go abroad and get a class out of the way but it sucks b/c how will they possibly get a job next summer if no internship this summer. Do companies ever hire rising seniors for internship with no real internship experience? Seems like all is lost if you can't get an internship after sophomore year (humanities major not CS/engineering).

Does their school offer stipends for kids who do unpaid, non-profit internships? Look upthread. Sounds like some schools do, though they may have to do some digging (including through the major or advisors etc.)

New poster. My college junior doesn’t have an internship yet and at this point, I’d be happy if he gets an unpaid internship. He wouldn’t, but I think it’d definitely be worth it for the opportunity.

Please no. Only chuds allow themselves to be exploited with unpaid internships. Chads value their labor and their time. If I were a hiring manager, seeing an unpaid internship on a resume would be an instant turn-off. Screams low T.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the PP back again with a rising junior. Still nothing. It is Spring Break already and DC has basically lost hope though is still applying and networking. I guess DC will go abroad and get a class out of the way but it sucks b/c how will they possibly get a job next summer if no internship this summer. Do companies ever hire rising seniors for internship with no real internship experience? Seems like all is lost if you can't get an internship after sophomore year (humanities major not CS/engineering).

Does their school offer stipends for kids who do unpaid, non-profit internships? Look upthread. Sounds like some schools do, though they may have to do some digging (including through the major or advisors etc.)

New poster. My college junior doesn’t have an internship yet and at this point, I’d be happy if he gets an unpaid internship. He wouldn’t, but I think it’d definitely be worth it for the opportunity.

Please no. Only chuds allow themselves to be exploited with unpaid internships. Chads value their labor and their time. If I were a hiring manager, seeing an unpaid internship on a resume would be an instant turn-off. Screams low T.

other than for government or nonprofits, unpaid internships are legal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to steer clear of liberal arts majors unless heading into law school or med school or PhD programs. You have to have pragmatic skills to be useful in today’s workforce. The jobs that aren’t going away anytime soon are the client facing roles - sales engineering, territory managers, med device sales, consulting, account management. But to land these roles you also need strong analytical skills, data analysis, etc. The back office support roles (comms, mrktg, finance, hr, purchasing, ops) are being heavily supported or advanced now due to ai enhancements. We still need some entry level roles but not nearly as many.

This is opposite to the advice given by people who know anything.

[Anonymous]

All internship and entry-level jobs will require AI knowledge to be a force multiplier. You basically use it to replace 3-5 people's work, so you will be paid more but will do more work with AI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious about internship opportunities overall. Parents of college students—can you share your experiences? I know the entry-level job market is tough, but are companies also cutting back on paid internships or return offers? It feels like the degree-to-job pipeline is broken right now, leaving many students with little choice but to pursue graduate school or switch tracks, often toward med schools.

No.
Internships are not extinct...but even very good students in high demand majors have to hustle many, many months in advance and send out hundreds of applications. It is a numbers game - especially for kids who are unhooked and do not have connections.

So, play the game and have a strategy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to steer clear of liberal arts majors unless heading into law school or med school or PhD programs. You have to have pragmatic skills to be useful in today’s workforce. The jobs that aren’t going away anytime soon are the client facing roles - sales engineering, territory managers, med device sales, consulting, account management. But to land these roles you also need strong analytical skills, data analysis, etc. The back office support roles (comms, mrktg, finance, hr, purchasing, ops) are being heavily supported or advanced now due to ai enhancements. We still need some entry level roles but not nearly as many.

This is opposite to the advice given by people who know anything.

I think you will need more and more education. Both the span and depth in humanities + STEM education to be able to work with AI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My advice is to steer clear of liberal arts majors unless heading into law school or med school or PhD programs. You have to have pragmatic skills to be useful in today’s workforce. The jobs that aren’t going away anytime soon are the client facing roles - sales engineering, territory managers, med device sales, consulting, account management. But to land these roles you also need strong analytical skills, data analysis, etc. The back office support roles (comms, mrktg, finance, hr, purchasing, ops) are being heavily supported or advanced now due to ai enhancements. We still need some entry level roles but not nearly as many.

This is opposite to the advice given by people who know anything.

I think you will need more and more education. Both the span and depth in humanities + STEM education to be able to work with AI.

+1 entry level, no matter what field, will require AI use knowledge.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the major and the school. My sophomore at VT will have her second internship this summer. They have career fairs every few weeks, plus major-specific ones, to help students find opportunities.