Anonymous wrote:My college rising senior was very depressed that he did not receive any internship offers this year. He came home during spring break and played indoor pickleball in Annandale. He played with an older woman who is an executive at a government contracting company. She really enjoyed playing with and against him, and after hearing that he was still looking for work, she made a few calls.

He will be starting his new internship on June 1 as a cybersecurity analyst, earning $50 per hour. It will be a 12-week internship. She already told him that she would make sure he is offered a full-time position after graduation. The full-time job will pay around $150,000 per year.

This. Amazing things can happen when they get out of the basement and off the screens.

Some of my most successful colleagues are people who spent a lot of time working in the retail and food service jobs that seem to be passé amongst those in the DCUM crowd.

Anonymous wrote:Rising junior with no internship. Sent about 100 apps, 5 interviews and nada. Even used some of my connections but did not yield fruit. Will return to retail job from last summer and take a class. Sucks.

That is the wrong approach

Other than one post-freshman summer camp job for one kid, every internship our kids have gotten in college has been due to them getting to know faculty, meeting with advisors, using their college search database/career center, and talking to upperclassmen. They have never been unemployed nor have they needed help from family because we are not in their various interest areas.
We help friend’s kids in our field but those spots are usually gone by winter break.
Here is the pattern and while it is true across all schools there are certain school cultures where peers encourage each other to always be focused on resume building: the early bird gets the worm. They start fall semester or even the summer before. Spring semester professors are helpful when nothing has emerged. Every one of their peers at their ivies had a job every summer after sophomore year, related to their field of interest. Almost none were family connections after freshman summer. Some are highly prestigious and competitive national or international positions, others are research spots with a professor at thr home university offered because they have good grades and got to know the professor, others have easier to get school-based opportunities outlined below.
Non-research summer jobs at colleges give preference to students and include working at academic camps, being an RA for high schoolers, working in marketing for the university for the summer. Many colleges have summer travel internships with funding, often applications are over winter break.
All of these are resume builders and better than waitressing/bussing. All of them require paying attention early and applying early in spring semester though the schools usually fill them much later than the typical competitive application wave that starts in August and goes through December or early January.
Unfortunately parents can’t help much, it is up to the students.

Rising junior with no internship. Sent about 100 apps, 5 interviews and nada. Even used some of my connections but did not yield fruit. Will return to retail job from last summer and take a class. Sucks.

Anonymous wrote:My college rising senior was very depressed that he did not receive any internship offers this year. He came home during spring break and played indoor pickleball in Annandale. He played with an older woman who is an executive at a government contracting company. She really enjoyed playing with and against him, and after hearing that he was still looking for work, she made a few calls.

He will be starting his new internship on June 1 as a cybersecurity analyst, earning $50 per hour. It will be a 12-week internship. She already told him that she would make sure he is offered a full-time position after graduation. The full-time job will pay around $150,000 per year.

Great! Esp since his experience and actual abilities are irrelevant to the offer. How the world works…

My rising senior didn’t get an internship on her own, but her college provided her with an opportunity to work with an organization in a major related field starting in July. Instead of getting paid she’ll get stipend and academic credits.

Anonymous wrote:My college rising senior was very depressed that he did not receive any internship offers this year. He came home during spring break and played indoor pickleball in Annandale. He played with an older woman who is an executive at a government contracting company. She really enjoyed playing with and against him, and after hearing that he was still looking for work, she made a few calls.

He will be starting his new internship on June 1 as a cybersecurity analyst, earning $50 per hour. It will be a 12-week internship. She already told him that she would make sure he is offered a full-time position after graduation. The full-time job will pay around $150,000 per year.

Is this for a defense contractor like Lockheed? Or is it for a consulting company like Booz or Deloitte that does work for one of those, or the government?

My college rising senior was very depressed that he did not receive any internship offers this year. He came home during spring break and played indoor pickleball in Annandale. He played with an older woman who is an executive at a government contracting company. She really enjoyed playing with and against him, and after hearing that he was still looking for work, she made a few calls.

He will be starting his new internship on June 1 as a cybersecurity analyst, earning $50 per hour. It will be a 12-week internship. She already told him that she would make sure he is offered a full-time position after graduation. The full-time job will pay around $150,000 per year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My rising senior in college has never had a job. Not even retail. Tried for weeks last year and never was hired. Taking classes this summer once again. Has also gotten an EMT certification after not getting a job a few years ago.

That means they aren’t even trying. My kid had an internship all three summers. A LOT (dozens) of applications and interviews.

NP. Smug people like you are who give DCUM a bad reputation. You have no idea what OP’s child did to get hired.

One of my relatives got an internship in March--by May it was rescinded due to "a change in hiring needs."

My kid’s friend dressed up nicely and went to multiple stores in the mall. Got several interviews this way.

Anonymous wrote:Daughter getting ready to come home for the summer - with no job lined up
Wondering how common of a scenario this is.

Mine has a job working for free ("Shadowing"). It sucks but DC needs a couple hundred hours to even be considered for grad school.

A couple of years ago, my rising second year (but a junior due to the number of credits) couldn't get an internship. They found some leadership training program offered by a company that they took part in online. They said it was meh, but that segued into a great internship the following year with that company.

This year, they had five internship offers, including a return offer from that company (which they declined because the other companies were much higher caliber).

So, take heart, and tell your kids to get involved as much as they can. It's a door that they can open for the future.

Mine just finished freshman year. No paid job just yet but taking an online class and doing some volunteer work for a local non-profit that is related to her major. Applied for a number of internships that she didn't get and no responses to any of the local part-time minimum wage jobs that she applied for yet.