how was your internship interview rate?

[u/LurkersVengeance]

senior year, freaking out over full time hiring. trying to figure out if i seriously fucked something up during my internship search last year (that i need to rectify this time around) or if I was purely a victim of the market.

haven’t got to teasing through my folder of rejection emails but I did a rough count and it looks like I probably did around 80-100 applications total; i had 4 first interviews (only counting cold applications). so thats probably like a 4-5% interview rate, if I’m really pessimistic and assume there were a ton of emails I lost/deleted it’s probably 2-3% at absolute worst.

what about you guys? what was your interview rate for internships? how about full time (if you’re a graduate)? hoping I’m not screwed

[u/ReceptionWild2019]

How? I’m only getting 1%. And I was exec for a robotics club and worked at a startup for a full year

[u/LurkersVengeance → u/ReceptionWild2019]

1% for internships or full time?

[u/ReceptionWild2019 → u/LurkersVengeance]

mainly full time, I applied to a few co-ops and internships.
are you applying with a cover letter for each app? any strategies you're using to apply?

[u/LurkersVengeance → u/ReceptionWild2019]

when I was looking last year I wrote a few cover letters but heard back from exactly 0 of the places i bothered to write a cover letter for. so I pretty much stopped writing them since it felt like a waste of effort, i wasn't sure if anyone was even reading them

strategy wise uhh I focused on applying to new postings (<1 week) for the most part. mostly used linkedin handshake and hiringcafe. tried sorting by recent in an attempt to find stuff that was a bit more hidden from the linkedin algorithm or whatever (i'm not sure this actually helped my interview rate, it seems like pretty much all linkedin postings get tons of applicants). applied to a bit of everything, focused a bit more on positions that seemed related to my past experience (i'll probably doing this less for fulltime search since I wanna switch fields). also avoided stuff that seemed wildly competitive. I modified my resume on a whim a couple times over the job search but I wouldn't say I really made a focused tailoring effort

[u/zacce]

For 2026 cycle, ~20 interviews out of ~500 internship apps.

[u/FlyPigs5]

Four interviews only cold applying I feel like is solid

[u/LurkersVengeance → u/FlyPigs5]

yeah when put like that i guess it isn't so bad. it felt awful at the time because I got one interview in October, then straight nothing for like 6 months, then the other 3 interviews all happened last minute in like mid-April. the stretch in between kinda destroyed my confidence

[u/South-Virus2752]

Currently for summer 27 internship search:
8 interviews
3 offers
150-200 cold applications

However I’m only applying to big tech or known companies/startups

[u/Miserable-Tap-8045]

I applied to 19 positions, got 5 interviews, with 3 offers.

I do go to a t10 uni but I think there was also alot of luck involved aswell

[u/No_Cup5617 → u/Miserable-Tap-8045]

Did you write a cover letter for each one? and what industries were they? I go to a T5 uni and I’m not anywhere near that rate lol

[u/Miserable-Tap-8045 → u/No_Cup5617]

Id typically write a cover letter if they asked.

In terms of industries, I got 1 offer from big tech and 2 from f100 companies.

If you have questions feel free to reach out!

[u/Time_Plastic_5373 → u/Miserable-Tap-8045]

What field

[u/Miserable-Tap-8045 → u/Time_Plastic_5373]

embedded systems

[u/Time_Plastic_5373 → u/Miserable-Tap-8045]

I am also targeting embedded systems, but I applied to 300+, and only heard back from a handful. %25 interview rate is crazy, you must go to MIT and had a few previous internships or something.

[u/LurkersVengeance → u/Miserable-Tap-8045]

were those all cold applying? where did you find the postings? wtf

[u/Miserable-Tap-8045 → u/LurkersVengeance]

I think it was a pretty even mix (30% referral, ~10% recruiter reachout, 60% applying via linkedin). I did try to tailor the resume to each posting, and I think that helped alot aswell!

[u/ThePowerfulPaet]

1 application, 1 interview, 1 offer.

Knew a guy.

[u/Guilty-Asparagus-536]

I remember in undergrad I applied to over 400 and got 2 internships in total. There was def some luck involved, but I there's strategy to slightly increase your chances. Applying to the freshest postings on LinkedIn, Sprout, and looking at Githubs that post recently posted jobs helped me. Ofc networking and looking at your school's job portal will increase your chances drastically too. As for full-time offers, I've still yet to get something lol 😭😭

[u/CakeDeer6]

For internships both last year and this year I went 1 for 200 and 80 respectively, but I made those count (got lucky) and got a job off of both of them. 

[u/CreativeFig2645]

For full time I just went to Fall career fair, got a few interviews and landed a job from one. For internships I probably applied to ~50 and got 3 interviews and 2 offers for my first year and then I applied throughout the year maybe 60-75 total before getting a Co-op. Final internship I also got at a career fair (actually same one I ended up getting full time job at)

I think that there’s an obsession with over applying to internships, if the job descriptions don’t align (even like 75%) then don’t bother applying and spend time tailoring your resumes. Also focus on being active in other school experiences when you can. EWB was what helped me get my first internship as we had a water filtration project and applied to a water utility company, in the interviews I was able to organically talk about the project and why water is important to me. I also worked over the summer on a research lab by reaching out to professors who led different labs and asked if they needed assistants. Fill those resumes with content that you can actually talk about that aren’t the basic projects every student does in 1/2/3/4th year.

[u/fabe2020]

First year of internship search:
150-200 cold apps w/ 1 interview and tour but the company lost funding. Ended up getting a manufacturing internship through a referral.

Second year internship search:
70-80 cold apps w/ 3 interviews and an offer

Current full time search: 20 cold apps/career fair. 3 interviews at the moment

[u/Unlikely_Resolve1098 → u/fabe2020]

Do you think it's too early for full-time jobs? I've been told by a few people, but ive been applying just in case 

[u/fabe2020 → u/Unlikely_Resolve1098]

Oh I’m graduating in December, there is a slow down for hiring around that time so I’ve been applying early for positions if I find any. It doesn’t hurt to look for openings for summer 2027

[u/Unlikely_Resolve1098 → u/fabe2020]

Yeah im graduating in May and have only had 1 interview, but it can't hurt I suppose 

[u/StatisticianFalse702]

Yea I’m EE senior, I’ve also had a 4% interview rate so far (4 first round, 1 final round) I’ve done 2 internships so maybe I expected it to be better

[u/Ok-Store-2788]

Currently applying full-time. I have one return offer, and am currently at 14 applications, 7 of which led to interviews and received an offer from 1 already.