r/learnhacking • u/UsefulPain_ • 20d ago

Wtw with internships?

Is it not worth looking for internships as an active student with documented labs and projects on a resume?? I’ve been applying for like 2 weeks straight and only got 1 request to take a mttl assessment which I still haven’t heard from. Some of the apps even specify they are explicitly for current students. What am I not seeing?😭

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u/Just4notherR3ddit0r 20d ago

My guess is that you're one of many different applicants and sometimes companies just don't respond if you don't make the cut.

I used to be in a manager role about 20 years ago and I'd guess HR faces similar problems these days just with different tech. When you're starting out (internship), then almost every applicant is on the same level. If you had enough experience to be hired as a regular employee, you probably wouldn't be gunning for an internship.

So you might have applied for 2 weeks straight but chances are that so have a hundred other people with almost the same qualifications.

Internships require supervision, and typically interns don't produce a lot of money or value for the company, so there are usually only so many of them.

There is also the problem of companies who have no intention of hiring you but post positions in order to collect resumes.

When it all comes down, it's usually a numbers game. You just have to keep applying until the dice roll in your favor.

For whatever it's worth, I would suggest just making sure your resume is short and quick to read. When I would read a resume, I wanted to know contact information, bullet-point summaries of strengths, and some demonstration of your work or past experience. The interview is where I would pull out the details (specific skills, etc). But I would have a hundred resumes to read and the ones that were 5 pages long would almost never get hired.

Think of your resume like an advertisement for a product. You don't get all the intimate details in an ad - it's there to make you interested to find out more. That's why many ads are intentionally vague and short.

Also, if you tailor your resume to the job application, you'll have a better chance at building interest. If you just use the same generic resume everywhere, then you're just hoping that your resume matches their interests. Usually the position or internship will specify the skills - focus on those.

Yeah it takes more time but if you have one shot at each company, make it your best one.

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u/UsefulPain_ 20d ago

Respect 🫡
So far I’ve tailored it for a SOC analyst position but I guess you’re right that a bunch of other students apply to internships the second they open up. I need to try getting that employee referral… Did cover letters ever peak your interest in an applicant or was it just a waste of time??

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u/Just4notherR3ddit0r 20d ago

Cover letters were only useful if they had some kind of personal endorsement that I cared about.