Internship Search…
Why is it so hard to find a job?
By Chanel Thorpe
If you’re anything like me, looking for an internship for the summer, you probably spend some time scrolling through LinkedIn. You might be looking for more job opportunities from the “job” tab, following people who share job opportunities, or maybe you’re consumed by looking at how many of your peers are hearing back from various companies about their positive internship application responses.
You might be tempted to wallow in the fact that you still don’t have an internship lined up for the summer or frustrated thinking back on how many places you have applied to but have yet to hear back from. Maybe you think about that latest “we regret to inform you…” email. Or maybe you hop to the next website/app to start applying for more jobs.
Why is it so hard to find a job? Let alone an internship? According to the Forbes article, Still Struggling to Find a Job? Here’s Why it is So Hard, Jack Kelly states that “research by human capital advisory firm Josh Bersin Company and workforce solutions business AMS found that the duration for global hiring is at an ‘all-time high.’” He also noted that the recruitment process now averages about 43 days, which sounds much better than what I’ve seen and experienced. When scrolling idly through Reddit forums such as r/internships and r/csMajors, I read horror stories about applications taking months to be reviewed or interviews having up to four rounds to land an internship. While it’s my first time looking for an internship and I’m unfamiliar with the process of landing a job taking such a long time, I still question whether or not the process should be so time-consuming. For a job as an associate or any higher position, I’d expect it as such, but not for an internship as a junior in college.
Are companies expecting too much? Are the industries getting harder in general? Or are there simply so many people applying that it takes a long time? Perhaps all of these questions are part of the real answer. As a data science student, I am used to competing with many talented and bright students. When applying on LinkedIn, for example, it is far too common to see that a position already has over 1000 applicants after just a few days. It can be quite disheartening to see that you weren’t an early applicant or the possibility that your application will get lost in the pool.
So what can you do? Well, unfortunately, I don’t think there is a solution to this problem. At least not in the grand scheme of things. The only thing you have the power or ability to do is to apply to as many places as you can, tailor your resume, connect with people from companies you’re interested in, and reach out. The internship search takes a while, there is no changing that, all you can do is keep trying and keep applying.
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