Fishing in an empty lake🎣 – what the majority of my peers are experiencing as they hunt for internships. The atrocities of the current job market have influenced my friends to censor words like j*b and int*rnship (so please excuse my french throughout this post!🤭).
Is this post relevant to you first-year students? Don’t be tricked into believing internship prep starts in Part II… how you spend your time this year could be key to your job-hunting success. Today I shall unpack the avenues you can explore to get ahead of your cohort and set yourself up to graduate in four years’ time!🎓
Having an average to low GPA is a huge disadvantage
Grades do not define your worth or determine your value in industry.❌
From my encounters in the electrical, computer systems and software sectors, I have figured out that every engineering organisation has a different set of standards. Each company has a unique way of prioritising📃 the qualities they search for in future employees.
Quite often, trade, technical and specialised firms hire book-smart students,📚 who have proven their capabilities through academic merit. These companies may use transcripts to filter their high volume of applicants. They tend to run technical interviews where you may get quizzed on theory, or if you are applying for a software role you may be asked to solve a programming challenge.🧑💻
On the flip side, consulting and cross-functional organisations prioritise soft skills…😊 your values, goals, and willingness to learn. These companies commonly ask generalised questions to gauge how your personality and work ethic would align with their team. Having a strong academic background is not essential to getting your foot in the door with these organisations, however your grades will be taken into consideration.
Both types of internships are extremely competitive, however the importance of your academic success💯 is dependent on where your interests lie and which type of company you would like to work for in the future.
You cannot secure a job without connections
You will see many of your fellow engineers’ names be passed directly to hiring managers through their family connections.🔗 If you are privileged to have these connections… USE THEM – and don’t feel like you are taking advantage. The connections who choose to help you are your sponsors; they see potential within you.🧐 At the end of the day, companies will only hire you if they believe you could benefit their team. Make the most of your privilege and if this leads you to an opportunity, continuously strive to prove why you are deserving of it.🏆
I, like many of you, have no family connections in engineering with the power to help me secure an internship. But that’s the wonderful thing about being a university student – we have endless opportunities to grow our network.🕸️ How you go about doing this looks different for everyone!
Personally, I joined many engineering clubs where I met older students who have given me wonderful application advice. Although older students enter the workforce as graduates, they are surprisingly keen to help us out🤝 as they know what it is like to be in our shoes. One Part IV friend I made in my first year even offered to give me a referral for a role I was interested in. So, although we may join clubs with the intention of developing skills or socialising, you may end up unknowingly building a network which will set you up for the rest of your engineering career!🚀
The other way I successfully made new connections was through in-person networking at career expos and club events.🙋♀️ How does one go about networking? Unfortunately, there is no step-by-step guide to magically🪄 transform you into a networking expert. The key is to leave a strong impression of yourself and show your genuine interest in a company – this means talking more than you may feel comfortable with,🗣️ demonstrating that you are actively engaged,🧏 and asking a multitude of relevant questions.❓
To really tie the networking knot,🪢 it is essential that you reconnect with your industry connections. This could be through a follow up LinkedIn message🤳 or by intentionally seeking🔍 them out for a chat at future expos and events that you both attend. I have watched people walk up to industry representatives and request to connect on LinkedIn, having no intention of making any small talk whatsoever. This is equivalent to walking up to a stranger on the street and asking for their snapchat.🤨 Having 500+ LinkedIn connections will not secure you any internships so make the extra effort to build a genuine relationship with the people you network with. Step outside your comfort zone… this could open the door to your first internship!😉
You only get ahead if you have engineering experience
Intern hirers are not oblivious to the fact that students have no industry engineering experience. And in my opinion, I don’t believe having general work experience is significantly beneficial either.🤷♀️
DO PERSONAL ENGINEERING PROJECTS!💥 I completely underestimated how valuable these could be, and as a first year student, this is the best way to give yourself an advantage. Furthermore, if you are interested in specialising in the electrical, computer systems and software departments, employers love to discuss relevant projects you have worked on outside of university. These projects demonstrate genuine passion❤️🔥 for your engineering craft and show you have made extra effort💪 to develop skills you cannot grow through university alone. If you don’t feel equipped with the tools to start your own project reach out to TA’s and lecturers for guidance, or consider signing up to contribute to a club project or entering a competition using tools relevant to your degree. These are all wonderful things that will help your resume shine✨ amongst a sea of applications.
For the companies that prioritise your characteristic qualities, you can set yourself apart by taking up leadership roles👑 within university or doing voluntary work. These give you unique skills and experiences to add to your resume and use as examples during interviews.💬
It’s actually super duper easy to secure internships – everyone is so dramatic
I bet you’ve never heard this one… well neither have I! Securing your internship hours can be the most stressful🥵 part of our engineering degree. Even though you may do everything right, it is so easy for applications to get overlooked due to factors outside of our control.
No matter how positive and selfless you may be, it can feel disheartening💔 to watch your friends receive interviews and internship opportunities, whilst you are seeing rejection after rejection pile up in the inbox. If you don’t secure an internship in Part II, embrace this!🥳 Enjoy having more relaxation time than your interning peers, and productively spend your free summer working on an engineering passion project of genuine interest.
I am a firm believer that if things do not work in your favour, it is because something better must be waiting around the corner.🤞 Stay resilient and patient. Continue exploring the methods I suggested in this post… and you will complete your hours eventually!
Good luck engineering on… I’ll see you in the next one!🤗