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Where do I go from here after graduating with no internship experience??
Hello,
I am at a huge disadvantage after graduation. I'm graduating with a BS in Software Engineering but i don't have internship experience. I have tried applying countless of jobs all to get 2 interviews out of it.
Where do I go from here to get more chances on landing more interviews?
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6 answers
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Liam’s Answer
Hey Kennan, you still have time to prepare for a career even after you graduate. Try to get with a company that maybe has a position in your field but try to get an entry level job there. A company is going to be more open to you growing into your field if you are already working with them and prove competent in a different position.
The myth about jobs out of college is you graduate and then immediately go to work doing the one thing you have a degree in. Take some time, get a job that is making some money because (congrats on your degree!) you are a college graduate and you can do more than just that one task!
Try to get into the conversation. Maybe try getting involved with an open source project and then use that as a place to move from. Try to get in a crowd of people that work your job at a convention or career fair. Use your resources to stand out of the crowd. No matter what KEEP TRYING! If your resume isn't getting you interviews, maybe change it. Something like finding 5 resumes that got someone a job and comparing it to yours making adjustments to it based on what you know works would help. Maybe uploading your resume and their resumes to an LLM and asking to compare and suggest will help (after removing all PII of course!).
An internship is just one opportunity and it is not a closed door, just remember that!
One last thing, forgot to mention. Resume templates that were pretty standard about ten years ago are no longer really valid today. Resumes are scanned by the thousands in seconds by LLMs and automated systems and are rejected in the hundreds. If you have information in vertical columns, that may be an automatic reject before anyone ever sees it. Paper resumes are no longer a thing really so anything that looks nice on paper really won't translate to an automated service. Think about your physical layout like you are a scanner translating everything with OCR. Simple fonts, simple sentences, spaces around dates, anything you can think of that would make it scan easily and best get your information looked at.
The myth about jobs out of college is you graduate and then immediately go to work doing the one thing you have a degree in. Take some time, get a job that is making some money because (congrats on your degree!) you are a college graduate and you can do more than just that one task!
Try to get into the conversation. Maybe try getting involved with an open source project and then use that as a place to move from. Try to get in a crowd of people that work your job at a convention or career fair. Use your resources to stand out of the crowd. No matter what KEEP TRYING! If your resume isn't getting you interviews, maybe change it. Something like finding 5 resumes that got someone a job and comparing it to yours making adjustments to it based on what you know works would help. Maybe uploading your resume and their resumes to an LLM and asking to compare and suggest will help (after removing all PII of course!).
An internship is just one opportunity and it is not a closed door, just remember that!
One last thing, forgot to mention. Resume templates that were pretty standard about ten years ago are no longer really valid today. Resumes are scanned by the thousands in seconds by LLMs and automated systems and are rejected in the hundreds. If you have information in vertical columns, that may be an automatic reject before anyone ever sees it. Paper resumes are no longer a thing really so anything that looks nice on paper really won't translate to an automated service. Think about your physical layout like you are a scanner translating everything with OCR. Simple fonts, simple sentences, spaces around dates, anything you can think of that would make it scan easily and best get your information looked at.
Thank you for the advice, Liam.
Kennan
Updated
Martha D.’s Answer
Hi Kennan.
I can understand your frustration and concern, but Liam has given you terrific advice. I also agree that you will find your way. A few more thoughts:
- Have you fully used the career center on campus? There should be someone there who could review your resume and LinkedIn profile. They may also be able to connect you to alumni in your field. The alumni may not know about an immediate job but you could learn from their professional journey, and they may hear of a job later or help you network further.
- Maybe you could build your portfolio through volunteer work. It will feel good being productive and will give you something to discuss in interviews. And, again, you never know who knows whom.
- Tell everyone you know what you are looking for. That includes other students, relatives, neighbors, etc. Understand that there may not be visible results right away. A conversation I had did not produce for months, but eventually led to a terrific opportunity.
- Be active on LinkedIn, meaning posting about your field or responding to others. More activity will highlight you more to recruiters.
Wishing you good luck!
I can understand your frustration and concern, but Liam has given you terrific advice. I also agree that you will find your way. A few more thoughts:
- Have you fully used the career center on campus? There should be someone there who could review your resume and LinkedIn profile. They may also be able to connect you to alumni in your field. The alumni may not know about an immediate job but you could learn from their professional journey, and they may hear of a job later or help you network further.
- Maybe you could build your portfolio through volunteer work. It will feel good being productive and will give you something to discuss in interviews. And, again, you never know who knows whom.
- Tell everyone you know what you are looking for. That includes other students, relatives, neighbors, etc. Understand that there may not be visible results right away. A conversation I had did not produce for months, but eventually led to a terrific opportunity.
- Be active on LinkedIn, meaning posting about your field or responding to others. More activity will highlight you more to recruiters.
Wishing you good luck!
Updated
Gregory’s Answer
Focus on consistently practicing with Leetcode and the Blind 75 question set to prepare for technical interviews. While practice projects help build your skills, remember that applying for interviews is also important and time-consuming. Keep applying and don't give up. Regularly update your resume and consider using AI tools to improve it. Many people find software engineering jobs without internships, including myself, so I understand the stress. Just keep trying.
Review your resume for improvements, reach out to recruiters of companies you submit your resume to, and continue to study leet code progressing to a Medium/Hard problems.
Gregory recommends the following next steps:
Updated
Justin’s Answer
Understand! It is so competitive to get a new job recently. I got new job a month ago and I can give you a advice for your work. You can text me or send email.
Updated
Vianne’s Answer
I was in a similar situation, so you're not alone. Many new graduates don't get internships right away, so it's important to create your own experience. Start by building 2–3 projects that mimic real-world work, like a small web app, an API, or a mobile app. Share the code on GitHub and include a few bullet points explaining what you built and the technology you used. Also, treat your best class projects as experience, especially if they involved teamwork, version control, or real users.
Keep applying for jobs, but focus on smaller companies and local businesses. Reach out to engineers and recruiters on LinkedIn to see if they have junior or contract positions available. Meanwhile, practice coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank every day to prepare for interviews. It might feel slow and frustrating at first, but keep improving your portfolio and applying for jobs. With a few months of focused effort, you'll start getting more interviews. You're not falling behind at all.
Keep applying for jobs, but focus on smaller companies and local businesses. Reach out to engineers and recruiters on LinkedIn to see if they have junior or contract positions available. Meanwhile, practice coding challenges on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank every day to prepare for interviews. It might feel slow and frustrating at first, but keep improving your portfolio and applying for jobs. With a few months of focused effort, you'll start getting more interviews. You're not falling behind at all.
Karin P.
Lecturer, Academic Advisor, Career Coach, Mentor
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Karin’s Answer
Hi Kennan,
The job market is so competitive right now, it's crazy! So, don't feel too bad that you haven't got internship experience yet. You got 2 interviews, so that shows that you are still competitive. In the end, it only takes one acceptance to get a foot in the door.
If you haven't done so yet, visit your university's career center and your department to see if they can be of any help with contacts. Check with your professional societies if they have any listings for internships or educational opportunities. Let your network know that you are looking. Also, let someone look over your application materials to see if anything can be improved in how you present yourself in your CV and motivation letter.
Your top priority right now should be to work on a portfolio of your work. You can start with projects you may have worked on in college. Document your process, explain how you tackle a problem and work towards a solution. If you can put that online so you can point potential employers to it, that would be great.
Look for small projects that you can work on on your own. Maybe there is a small business or an NGO in your area that could use some help. Maybe you have an idea for a software project that solves a problem. Document those projects and add them to your portfolio.
Examine your current skill set and see if there is a gap that can be easily filled by taking an online course and earning a certificate. There is a lot online and some of it is free too.
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP
The job market is so competitive right now, it's crazy! So, don't feel too bad that you haven't got internship experience yet. You got 2 interviews, so that shows that you are still competitive. In the end, it only takes one acceptance to get a foot in the door.
If you haven't done so yet, visit your university's career center and your department to see if they can be of any help with contacts. Check with your professional societies if they have any listings for internships or educational opportunities. Let your network know that you are looking. Also, let someone look over your application materials to see if anything can be improved in how you present yourself in your CV and motivation letter.
Your top priority right now should be to work on a portfolio of your work. You can start with projects you may have worked on in college. Document your process, explain how you tackle a problem and work towards a solution. If you can put that online so you can point potential employers to it, that would be great.
Look for small projects that you can work on on your own. Maybe there is a small business or an NGO in your area that could use some help. Maybe you have an idea for a software project that solves a problem. Document those projects and add them to your portfolio.
Examine your current skill set and see if there is a gap that can be easily filled by taking an online course and earning a certificate. There is a lot online and some of it is free too.
I hope this helps! All the best to you!
KP