Does it really take 100 applications to get an Internship?

There are so many Masters students in Germany, who apply for Internships, Werkstudent or Thesis in companies across Europe. But the one complaint that most of them tell is, it takes around 100 applications to get an internship/student position. Is that true? Should everyone struggle so much to get a student position at a company? I don’t think so and this article is about what I have experienced. 

NOTE: Some of the readers may have a difference in opinion and I duly respect it. I am no career expert or counsellor, but I guess others can learn something from my experience

I believe that most of you would have heard your friends and seniors telling that, it takes more than 100 applications to land in a student job. But, I would say that if you know to apply properly, then you will get the interview call-back easily and then, getting the position is based your performance in the interview.The problem with most of the students either doesn’t know where to look for openings or doesn’t know how to look for openings. The following points are some of the things that you can learn from my experience.

Fix on one particular skill set of yours:

You cannot be jack of all trades. Hone down on one particular skill set of yours and work towards it. From my experience, I can say that most of the companies do not expect much for the student position and thus if you can show the potential of a good candidate, then you have crossed most part of your candidacy. 

After narrowing down your expertise, it will be easier for you to look for openings. For example, when you have done projects on hardware verification with VHDL & System Verilog you cannot apply for openings which requires JAVA. So, you need to first narrow down your expertise and then start applying. I am sure that, in the above example apart from the hardware verification part you would have done many other projects; but the other skills doesn’t matter much, when you want to get into verification field. You can always put up the other skills as secondary set in your CV and Cover letter. 

Design your CV and Cover letter highlighting that skill set:

Your CV and Cover letter are the only documents that is going to sell your profile to the recruiter. After completing your CV and cover letter, show it to someone else and ask for their honest opinion. When someone else reads your documents for the first time, they will definitely find many mistakes and correcting those mistakes will do wonders for you. 

In my opinion, fixing on a particular skill will help the recruiting manager to narrow your application easily. For instance, as a student you cannot know all the programming languages; yet you will be good in a particular language, which will help you. Do not forget to read the job description and job requirements; if your profile doesn’t match for more than 3 requirements then, there is no use in applying for that position. 

Do not over-load your Cover letter with unwanted information:

I have seen many of my friends who include everything in their Cover letter. I would suggest quite the opposite. Include only what is needed for that position and nothing more; you can get an idea about this, when you read the requirements for the position. 

Highlight your career achievements/projects in bullet points, which will make it easier for someone reading your document for the first time. Keep it short and within one page. Since most of the applications are online, there is no need to signature. Also, in your cover letter do not miss to address the last two points in the requirements; which asks for communicative, independent, etc., 

Stop applying to every job position:

Applying to as many positions as you can is not going to get you the role. The only thing that you will get from it is, Frustration. When your expertise is in JAVA and you apply for a position in a mechanical firm, just because the role wanted the candidate to have a basic understanding of JAVA will not fetch you the job. When your friends tell that, more than 100 applications aren’t successful, this might be the case for most of the applications. 

Follow up your application:

Your efforts shouldn’t stop after applying to the position, it is always good to follow up. Follow up in the sense, not bombarding the HR with zillion emails; it is more of checking your status. Sometimes, it is better to directly call up the contact person and request for a status check. This one thing, recently landed me in an internship. A direct call really does wonders and on the other side you can get immediate reply, which will help you with controlling the frustration. Please understand that, sometimes the contact person will be busy and your application is not the only thing that they have to work on. 

Does it really take 100 applications to land in a student position?:

It takes 100 applications to land in a student position – A myth. If you find someone who says this, find that person and ask these questions:

a.      Did you analyze what is the problem with your applications?

b.      Was there any problem with your skills? Did you lack any important skills needed in that domain?

c.      Did you change your application style or format after maybe 30-40 applications? Because, clearly it wasn’t working out.

d.      Was all the 100 applications in same field and similar job roles?

It really doesn’t take 100 applications and I would say that, most of the students are ignorant and they just don’t look in the proper direction. For instance, a friend of mine is interested in automotive embedded field and thus he applied for Bosch, continental, etc., On the contrary, I am into hardware verification and I cannot apply to the same companies, which doesn’t function in my line of work. But, most of the students just look for openings in the same companies and in the end, complain about lack of opportunities and rejections. 

Once again, I clearly state that all the above said things are based on my experience and observation. Hopefully it would help some students to achieve their dreams and I am glad if you found this article useful. 

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