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Staying Strong During Internship Recruitment Season

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The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Purdue chapter.

Calling all career driven girls out there who are still awaiting an internship this summer, I was in your shoes 48 hours ago.

Being surrounded by go-getters is a blessing and a curse. I find myself extremely influenced by what other people around me are doing, which in this case translates to getting an internship. Being a junior in college, working an internship over the summer is more common, but I found myself to feel like a complete failure last year as a sophomore who could not land anything. Everyone around me was getting offers, even in the Fall and I was applying to anything and everything that seemed remotely applicable to my major. Same thing happened this year. There were more than 40 internships I applied to. The stress of feeling bad about myself and taking time out of my days to apply over getting schoolwork and studying done was crushing (both years) me.

I am here and beyond happy to say that two days ago I received my dream job. If you want to know a secret, I got that offer because I worked immensely hard and did not let my frustrations get to me. So if you are still searching and waiting on your dream company, or any job in general, I’m going to share my best tips and tricks to combating the stress, frustration and energy drain that it takes going through the interview process.

You just submitted an application. Congrats, almost. A majority of candidates are going to wait to hear back. YOU ARE NOT most candidates. Reach out to a recruiter as soon as possible. Big pro tip – sign up for LinkedIn Premium so you can connect and LinkIn with recruiters, people from your school that work at said company and anyone else you may want to message. Just remember to cancel that membership because I was sadly charged after mine expired. If you’re not sliding in on LinkedIn, research the companies and try an email to reach out to. Some companies will have a general talent acquisition/recruitment email. For my internship I was luckily able to find a list of actual recruiters which was most effective.

Now, you’ve finally secured an interview. Professionals will always tell you come prepared. But it never stuck with me so much. For every interview, I created a google doc with the companies top values and mission statement. Visit the about page for the company and that small bit of research is a good starting point when you’re crafting your idea of why that specific company stood out to you. You’re going to want to research news, what’s going on either with products, people, management, etc. Having a question related to the future of the industry shows you’ve researched and understand the field and company as well.

ALWAYS have questions. With every interview, you will be asked if you have questions. You. Have. Questions. Be curious and interested. Honestly this should not be hard. If you cannot think of anything you might want to ask, it’s probably not going to be a well suited job for you since you’re already not passionate about learning about the company.

Let’s talk about mental health. I believe this is the most crucial element to tackle going through this process. The idea of keeping an open mind is much easier said than done. I was rejected from so many internships that aligned with my exact career goals and what I thought I was qualified for. So instead of dwelling on the reasons I was a “failure,” “incapable,” “lesser,” etc., I wrote out a physical list of my strongest qualities as a person – academic, as a friend, as a daughter and sister, and as a human being in general. I encourage everyone to put this list somewhere visible to you every day. Keep it as a reminder that just because one company’s AI detector (because let’s be honest this is how they weed out a lot of candidates) did not love your resume, it does not mean that you’re not smart and can achieve your dream job.

Believe in yourself. I recognize that meditation is not for everyone, but I genuinely think it helped me get my dream summer internship. Every few days, sometimes after I worked out, sometimes in the morning, I put on a guided meditation for manifestation. Cultivating a positive and open mindset will 100% help you. I believe imagining yourself in a role and manifesting exactly what you want for your future will translate.

Best of luck to all you go-getter girl bosses out there. Breathe, speak slowly and confidently and know you have it in the bag. You’re going to land an amazing job.

Elle Hall

Purdue '25

Elle (said "L") is a sophomore at Purdue University where she is studying health communications and minoring in biology and French. When she's not writing for HerCampus, she loves to surf (at home in California), hike, camp, and drink lots and lots of kombucha and matcha. Elle is also a yoga instructor at Purdue's rec center!