Bad luck with the intern search...

Question

Here we are in late February and the recruiting season is about to come to a screaching halt.

After applying and interviewing with seven companies over the past two months, here are my dismal results:

One prominent retail chain: Ding without interview.

Two consulting firms: Both dings without interviews

One prominent commercial real estate GCS: Phone interview (conference call) with a sour ending.

One local product manufacturing firm: Interview followed by a ding.

One small private niche manufacturer: Successful phone screening with in-person interview next week.

The software company in Redmond: Waitlisted for second round interview.

What the #$%#?? Half of my colleagues already have (at least) one offer and that was after just interviewing with a few different firms. This is really getting at my nerves. Anybody else having a hard time locking in an offer? Any suggestions??

westsider · Answer

Have you tried the local Global coffee company?
(I take it you are at Foster?)

lepium · Answer

Matt, my only suggestion is keep trying. At one point, you may want to go for the "any job I can create a good story about come 2nd year recruiting" but I don't think we are there yet (the time for that would be May). Try and get advice from career coaches, 2nd years or anyone you may have access to. Maybe it's just bad luck or maybe there's some aspect(s) of your candidacy that you could address.

If it helps, I'm yet to get a job. I have a few 2nd rounds lined up and some dings, but I need to ramp up the application process over the weekend as my options are not enough.

Last, but not least, don't despair. I know this is easier said than done, but it's only a summer job and you can always re-start from scratch next year. One interesting factor, if you are interested in consulting, is that full time jobs are easier to get than summer jobs. The theory is that there's more demand and less supply for full time consulting positions than for summer ones.

L.

pelihu · Answer

Keep working at it. There are still a lot of people looking for jobs, and still a lot of great job waiting to be filled. It might be a good idea to examine your interview technique and perhaps get another opinion on how your resume looks from people familiar with your target industries. Good luck.

rhyme · Answer

GMAT773,

PM me....

You are not alone.

GMATT73 · Answer

Thanks for the support guys. One mistake I was consistently making was applying to only firms that post on e-recruiting. As soon as a recognized firm announces a position (one or two), twenty or so classmates send over their resumes within 24 hours. Philips posted an international marketing position (that's right, ONE intern position) and we had 15 people apply.

Guess it's time to broaden the scope and stop relying on our Business Connection Center to hold my hand.

(To the above poster, the coffee folks already got their finance interns and will be coming back in early march for marketing, though I frankly have little interest working there.)

Lepium- you are absolutely right, many more consulting positions available after graduation. Many consulting firms up here don't even hire for summer interns.

OasisNYK · Answer

You definitely are not alone - I am still looking myself (my industry hires late also) but they do not recruit at my school either.

I think peli's advice is correct. I have had many interviews and many dings - although a lot of it has been "fit" that basically comes down to you dont have the experience or we didnt like the way you interviewed.

togafoot · Answer

chin up. There will be plenty more chances. I`ve already started my internship hunt, and i haven`t even started b-school yet! Sent my first speculative e-mail yesterday :shock:

westsider · Answer

hey GMATT73 - any updates on your internship search?

gmatmba · Answer

I can definitely relate to you. While we just started our summer recruiting season 2 weeks ago, it seems like there is a high percent of students who apply to any/all internship positions posted to get multiple offers. We even have students who have already secured finance internships attending the consulting presentations and throwing in applications. But the key is to make adjustments in your application and keep trying.

westsider · Answer

Hey 73? What is the good word? Hopefully things are all worked out now?

Bad luck with the intern search...

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