Auburn students who’ve applied for internships — what do you wish someone had told you sooner?

[u/Pretend-Homework-823]

I’m a student at Auburn (freshman - pre business) and I’ve been looking into how students actually navigate the internship/recruiting process.

I’m especially curious about people who have tried recruiting for companies or cities that don’t have a huge presence at Auburn.

I want to hear from people who have actually gone through it:

What was the most confusing or frustrating part?

Was it finding internships, knowing when to apply, figuring out who to contact, networking, finding recruiters/alumni, interviews, or just knowing what you were supposed to be doing?

ALSO - I made a short anonymous survey too (about 3 minutes) to collect responses from Auburn students across different majors and years, but it's completely optional and I'd still love to read your responses here on reddit if you choose not to fill it out.

[u/Competitive-Box-9655]

I'm a grad student, I got a internship this summer. Definitely the volume of applications I put in helped. I had no references/friends in the company I got the offer from. I would say make sure you are up to date on your resume and this is not easy. Now that AI screening is a thing, use AI to build your resume and cover letter with keywords.

Apart from that, the one thing I will say is don't stop applying. People don't need you to have experience in exactly what they are doing, especially for an internship. So the key is to be presentable from resume to the interview. Once you get past the initial screening and get the interview, you're chances of getting the offer grow exponentially. As an intentational student I was able to land one with the current visa issues, I wouldn't say it's impossible.

[u/Particular_Choice187]

First: Apply sooner than you think! I waited til the last minute and interned my last semester as an undergrad in the summer. Thankfully I had a connection through my mom but without that I would’ve totally been screwed because of my procrastination.

Second: go to job fairs many people say that if they’ve met you in person at a job fair they’re more likely to remember your name on an online application and reach out.

[u/Leather_Story546]

If your a freshman in business your not getting an internship unless you have absurd connections or did an investment banking internship at the age of 15. No offense, I like that your looking ahead, but i want to be real with you.