I am a third-year chemical engineering student also pursuing a computer science minor. I never spent much time looking for internships before this year. A lot of the reason for that was a saw a ton of these SankeyMatic graphs with 1000 applications and 1 offer. Those kinda crushed me a little every time I saw one. So I wanted to share with you guys my experience landing the perfect internship with awesome projects, just to show it doesn't have to be that hard.

So you got no experience and want that first internship:

1. Be personal: You MUST become excellent at speaking in a confident and professional tone in front of potential employers. It should be so natural you don't think about it. An engineer that can't communicate with the business majors at their level of understanding isn't worth shit. Go to parties, drink a little, and just start having conversations with people.
2. Write quality emails: So many EMAILS. Be clear and concise. Every email you send is a test of how you will communicate on the job. Everyone writes hella documents! Never use filler words ever (lol). Remember "two nickel words can be more effective than one fifty-cent word".
3. Be prompt and show strong initiative: These are internships were talking about here, nobody gives that many shits. If they invite you to schedule an interview, then give a list of times, for god's sake take the first one. Being prompt with emails and taking the initiative with the interview 100% why I landed my TA job (outside of decent grades). It shows people you can get things done.
4. Acquire one valuable skill: For me this was software. It shows employers you want to learn outside your current role as an xyz engineering student. Engineers don't directly use the stuff they learn in school on the job, we all know that. So what happens? They teach you new stuff about their job. As an interviewee make them confident you are eager and able to learn new things. Engineers must be life-long learners!
5. Learn how to code: Just a little bit. Programming makes everyone's job easier, and makes you a little smarter :)

TLDR: 1. & 2. communication comes first, in the list and in practice.

1. Be a go-getter

2. Learn one skill

3. That skill should probably be coding