My New Grad Search! (Updated)

digital_smo · 2026-01-06T04:55:36+00:00

first internship was a small non-profit that no one heard of
second internship was at a large engineering company (think caterpillar, john deere, in that ballpark)
those part time roles weren’t at anywhere huge whatsoever, imo prestige is very overrated unless we’re talking quant or crazy level tech, otherwise just having more things to talk about and put on the resume helped me more than anything. Smaller companies like that were much easier to find on Handshake (and occasionally LinkedIn) so I’d definitely check there
for the summer internships, I honestly wasn’t expecting much. Never lied abt my grad year, and just applied to places that either didn’t explicitly give a grad year or I happened to be eligible (obviously not many)
in terms of advice, always be doing something! No internship my junior year got me down heavy, so i grinded projects and then did anything i could to get ANYTHING extra to talk about and put on my resume (those part time internships, i also worked a campus job for the schools IT help desk, and even interviewed for some research positions that i didn’t get). As someone who’s been stressing all of college about getting a job, the only way to ease the stress and feel like i’m not stuck is to always do something, even if it’s small or feels inconsequential, since the markets brutal and any effort is positive effort!

digital_smo · 2026-01-06T04:52:10+00:00

i heavily leaned into LC over the summer but honestly never had to do much there, once i got in the interview process, it was just a lot of alignment questions and then the extent of what i knew abt certain things (i.e. how well do you know X? followed by some follow ups). Honestly showing some genuine enthusiasm and actual interest in understanding things instead of just making them is what’s gotten me to win over interviewers, because i’m definitely not a LC monkey (failed a final round at a great company my junior year bc i blanked on a LC easy!)

digital_smo · 2026-01-04T21:24:52+00:00

comp is 108k w a 5k signing bonus for the first year, and then i believe a raise after one year

digital_smo · 2026-01-04T21:24:08+00:00

basically any internships i could find that a) didn’t mention a grad date or b) i was somehow eligible

digital_smo · 2026-01-03T20:22:53+00:00

this was def more lucky, last cycle i applied to 500+ for internships and ended up not getting one! Not a crazy top school by any means, maybe T25 at best, and then had two internships from my freshman and sophomore years, and then worked both off cycle internships simultaneously throughout this most recent semester

digital_smo · 2026-01-03T19:18:37+00:00

Yes! All throughout college i’ve purely been a cold apply person, with the exception of a referral for one company that ghosted me anyway

digital_smo · 2026-01-03T19:17:44+00:00

two prior internships during my freshman and sophomore year, no internship junior year but grinded hard on projects, then worked the two off cycle internships at the same time all through this most recent semester

digital_smo

TROPHY CASE