u/Appropriate-Tutor587

Do not let anyone tell you to take an unpaid internship (those days are gone) instead of working in retail. Managers love ❤️ to see that a student is doing something (campus jobs, retail, fast food …, volunteering, and summer undergraduate research) besides studying 📚 and seeking solely an internship/career job.

Just because you are working in retail or employed on campus doesn’t mean it will stop you from landing an internship or a dream career job. Some people have 2-3 internships under their belt and still can’t make it to the industry after graduation. In contrast, others have never held any internship but have had retail work experience, summer undergraduate research, and volunteering work that landed them an internship and/or a FTE in the industry 🙏.

Working at a retail is temporary (not permanent), you build the momentum (standing, walking…), you get to be outside of your comfort zone, you get the hands on experience, you learn to communicate with people and solve problems/issues outside of academia (all of these are transferable skills), multitasking, reliable, trustworthy….. and it’s good to have on your resume (with a little bit of pocket money 💰 to save) than nothing to show for especially if you don’t have any volunteering and any internships or undergraduate research experience at all.

No matter how desperate you are, don’t take any unpaid internships. Thanks for reading this far.

Congrats 🎊🎉🍾🎈 to you all!

If you didn’t make the cut (for a start date in MAY), don’t despair. Reapply in Fall for next summer 2027 internships and co-ops, even if you will graduate in May 2027. Some companies still offer co-ops and internships to newly graduated students within 12 to 24 months. Don’t give up, and keep looking.

Don’t hesitate to also apply to other programs like summer undergraduate research programs, summer jobs, or any part-time jobs, whether it’s on campus or in retail, fast food, or a restaurant.

For those who got in, please feel free to give some advice below to encourage others: Did you get in because you attended a career fair, a conference, or via a referral? Did you get in because you were persistent, consistently applying nonstop, and interviewing? Did you get in by luck 🍀 because you clicked with the recruiter and hiring manager? Did you get in because you do better on a HireVue than with a face-to-face interview, or the other way around? Anything that you would suggest others do differently? Thank you.

Hi managers. Hope you are all doing great. Just wondering if you are all checking on your recruiters to make sure they are doing stellar work and doing right by candidates.

Most of the recruiters I found are having a hard time getting back to me, especially after they initiated the first contact to fill out a questionnaire. They are so “slow”/“irresponsive” that by the time they get back to you (over a month later), you've already done an interview and gotten an offer elsewhere 😞.

Please check on them by all means to make sure they are on top of their work and send any rejection emails when they're due or reply within 2-5 business days, or at least update the candidate’s status in Workday or whatever platform the company uses—just my 2 cents.

Thanks.