so i spent basically all of last fall applying to internships and getting ghosted or rejected. sent out probably 150+ applications before i finally landed something. figured id share what actually made a difference in case anyone else is in the grind right now.
stop mass applying blindly. i know everyone says to spray and pray but genuinely tailoring your resume to each role (at least the ones you actually want) made my callback rate go way up. even just switching around bullet points and swapping keywords made a difference.
your resume format matters more than you think. one page, clean, no graphics. ats systems are picky. i switched to a simpler format and started getting way more responses.
OA prep is its own skill. i was getting interviews but bombing the online assessments early on. they are nothing like leetcode grinding in a low pressure environment. timed practice helps a lot. i used internquest.app for this and it was genuinely useful, has breakdowns of what specific companies tend to ask and lets you simulate the pressure of a real OA.
behavioral rounds matter. i was so focused on coding that i completely neglected this. star format your stories and practice saying them out loud.
apply early. like actually early. september-october for summer internships. i know everyone knows this but i still see people starting in january wondering why everything is closed.
hope this helps someone. feel free to ask questions if you are in the middle of recruiting rn