Am I normal? Am I not doing enough online networking? I see people landing jobs online while I'm out here not getting one.
Mechanical engineering student here.
I have had 4 internships. The 5th one, I landed from summer 2024.
I didn't put any efforts in applying for full-time jobs during undergrad because I was betting on that one contractor's job offer promise. That man offered me an internship after I received my 5th internship so I explained to him that I already accepted someone else's offer. November 2025, I contacted that contractor. Told him I'd be graduating soon. I got the $95k offer. I negotiated to $100k. I lost it. Yes, I probably deserve it.
December 2025. I graduated. Went straight for master's in mechanical engineering. Still working 40/hours per week on my internship. Although I was making $40/hr, the job itself has been slowly draining me. I was always on top of my game. And I see that my full-time coworkers and some interns have started to resent me. With this economy, there's not a bunch of task for all of us to do. Rarely any contracts. Rarely any applicants. Thus, the learning environment is almost gone. Repetitive. No growth opportunity. Still, I am surviving and have learned to slow down my pace just enough not to get laid off. I have learned not to attract people's attention, and act dumb at times.
From December 2025 to May 2026, I have applied to full-time jobs. I also applied to part-time jobs and got two part-time jobs. Yes, I was willing to accept $70k a year full-time job offer. I kept getting interviews, but the companies kept accepting other people. For the entire month of March 2026, I went on a month long vacation. 2 weeks focusing on my master's degree and 2 weeks in another country. Now, I returned. I got some interviews. I haven't put much effort in applying. But I'll be doing it now.
I feel afraid of rejections. Also, there's a time limit to my internship: June 30th.