How To Stand Out In Engineering Internship Applications

Yesterday I reviewed around 600 applications. 600. Here’s the truth: when the volume is that high, small details make a big difference. If you want to stand out, here’s what actually catches a recruiter’s eye in the middle of a sea of resumes: 🔹 Tell me what the company does. You worked at "X Corp"? Cool — but I don’t know every company on Earth. A single line like “SaaS company focused on AI-powered logistics” helps me immediately understand the context of your role. 🔹 Stick to the classic format. There’s a reason the traditional resume layout still dominates. Don’t get “creative” with colors, shapes, or 3-column designs. I’m not hiring a graphic designer (unless I am). Keep it simple, clean, and scannable. 🔹 Give me numbers. “Improved efficiency” sounds fine, but “Reduced processing time by 28%” gives me a reason to believe you’re effective. Quantifiables always beat adjectives. 🔹 Tailor your resume to the job. Generic resumes get generic results. A brief, targeted summary at the top — aligned to the role — sets the tone. 🔹 Make your LinkedIn match. If your resume catches my eye, your profile is the next stop. Make sure it’s updated, aligned, and includes a headline that reflects what you actually do. Most of all? 🔸 Help me help you. The clearer your story, the easier it is to advocate for you. And that’s all most recruiters really want — a reason to move you forward.

A mentee of mine applied to 200+ software engineering internships in the last 3 months – here’s what you can learn from his experience  (He’s a master’s student in the USA, has strong skills, and I’ve been checking in with him every 2 weeks via text and calls.) 1️⃣ The numbers are brutal, but persistence matters   - He applied to 241 internships in 3 months.   - 117 companies ghosted him (no response at all).   - 88 companies rejected him outright after reviewing his application.   - Only 22 companies invited him for online assessments (OAs). - From those, he got 9 interviews and 2 job offers (Amazon + Autodesk). 💡 Lesson: It’s a numbers game. You will get rejected, a lot. But one offer is all you need. 2️⃣ The first 48 hours matter when applying - Some big-name companies closed applications within 48 hours of posting.   - The best way to stay ahead? Apply early and daily. - He used:   ○ GitHub repo: “Summer 2025 Tech Internships” (https://lnkd.in/gswGcUrG)   ○ Simplify.jobs – Job tracking and autofill applications ○ Swelist.com – Daily job postings sent via email 💡 Lesson: The earlier you apply, the better your chances. Set job alerts and apply as soon as listings go live.  3️⃣ Online assessments are a major filter   - Every OA took at least 1 hour.   - He failed 5 OAs outright but passed many others, only to get rejected later.   - The most frustrating experience? Getting a perfect OA score and still being rejected.  💡 Lesson: OAs are just the first step. Even if you ace them, companies may still reject you for other reasons (resume filtering, bad interviews, fit, etc.).  4️⃣ Interview preparation: go beyond Leetcode   - He spent 6+ hours in a library for 5-6 days before his Amazon final round.   - He used:     ○ Neetcode.io – A roadmap for coding interviews     ○ Leetcode cheat sheets – Writing down solutions & color-coding them based on difficulty     ○ https://lnkd.in/gY2pNcr8 – Filtering problems by company to study past questions  💡 Lesson: Don’t just solve problems: write down learnings, reinforce them, and study company-specific patterns. 5️⃣ Networking makes a difference - His first offer (Autodesk) came through a career fair, not an online application. - He had a great conversation with a recruiter, and they later reached out on LinkedIn to interview him. - One conversation led to a job offer. 💡 Lesson: Online applications aren’t enough, go to career fairs, reach out to recruiters, hiring managers and ask for referrals. 6️⃣ Rejections feel bad, but the outcome is worth it   - 200+ applications, 2 offers. That’s a 1% success rate.   - But he’s now interning at Amazon with a total comp of ~$55/hr this summer. 💡 Lesson: It only takes one “yes” to change everything. Keep going.  If you’re applying for internships/jobs right now, I know how exhausting it is. Rejections suck. Ghosting sucks. But stay consistent, use the right strategies, and don’t give up too soon.

📢 To everyone in the job market: You’re more than a resume. Searching for jobs is exhausting. The waiting, the rejections, the self-doubt… it can wear you down. But I want to remind you that your value is not measured by how many interviews you land. You bring experience, creativity, resilience, and a unique perspective that no job posting can fully capture. If you feel stuck in your job search, consider stepping outside the traditional apply-and-wait approach. Here are some out-of-the-box, creative ways to stand out: 🔷 Show, Don’t Just Tell  Instead of just listing skills, create something to showcase your expertise. A case study, a mock strategy, a personal website, or even a short video introduction can leave a lasting impression. Visual storytelling is powerful. 🔷 Engage, Don’t Just Apply  Comment on industry leaders’ posts, share insights on LinkedIn, or write about trends in your field. Thoughtful engagement can get you noticed before you apply. 🔷 Pitch Yourself Differently  Consider an interactive presentation, a short project proposal, or a creative storytelling approach that aligns with the company’s mission. Don’t just rely on a traditional cover letter. 🔷 Network Beyond the Obvious  Attend niche virtual meetups, contribute to industry online groups, or start your own professional roundtable discussions. Many opportunities arise from conversations, not job boards. 🔷 Reverse-Engineer Opportunities Identify companies you admire, research their challenges, and reach out with tailored ideas on how you can add value. Use design thinking and product management principles. Initiative speaks volumes, and you don’t have to wait for job postings. 🔷 Reverse Mentorship Offer to mentor someone within your target company, in an area where you have unique expertise. It builds relationships and positions you as a valuable contributor before you're even hired. 🔷 Personalized Impact Reports Instead of just a resume, create a short report outlining the impact you could have on a company based on your skills and research. Quantify your potential contributions. 🔷 Tell an Impactful Story You are not just looking for a job. You are looking for your next opportunity to create impact. Use the STAR method to tell your story about your great work and impact with a clear format about the Situation, Task, Action, and Result. Most importantly, keep going. With this intentional approach beyond what's on your resume, you're expanding your surface area of possibilities. New places, new people, an expanded network, a stronger brand about your work ethic and growth mindset... they all increase the likelihood of opportunities. And you’re more likely to find the right role where your skills, passions, and purpose align. What unique strategies have helped you stand out in your career journey? Share below and with someone in your network who is in the job market.

In the last 2.5 years, I’ve been on each side of the recruiting table, and each one is uniquely challenging - I was a grad student applying to full time roles and got ghosted from most - I looked to hire engineers for Headstarter earlier this year and got 15000+ applicants across 2 roles (see screenshots below), with hundreds following up everyday for a response - I’ve been serving as a recruiter for the past few months trying to get Headstarter Fellows hired at our partner companies, but got feedback that some of the folks we sent over weren’t good enough Being a student, it’s easy to overlook the intricacies of trying to hire engineers. With so many applicants, trying to filter them down becomes extremely challenging. Being a founder now I know how costly a bad hire can be. A bad candidate I send over to a company as a recruiter can also ruin my reputation. With this experience, here are my tips for how to stand out in the recruiting process: - 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹, 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗗𝗠 𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗲𝗱𝗜𝗻. Recruiters’ LinkedIn DMs get flooded with low quality, low signal outreach. My LinkedIn inbox is flooded with AI generated messages meanwhile my email inbox is open - 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆. Be intentional with where you want to work. Every single job posting gets thousands if not tens of thousands of applicants. Applying to roles via an aggregated job board means you put yourself in the same pool as 10k-100k+ people. If you want to get into a startup, email the founder(s) directly. If you want to get into big tech, email an engineer working there directly. The candidates who applied to work at Headstarter and emailed me or Yasin directly were able to get interviews. - 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲. When we were hiring engineers, every person reached out in a similar way “Hi I am a [X year] at [Y school] studying CS. Based on my skills and experiences, I think your company would be a great fit for me..” - If you truly want to stand out, mention any interesting projects you worked on that are relevant to the company, a technical blog you have, and/or your top 3 achievements. If you don’t have past internship experience, this is where having good personal projects comes into play. For my Founders out there, would love to know what made an applicant stand out to you 👇

Want to land a software engineer job in the next 3 months? Here is what you need to focus on! I know we have applied to thousands of roles and are still not moving forward to an interview or an offer. Here is a smart strategy to help you stand out. This is how it actually works: 1. Start building strong projects: Create at least one impactful project that showcases your skills. Post your projects on GitHub & LinkedIn to show real-world problem-solving skills. 2. Master data structures & algorithms (but don’t overdo it): Spend 2-3 hours daily on LeetCode or HackerRank. Focus on improving your problem-solving skills & learn to communicate your thought process clearly in interviews. 3. Revamp your resume & LinkedIn profile: Your resume should highlight impact, not just a task list. Add quantifiable achievements, skills, internships, and projects that showcase real skills. Create visibility by optimizing LinkedIn by starting to regularly post about your projects & learnings. 4. Network with purpose: Reach out to alumni and industry professionals for insights and career guidance. Engage in tech communities, virtual meetups, and LinkedIn webinars to build genuine connections. Be thoughtful when requesting referrals, focus on adding value, not just asking for help. 5. Practice mock interviews regularly: Set up weekly coding & system design interviews with peers or mentors. Prepare for behavioral interviews, your communication equally matters as much as your coding skills. Record your practice sessions to improve your responses. Finally, your action plan: Pick one major project to complete within the next 4-6 weeks. Dedicate consistent daily time for coding, mock interviews, networking, and learning. Keep applying strategically while improving your skills. The next 90 days can shape your career!! What is the first step you are taking today? Drop it in the comments! 👇 Follow Lakshmi & Everyone Who Codes (EWC) for daily tech job updates, career insights, and the latest opportunities! Everyone Who Codes (EWC) has a simple mission: to guide engineers to find a job! DM me for any questions or mentoring support! #softwareengineer #softwaredeveloper #jobsearch #jobs #layoff #interview #newgrads #hiring #hiringalert #internship #jobsearch #engineering ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 🙋♀️ I am Lakshmi Marikumar, founder of Everyone Who Codes (EWC), I have guided over 1000+ engineers!

Everyone has been asking me how to get offers at companies like Dell & Tesla I don't go to a top 500 school. I'm an immigrant, so I don’t have uncles at these companies. But I still landed internships at Dell and Tesla, here's how: 1. Hustle, Hustle, Hustle - When I was a freshman, I did everything on campus. Joined every organization, went to every career event, signed up for LinkedIn, Handshake, and even some random platforms my school pushed. This helped to get the attention of professors and faculty. So when a national competition came up (HBCU Battle of the Brains), they nominated me to represent the school. We ended up placing 2nd nationwide, Dell was a sponsor, and a recruiter passed my resume to a hiring manager. That’s how I got the internship. 2. Projects - Do interesting stuff. I'm CEO of Sorce, so I’ve seen thousands of resumes. Everyone has a LangChain chatbot now - that won’t make you stand out. My Tesla manager said the only reason he interviewed me was because of a side project: a tool for detecting AI-generated text right after ChatGPT launched. Do projects that you care about and is interesting. Even better, work on something that's useful and people use. 3. Conferences - Go to conferences and hustle. I got the Tesla internship by handing my resume to a Tesla recruiter at AFROTECH - simple as that. I didn’t even think I was going to be a top candidate, but I shot my shot. Attend every conference you can. Sneak in if you have to. No shame in trying. 4. Numbers - Don't forget the numbers game. Every new application you send is a new shot at goal and increases your odds of getting the internship. It's a marathon. So keep applying for roles, keep connecting with people on linkedin and keep editing your resume. This is also why we built https://lnkd.in/etr6msZG, it's basically AI to help you apply for jobs faster. If there's any other tip I might have missed, please add it in the comments! If you liked this, repost.

I recently received a job application that stood out immediately - not because of extraordinary qualifications, but because the candidate included a brief video cover letter.   In just 60 seconds, this candidate accomplished what a traditional resume simply cannot: • Demonstrated genuine enthusiasm for the specific role • Showcased communication skills and professional presence • Highlighted relevant experience with personal context • Conveyed personality and cultural fit potential   For those not yet comfortable on camera, a thoughtful pre-interview note can serve a similar purpose.   This approach allows you to: • Highlight your most relevant skills and experiences • Explain specifically why you're interested in this particular role • Demonstrate that you've researched the company and understand its challenges • Address potential questions about your background proactively   What struck me most about this candidate's approach wasn't the production quality - it was the initiative it represented.   In a competitive job market, this small additional effort signals a willingness to go beyond minimum requirements.   The candidates who consistently advance aren't always the most technically qualified on paper.   They're often the ones who demonstrate the most genuine interest and initiative throughout the process.   What creative approaches have you used or seen to stand out during the application process?   Check out my newsletter for more insights here: https://lnkd.in/ei_uQjju   #executiverecruiter #eliterecruiter #jobmarket2025 #profoliosai #resume #jobstrategy #applicationstrategies #jobsearchdifferentiation #personalbranding #hiringprocess

I went through 150 applications and 19 interviews to land my first three paid internship offers and, ultimately, my first internship. Here's my exact roadmap for searching, applying, and interviewing for your 1st internship: I literally spent 30+ hours per week figuring out the internship search, while balancing it with 17 credits worth of engineering coursework. They say job searching is a full-time job, but how does that work when you're a full-time (40-50+ hours per week) student? It doesn't unless you don't sleep & sacrifice your social life, which I don't think is right 😂. So here's everything I did, in detail, to land three paid internship offers as a freshman ~ 1️⃣ Beef up your LinkedIn presence. 🥩 You don't have to become a Linked[in]fluencer to leverage LinkedIn for your internship search. Optimize your LinkedIn profile for visibility (fill out every section of your profile, use keywords, keep it clean & organized) and send out as many LinkedIn connection requests as possible (connect with people in orgs you're already in, people you admire, peers/colleagues/classmates, etc). 2️⃣ Spend a lot of time perfecting your resume. ✍️ When you're starting out your career, you likely don't have a huge network or experience. Hence, the key to your first role will be your resume. Try to get third-party opinions on your resumes; I went through 10 versions of my resume before I wrote the winning one. 3️⃣ Dedicate time to building your resume. 🛠️ Writing your resume is different than *building* your resume. You can't apply to a job with an empty resume so you have to get some experience (even if it's not "Work" experience). Build up your project portfolio and do competitions to create showcaseable projects and potentially, awards. 4️⃣ Lock in with applications; it's a bit of a numbers game. 🔢 When you're early in your career, the job search is basically a game of getting your resume in front of as many people as possible until you find the one (or few) hiring managers willing to take a chance on you. 5️⃣ Get good at conversations & being likable. Once you get past the resume screen/first round, you can safely assume everyone in the process is equally (roughly) qualified. At that point, it's about getting the hiring team to like you. Hiring managers are human, humans are subjective, and humans will hire people that they like and *want* to work with. I executed my roadmap a tad late (mostly Jan-May), but it worked regardless! For those of you looking into the upcoming recruitment cycle, please start earlier than I did; the roadmap/execution still works on an earlier timeline. 😂 This is just my experience, though! For those of you who landed your first internship as a freshman ~ what was your key to success? Comment it below & let's help each other out! ⬇️ #earlycareers #internships #summerinternship #earlycareer

I was rejected not one, not two, but DOZENS of times when applying for internships going into my junior year of college. To be honest, I had given up. I was discouraged, heartbroken, and in extreme distress😭 I vowed that I would NEVER receive rejections like that again. Sure enough that next Summer not only did I receive multiple internship offers, but I had my dream internship offer. Here’s what I did differently: 1️⃣Turned on job notifications on LinkedIn When I tell you all this made finding internships 5x easier! Because I was looking for internships in DEI at the time, I went to the LinkedIn jobs tab searched “DEI Intern” filtered the experience level specifically by “internships” and “entry level” roles then toggled on the “get job alerts for this search” button at the bottom of the page. After that, every time a new role was added to LinkedIn that matched my search, I was notified! 2️⃣Created a company fast facts sheet This was SO helpful! I wrote down everything that I needed to know about the company from their core values and mission to their current initiatives and projects. I also did a deep dive into the LinkedIn profiles of my interviewers and compiled key points of their roles and responsibilities. I studied this sheet daily so I would be able to leverage some of the information during my interview P.S- It helps if you make the sheet fun and decorative 3️⃣ Tailored my resume and my cover letter to each role As soon as I learned how applicant tracking systems (ATS) work, I did whatever I could to try and beat the system. I found that the cheat code was aligning my resume and cover letter to match key words in the job description. When I tell y’all that this hack changed my life! Tailor those resumes y’all! 4️⃣Came prepared with solutions The goal is always to be one step ahead of your interviewer. When prepping for your interview, keep track of industry trends to find ways that you think the company could improve against their competitors. Then take it a step further and show how you could use your skills to help make that improvement. When asked if you have any questions at the end of the interview try saying something like this: “When doing my research I noticed that Company X doesn’t have [fill in the blank with a process, system, program, etc]. I have skill X, Y, Z relevant to implementing this. Is this something that is in the works or an idea that your team would potentially be interested in?” 5️⃣Tracked my applications This was a game changer! I created an excel sheet that I used to keep track of when I applied to internships so I could monitor the timeline of the process as I proceeded (or didn’t lol) to the next rounds. ——————————————————————- What are some things you’ve done in your internship search that have made a difference? #tipswithtaylor #internships #dreaminternship #internships2024 #collegestudents #intern #techinternship

I’ve been receiving many internship requests lately, and while I can’t respond to each one personally, I wanted to share some advice that can help you not just with Antino but with any company you apply to: 1️⃣  Tailor Your Application: Customize your message, resume and cover letter to align with the job description. Emphasize the skills and experiences that directly meet the company’s needs. 2️⃣  Showcase Real-World Projects: Include links to your GitHub, personal website, or portfolio where you’ve worked on relevant projects. Companies value seeing your skills in action. 3️⃣  Network Effectively: Connect with professionals in your field of interest and engage with their content. Participate in webinars, join relevant groups, and don’t hesitate to reach out for advice. 4️⃣  Follow Up Thoughtfully: After applying, send a polite follow-up email. Reiterate your enthusiasm for the position and mention something specific about the company or role that excites you. Be respectful, not pushy. 5️⃣ Build a Strong Online Presence: Ensure your social media profiles, especially LinkedIn, reflect your professional interests and accomplishments. Remember, the key to standing out is demonstrating genuine interest and effort. Good luck with your applications!