Eight things the York careers team won’t tell you about applying for internships

So you have finally decided to give up next summer (or a full year of your life) to the dreaded nine-to-five. Whether you have already drafted your cover letter or still don’t know what people mean by the “big four”, here are eight things the careers and placement team probably haven’t told you about application season.

1. You will apply for about a hundred places, most of which you have no intention of going to

Either you will apply for everything on Handshake that vaguely relates to your degree, or like me, appease your dad with scary finance applications. Either way, your application list will look like a last-minute bibliography, random, nonsensical and full of panic sources. You will discover companies that you didn’t even know existed and still butter them up in your cover letter like you’re applying to work with Sabrina Carpenter. When you get a placement, you will look back and be thankful you didn’t end up in a law firm in the Midlands.

2. You will be gobsmacked when you see how much some places pay

The emphasis is very much on some. If you are blessed enough to be welcomed into a UBS boardroom, you could be set for an eye-watering amount. However, if you want to be able to leave the office for more than two hours a week then you’re set for just above minimum wage. Who doesn’t love an actual lunch break? Also, some of the coolest internship opportunities can be completely voluntary so my advice would be to apply for what you want to do – not just for your bank account.

3. Debating having a hot girl (jobless) summer or a year abroad

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You will definitely start to wonder where you could travel to instead of the office. Maybe you could have an Emily in Paris moment and test out your non-existent French skills, or have an academic experience in a tiny bikini living out your Mamma Mia fantasy. After fantasising about your future Instagram feed you will realise that firstly you cannot afford that lifestyle and secondly, you’re not sure if attending the Sweat Tour can go on your LinkedIn?

4. Being left on read

Internship applications are basically a toxic situation. They will either ignore your application completely or wait till you have moved on and pop up with a surprise email weeks later. You will be surprised by how many big-name companies will promote on the likes of Glassdoor and then pretend your application does not exist.

5. You will be getting free rejection therapy

There is nothing more humbling than the AI auto rejection email you will receive seconds after hitting submit. Over half of your rejections won’t even come from a real human and it’ll say that the role has already been filled, you don’t have a company reference or you didn’t mention a specific word in the application.

The ones that hit the hardest are the rejections after the most complicated application processes, rejected simply based on something from those initial stages. For me this was a rejection as I didn’t have family based in Nottingham. Nowhere will be safe from rejection, the library, your 9am and the gym are all on the email rejection hit list.

6. Completing the exact same online assessment

Every big-name company uses the same software so that we get the joy of filling out the same assessment over and over. Love it. It will be a mix of drag and drop what qualities you value the most, multiple choice situation response and memory tests. If you are lucky enough, you might get through to the same Hirevue automated video interviews where you will be asked the same questions again and again. You better prepare what your biggest weakness is and a challenge you have overcome in a team.

7. Witnessing the wonders of the world, also known as people’s outfits in assessment centres

After probably stressing for days about your outfit, you will wonder why you even bothered. There will be a man in a full suit and tie, bonus points if it’s clearly too big. A girl whose flat somehow let her leave in joggers and a Zara going out top. And obviously, the obscenely posh boy who leaves you wondering if it’s possible to get tailored-made quarter-zips?

8. Experiencing the messiest post-offer night out

I received my offer during the exam period and that simply couldn’t stop me. After agreeing to a celebration meal out (and a few too many two-for-one cocktails), my night involved Flares and the floor of a student house in Tang Hall – so a very typical intern experience.

So there you go, but just remember that everything actually will work out (somehow). The stress won’t last forever… I don’t think.

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