Why is it so hard to get an internship?

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*Comic courtesy of Wikimedia Commons via user Lazardjin*

The best way to gain experience in order to enter the workforce upon graduating is doing summer internships related to your desired field. What remains a secret is how, in a nearly impenetrable job market, to get one.

With so many students applying, the competition is fierce. Rejection is the norm so often that students are encouraged to apply to several dozen internships because realistically they might only get an interview for four. It definitely feels similar to the college admissions process. You have thousands of qualified students applying for competitive internships, many of which are at well-known companies. And for those of us who were lucky enough in the college admissions process to get into a school like Carnegie Mellon, rejection may not be something that we are used to. We tend to assume that we can succeed at anything we try because we got into a school that is as reputable as Carnegie Mellon. Reality is not as nice as that. No matter how badly we want it, or how hard we work, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

I’m currently looking for an internship in the film industry. I’ve applied to Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks, Warner Bros and more, but either I haven’t heard anything or I’ve been rejected. It’s hard to plan for my summer when it takes some of these companies six months to reject me. These major companies ghost applicants or fill a position without taking down the application online. I get it, they receive thousands of applications so I’m sure it takes a while and they probably don’t even get through all of them. They’re at the top, we’re at the bottom, and they simply don’t have time to care. I don’t think that’s a good enough excuse, though, leaving someone hanging for all eternity doesn’t make it any less irritating when you don’t hear back.

I understand that my hopes of landing an internship at Disney, DreamWorks and Pixar are a long shot, but it has always been my goal to work in the animation industry. Going up against students from schools that are dedicated to animation makes it difficult for me to stand out when they’re being trained to get one of these positions. However, it’s disheartening to work hard on a portfolio only to be rejected time and time again. While I wasn’t necessarily surprised that I was rejected — I brushed it off quickly — every rejection makes me more nervous that I won’t be good enough to do what I’ve always wanted to which is to be a writer and storyboard artist for animated films.

Applying to internships isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to accept that, most of the time, you won’t even make it to an interview. As difficult and as annoying as this whole thing is, there’s seemingly nothing more we can do than submit our resumes, portfolios, and cover letters. The best thing we can hope for is that maybe these companies will stop ghosting us so we can move on with our lives.

If you’re like me and going through this annoying, disheartening process, don’t give up. Somewhere out there is the right internship for you, we all just have to be patient and hope for the best.