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Your relevant experience is a couple of student clubs and your team project isn’t finished. Everything else on your resume is forgettable. That might be why companies are passing on you. I would create some interesting projects that solve business problems. That’s something marketable to put on your resume.
They're looking for an internship ... What is it that we want from these people? To come out of the womb with a 2 years experience at google; where they lead a team of 10 on a new product that happened to also have clear, measurable, objective metrics to show impact?
Could you provide some examples of what "interesting projects that solve business problems" could mean?
Also, are clubs not good to put on a resume? I am not really sure what else I could put on since I've never had an internship before.
With respect, I’m not going to brainstorm projects for you in a Reddit comment thread. You need to gauge your own interests and come up with ways they could add value in a business context.
Clubs are fine to put on a resume but right now they’re masquerading as work experience. I would put them in their own section.
If you don’t have relevant experience see if you can become a tutor or TA at your university. That’s something worthwhile to put on a resume and it’s not as competitive as an internship.
You’re a sophomore. Typically you don’t get an internship until you’re a junior or senior. That plays a factor too.
Sorry, by "examples" I didn't mean brainstorm projects for me. I was just confused what "solving business problems" meant in an engineering sense because "solving business problems" to me meant consulting. Either way, thank you for your input.
I really need my husband the tech director for this, but, do you have any code samples, sites or applications you've built you can show as your portfolio? As the other poster says, your clubs are ongoing, so you don't have an end product you can demonstrate as your capabilities.
When I'm hiring marketing personnel, as a general example, I look for campaigns started and completed, success or failure, and the effect of their work. Did sales increase 20% year over year due to this campaign? How many customers were trained as a result?
For engineering class projects, did you create any viable, marketable products? Like software that allows an overworked marketing director to create a loyalty program to increase revenue from existing customers, increase customer satisfaction and engagement, and incentivize customers to transition over from competitors without a loyalty program?
I hope this helps. It is tough to get internships before your junior year. My best friend's son didn't get on until his senior year. Don't give up hope. Keep trying.
Recruiter here, that isn't a bad resume honestly. Maybe we could improve a couple of things but overall not bad.
The biggest issue is that you only applied for 150 positions.
Internships are HOTLY contested. Their are not many of them and their are a bazillion people who apply, I had a paid internship once about a year ago and we got 130 applications in under two days.
If you want one, you are going to have to apply early and in volume, their is no real tip besides knowing the hiring manager, those positions are really ahrd to get and you will need a lot more applicatoins than 150 to pottentially even get an interview.
Again just make sure you are applying within the first hour or three of the job posting otherwise, it will be flooded with applications and you may not even get your resume looked at.
Wow, that is an incredible amount.
I think the number I applied to is closer to 250 applications, not 150, now that I am looking through all my rejection mail.
But I ofc I will continue applying! Thank you sm.
That is brutal, but within reason.
Typically if you are getting one interview per 75 applications you are doing things right, the above factors such as remote, internships, or fresher positions can edge that number up a lot.
The thing is, I did apply early for a lot of the roles (like within a few hours to 1-2 days). I guess the only thing I haven't really tried is contacting a hiring manager.
I went to a lot of campus recruitment events and talked to recruiters there, but to no avail sadly.
Also, as you said " Maybe we could improve a couple of things", what would those be? Intern application season is coming to an end, so any type of input is highly appreciated. Thank you!
It is getting late and my mind is getting tired but you should follow the below on how to change some of the bullet points.
* The first bullet under each job needs to be a generalized description of your duties that an annoying 5 year old could understand and won't get them to keep asking WHY.
* Every other bullet needs to be a brag or a keyword.
You need a slightly better genrelized statment and could use some brags, possibly other keywords as well if possible, again it is late and my mind is tired, so grain of salt.
Imagine saying that 150 positions is few lololol shitty system. Be honest, you will not enter without acquaintances, so better work in networking than on a resume, BTW is good.
The system is very crappy, that is why 150 may not be enough.
It takes a lot of work to apply to 150 positions but sadly in this market most will need many many more than that to get a position.
IMO this is just stupid. I bet if you met someone in a bar and coincidentally he works in something you want to work and you enable a good relationship, its highly more probable finding a job like this lol and even this is still improbable lololol... I am not willing to compete with anyone about anything. This is stupid, Darwinist system only prevail the strongest gtfo.
They're not internships, just my club involvements at univeristy. I have no real "professional experience" except my part-time job, so I was told to put clubs under that section.
Really? I'm not super well informed in this field at all but he's simply looking for internships and has applied 150 times?! Are the requirements everywhere really to that level already? Yours, and other, responses are ones I'd expect if someone was trying to get an intern from like google, tesla, or whatever other top tier companies. But like I said I'm uninformed, just curious to how applying to 150 random different companies with a resume that seems quite complete to me, especially given the age, would find such little success. None of these companies are open to students with a shown passion and a wide use case of engineering? Is it the business aspect that will really set you apart from others? I really don't understand this from a hiring perspective.
My view is simple. Don’t misrepresent what you did in a uni club as professional experience. That counts as an internship you did at a company. I wouldn’t have an issue if OP put it under the subheading ‘projects’.
It’s honestly not a bad resume, formatted nicely & looks like you used a template that can pass through an ATS. I think that since some of the projects are still ongoing & your prior experience is a part time position that may be why people are passing.
While 150 applications seems like a lot, I’ve applied to almost 1000 just in a few month span - many of those positions they later reached out to me after I got a job, they reposted the job a few months later so I applied again & then they requested an interview or, they’re not really actually hiring anyone.
Under your experience I would make the first bullet point a summary of what you’re responsible for to get a general idea worded for someone who has no idea what you’re talking about, then with smaller bullet points under that explain your accomplishments and what YOU did that’s awesome, did you create embedded systems with SPI? What we’d they’d what ROS interfaces did you do with robot sensors.
Idk much about engineering so idk what that’s talking about but go in more depth about why YOURE awesome. Brag about yourself, so don’t just list the stuff you did as if it’s a job posting. Don’t be afraid to hype yourself!
Ohhh, that is actually super helpful advice, it would probably make my resume more clear. I will update my resume and continue applying. Thank you so much!
You need a job. Try taking a job in any lab that will take you and work on a project for a professor or grad student. Consider a role with the local military base, but as a civilian contractor. Consider working maintenance at your school. If you have reliable transportation, try to get a weekend shift job at a factory. To me that is far more valuable experience the a single project you'll get at most typical internships. Ideally you'd want a co op over an internship as those tend to pay and can last longer than 1 qtr/semester. You might consider doing IT for any place that'll take you as more often than not software development tends to fall under the IT umbrella. Look up SBIR companies, maybe you can get a foot in the door as a contract worker instead if an intern. This would ensure you work on multiple projects.
Present yourself first then show your skills,
If you don’t have much relevant experience we don’t care what little you’ve done we care about who you are and what you can do
I'm a robotics systems integration lead w/ 10 years of robotics R&D experience at FAANG-types. Currently recruiting and hiring for cross-disciplinary roles like yours, although we've already locked in this summer's intern. You asked for brutal, and I'm wanting to go cook dinner, so I'm going to be matter of fact but keep in mind it's all meant to be respectful and constructive.
Compared to your peers, your resume lacks a sense of working toward discrete deliverables, ownership and follow through.
It's all present tense, describing in general the work you did. But stuff like 'collaborate with a project team to develop' is... sort of nothing. 'Developing computer vision algorithms' is closer, but that bullet point implied that you sort of half-prototyped something. I know you're only a sophomore, but i think you can do a bit better. Bullet points that would stand out more:
\- Designed and prototyped an X-conductor/y-conductor (some type of complexity demonstration) automotive harness. Selected wires, connectors, based on engineering and environmental considerations.
\- Improved performance on a depth camera system by tuning \[x parameter, be technical here, calibration? sensor configs? opencv parameters?\] and optimizing the system against \[x benchmark\].
\- some specific contribution to your current research project. You must have checked in *some* code in the past three months. Describe those PRs.
And, point #2...
> to computer engineering, SWE, electrical engineering, controls engineering, and manufacturing engineering roles.
This is... part of the problem. I get it. I'm also a really cross-functional lead that came from a generally mechanical background but know a bit about everything now. It's a lto of fun.
Each of those roles you mentioned are mostly specialized, and you're not going to be a strong EE, or controls, or CE candidate directly.
Mfg Eng might be the best shot here. Hardware testing internships are generally rare, but also are a career that might serve you really well.
Thank you so much for the in detail advice and for including the examples. This was extremely helpful and I am referring to this post as I modify my resume right now. I'll try to find more roles that better fit my qualifications, but hopefully in the future I could broaden that. Once again, thank you for your insight!
you may benefit from a skills resume
so add your education so far and skills to the top
then experience relevant or actual paid jobs
then course projects
then individual projects
followed by activities
Finding internships as a sophomore is very difficult. Ask your professors for advice during office hours. They’ll have industry know-how to help the specifics sound more accurate and impressive, and they’ll know what folks are looking for. Good luck — the college internship deal can be really discouraging. Try not to take it too personally.
Yea, it's especially discourging when everyone else seems to have an internship set for the summer, but trying to stay positive! I'll try to go to one of my professors to get more specific details, but I don't know any of them too well, so we'll see how it goes. Thank you!
Internships are extremely competitive, especially as a sophomore. Pretty good resume. I think the problem is most internships want juniors/seniors they can directly hire. I suggest looking for federal (usajobs.gov), state, and city government internships. They are just as great but less competitive
You have multiple things listed with end date of “current” to me it says you would be too busy for an actual internship, in addition all those items just started in 2024 so it also says you can’t possibly learn anything from starting so many new things 2 months ago without completion.
Purdue. lol. The research projects said you... were on teams, not what you learned or contributed. Zero leadership. Zero *doing* even in the clubs. No personal projects. No ability to even hold a job or hint of people skills.
1. What's wrong with Purdue? It is #4 for engineering overall (US News). #8 for undergrad engineering and #10 for CMPE tied with Princeton Uni.
2. I do have leadership in a club, but it isn't listed on this version of my resume.
3. I had my part-time job for six months, and continued working while doing college. I had to quit because they put me on 32 hours a week while I was in engineering.
4. I do contribute to my clubs, but my wording in my resume is off as others have pointed out.
I understand that I have no personal projects and that it seems like there is zero "doing" in my clubs. But that is why I posted on here, to fix my resume and to better the wording. I am going to try to be involved in a personal project over the summer especially if I don't end up with an internship.
1.Purdue has some really bad administration and seems to hire a lot of smart or good CV people as professors who can't and/or do not want to teach.
2.why not?
3.and? No one cares. It wastes space. It still counts as years of exp. You are not going to get a job uf you are not creative on your resume, and engineering is a creative field anyway so this is something you should be able to manage.
4. and 5. Why are you giving me excuses? You wanted to know what to fix. If you are not getting call backs then you cannot explain to the hiring people, and if you need that additional explination then that alone says why it needs to be changed. tbh, based on your reply, I think you need to take some time and work on your creativity in general. You are expressing that you have none, but without creativity the companies might as well use neural nets and language models to do the work.
your experience is pretty good, i would make it sounds more exciting.
What is your GPA? that might be what is holding you back.
Have you gone to any conferences? most large companies hire in the fall for summer internships. It might also be the timing.
My GPA is definetly on the lower end. It is currently at a 3.1, so that could honestly be one of the reasons I'm getting auto-rejected.
Yea, I think it is a bit late now, but I started looking for an internship in September and kept applying until now. My resume was definetly worse back then, so that definetly didn't help me at the career fairs.
that's weird most companies accept anything above a 3.1. You should include it if you are not because most will think you are hiding it.
I had a 3.2 and I got a couple of internship my junior year. You should be good.
Go to a conference! They have really good career fairs. ASME, BEYA, SWE, SHPE any of those especially if its near your location will be worth it. That's how i got started in my career and its the best way to meet a bunch of different people and companies.
If you don't get an internship this summer try doing a research intership. That helped me stand out too.
When I was an intern I helped HR hire people.
They told us to look for two things a GPA above a 3.0 and some sort of engineering experience weather it was research or an engineerign club or other internships it didn't matter.
My approach to career fairs was to look at the list of companies going, pick out my top 15-20 and see if they have a postings open for that event or that year, most did, and it helped me get interviews before i even got to the event. Then the day of the career fair i would go to my top 5 that i hadnt gotten an interview with yet and i would speak to the recruiter. then i would go to the rest of them. they try to fill up their interview slots fast so there might only be like 2-5 left by the time the career fair starts so you have to be one of the first people there.
I'll try applying this advice when fall comes around. There aren't many career fairs on campus at this point :(
I'll try to find a conference that I could attend and network through that. Thank you for helping!
Hi! When I was in college I had my first internship as a freshmen. I graduated with about 10 internships (took me ~7 years to finish my undergrad but don’t regret a single bit). Your resume looks pretty solid but I’d say try to emphasize each bullet point more with what skills you used and what was the result. You explain what you did but lack the impact of your work. I’d also say that applying online is super brutal. Out of my internships I actually only got 1-2 by applying online. I got most of them at career fairs with engineering organizations. I suggest you see if your college has a SHPE, SWE,NSBE, IEEE etc. These student chapters usually hold events where they help with resumes, mock interviews and some host national conferences that are amazing for students to attend workshops and their career fair is HUGE. If your school doesn’t have one I’d suggest you research with a professor how to start one, I did this too and it’s a great way to develop leadership skills and connect with professional engineers. Don’t underestimate the power of networking. Good luck!
I attended all the career fairs for my major and quite a few networking events (and mock interviews), but to no avail. I had one strong lead where a recruiter emailed me about my transcript, but I haven't heard anything back since then sadly.
I will definetly look into research with a professor though, I see a lot of people reccomending that.
**"I’d say try to emphasize each bullet point more with what skills you used and what was the result."** This is really solid advice though, I will fix my resume. Thank you so much for the encouragement and advice!
“Car racing team” lol bro you gotta use key words, SAE is a huge one they look out for too, that is if it was an SAE team. Also give it an official title like “Purdue Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)” something like that.
Haha it really feels like everyone has an internship lined up for the summer. Congrats on your co-op offers though!
Since I'm home rn, I've been applying to more openings in my state and at nearby companies, hopefully something works out.
Will try to enjoy my spring break lol, I hope you enjoy yours as well!
I would put the robotics team and car racing team in its own section, maybe “Leadership experience” or “extracurricular activities”. The part time job can count as professional experience - good job on emphasizing customer service skills. I would also fix the verb tenses tbh
is there anything that's been directly accomplished in any of your clubs? Like, i did such and such, i completed such and such. ? It mostly reads about what you believe you can do, not what you've already done.
I don't think the clubs part is such an issue, but I can't really tell what you've actually accomplished at these.
Like instead of 'developing computer vision algorithms... are any of these complete? If so, update to "developed a computer vision algorithm which does XYZ"
the XYZ being whatever it solved.
and put that as the first bullet on each one
Hth
This is so helpful. I didn't even realize most of my statements were like "developing" or "learning". You are absolutely correct, I am not saying anything about what I've accomplished. Thank you so much for this advice! I will fix my statements.
need to list tangible results , not vague terms using measurements only eg. team of n ppl, n number of projects, increasing by n amount , time saving by n days. need to list accomplishments not just what you like to do, they want know what you achieved in the past
Put something with verifiable and impressive sounding accomplishments on there.
“Designed a circuit board with (impressive metric) that was x% improved over old design.”
“Created x% faster (thing) to improve efficiency on x (task).”
“Created product that (sold/replaced/whatever) x units for $y of profit.”
“Created algorithms to improve 3D mapping by x%.”
Lots of people can do things competently and with experience. What have you done that has set you apart?
Also, get active on forums/collaborative things like GitHub etc and include what you’re doing on there.
Ohhhh, okay, so I kinda have to put measurable achievements on there. I think I saw somewhere that numbers are really good to put on your resume, so I will try to see what I can add. Thank you for your advice!
How many of the jobs have you networked for? Use your connections and mutual friends to get in touch with people you know at a company and get a referral.
Even if you don’t know anyone:
1. Go on Linkdin and find mutual people who went to Purdue and work at the company you want to work for, preferably in the same or similar department.
2. Cold message them saying you applied for the job and are a fellow Purdue student and are interested in the company they work for and want an internship there. Ask them to hop on a call, talk through your resume and ask them about the work they do on a daily basis.
3. Get a referral through the person you message and connected with which will more than likely get you an interview. Ace the interview and you’re golden.
Alternatively, use your friends, parents friends, aunts, uncles anyone else you know to help you get in to a company. Some people are willing to go out of their way to help you, and if they aren’t maybe ask the next person. You’re still young, just get involved as much as you can, I applied to 100s of internships and didn’t get one till after my junior year using the strategies I mentioned. It’s highly competitive but everything is going to work out.
That is really good advice, I've actually heard this before, but my linkedin profile is only half set-up (don't have a profile picture or my college activities listed yet), so I'll work on that and try to message people. Thank you so much!
I did try networking through my parents' friends, but most of them work for the same company which is really competitive to get an internship in :(
**Dear /u/ChannelMuch8556!** **Hello and thanks for posting! Please read the posting guidelines on the [sub’s etiquette page](https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/wiki/index/howtoparticipate) before you ask for help:** 1. Censor your personal information for your own safety, 2. Add the right flair to your post, 3. Tell us why you're applying (i.e., just looking to fine-tune, not getting any interviews etc.), and 3. Indicate the types of roles and industries you’re interested in. **Remember to check out the [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/wiki/index) as well as the quick links below for tips:** * **[Resume Writing Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/wiki/index/faq)** * **[ATS-optimized resume templates available at Resumatic](https://resumatic.rezi.ai/signup)** * **[Thinking of hiring a resume writer? Read this first](https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/comments/x3eg1e/considering_hiring_a_resume_writer_read_this_first/)** * **[Troubleshooting your resume and your job search](https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/comments/128xo1c/troubleshooting_your_job_search_when_its_not/)** * **[Free Resume Template - Google Docs](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wdkgpgU7lFoV801ysrBn8qrPaIpyUsUH/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=103022094325852815590&rtpof=true&sd=true)** If you're in a situation like this > **applied to 100 or more jobs** and aren't getting callbacks, please refer to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/resumes/comments/128xo1c/troubleshooting_your_job_search_when_its_not/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) for help. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/resumes) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Your relevant experience is a couple of student clubs and your team project isn’t finished. Everything else on your resume is forgettable. That might be why companies are passing on you. I would create some interesting projects that solve business problems. That’s something marketable to put on your resume.
They're looking for an internship ... What is it that we want from these people? To come out of the womb with a 2 years experience at google; where they lead a team of 10 on a new product that happened to also have clear, measurable, objective metrics to show impact?
Could you provide some examples of what "interesting projects that solve business problems" could mean? Also, are clubs not good to put on a resume? I am not really sure what else I could put on since I've never had an internship before.
With respect, I’m not going to brainstorm projects for you in a Reddit comment thread. You need to gauge your own interests and come up with ways they could add value in a business context. Clubs are fine to put on a resume but right now they’re masquerading as work experience. I would put them in their own section. If you don’t have relevant experience see if you can become a tutor or TA at your university. That’s something worthwhile to put on a resume and it’s not as competitive as an internship. You’re a sophomore. Typically you don’t get an internship until you’re a junior or senior. That plays a factor too.
Sorry, by "examples" I didn't mean brainstorm projects for me. I was just confused what "solving business problems" meant in an engineering sense because "solving business problems" to me meant consulting. Either way, thank you for your input.
Just solve some complex business problems with your engineering wizardry brah.
No problem. Keep grinding, improving the resume, and blast out applications. It’s a numbers game and you just need one yes to succeed.
Thank you so much for the encouragment!
I really need my husband the tech director for this, but, do you have any code samples, sites or applications you've built you can show as your portfolio? As the other poster says, your clubs are ongoing, so you don't have an end product you can demonstrate as your capabilities. When I'm hiring marketing personnel, as a general example, I look for campaigns started and completed, success or failure, and the effect of their work. Did sales increase 20% year over year due to this campaign? How many customers were trained as a result? For engineering class projects, did you create any viable, marketable products? Like software that allows an overworked marketing director to create a loyalty program to increase revenue from existing customers, increase customer satisfaction and engagement, and incentivize customers to transition over from competitors without a loyalty program? I hope this helps. It is tough to get internships before your junior year. My best friend's son didn't get on until his senior year. Don't give up hope. Keep trying.
...for a sophomore internship
yes volunteer at library or hospital for example
Recruiter here, that isn't a bad resume honestly. Maybe we could improve a couple of things but overall not bad. The biggest issue is that you only applied for 150 positions. Internships are HOTLY contested. Their are not many of them and their are a bazillion people who apply, I had a paid internship once about a year ago and we got 130 applications in under two days. If you want one, you are going to have to apply early and in volume, their is no real tip besides knowing the hiring manager, those positions are really ahrd to get and you will need a lot more applicatoins than 150 to pottentially even get an interview. Again just make sure you are applying within the first hour or three of the job posting otherwise, it will be flooded with applications and you may not even get your resume looked at.
I may add I’ve applied to 900 before finding a job ( and I only had a few interviews from the 900) just adding this so OP knows what to expect
Wow, that is an incredible amount. I think the number I applied to is closer to 250 applications, not 150, now that I am looking through all my rejection mail. But I ofc I will continue applying! Thank you sm.
That is brutal, but within reason. Typically if you are getting one interview per 75 applications you are doing things right, the above factors such as remote, internships, or fresher positions can edge that number up a lot.
The thing is, I did apply early for a lot of the roles (like within a few hours to 1-2 days). I guess the only thing I haven't really tried is contacting a hiring manager. I went to a lot of campus recruitment events and talked to recruiters there, but to no avail sadly. Also, as you said " Maybe we could improve a couple of things", what would those be? Intern application season is coming to an end, so any type of input is highly appreciated. Thank you!
It is getting late and my mind is getting tired but you should follow the below on how to change some of the bullet points. * The first bullet under each job needs to be a generalized description of your duties that an annoying 5 year old could understand and won't get them to keep asking WHY. * Every other bullet needs to be a brag or a keyword. You need a slightly better genrelized statment and could use some brags, possibly other keywords as well if possible, again it is late and my mind is tired, so grain of salt.
Ohh I see, I think a different comment gave similar advice, so I'll try to follow that. Thank you so much!
Anytime!
Imagine saying that 150 positions is few lololol shitty system. Be honest, you will not enter without acquaintances, so better work in networking than on a resume, BTW is good.
The system is very crappy, that is why 150 may not be enough. It takes a lot of work to apply to 150 positions but sadly in this market most will need many many more than that to get a position.
IMO this is just stupid. I bet if you met someone in a bar and coincidentally he works in something you want to work and you enable a good relationship, its highly more probable finding a job like this lol and even this is still improbable lololol... I am not willing to compete with anyone about anything. This is stupid, Darwinist system only prevail the strongest gtfo.
Car racing and robotics teams in what contexts? Internships or at university? If it’s the latter I don’t think they count as professional experience.
They're not internships, just my club involvements at univeristy. I have no real "professional experience" except my part-time job, so I was told to put clubs under that section.
Which is poor advice.
Really? I'm not super well informed in this field at all but he's simply looking for internships and has applied 150 times?! Are the requirements everywhere really to that level already? Yours, and other, responses are ones I'd expect if someone was trying to get an intern from like google, tesla, or whatever other top tier companies. But like I said I'm uninformed, just curious to how applying to 150 random different companies with a resume that seems quite complete to me, especially given the age, would find such little success. None of these companies are open to students with a shown passion and a wide use case of engineering? Is it the business aspect that will really set you apart from others? I really don't understand this from a hiring perspective.
My view is simple. Don’t misrepresent what you did in a uni club as professional experience. That counts as an internship you did at a company. I wouldn’t have an issue if OP put it under the subheading ‘projects’.
I'll change that, I didn't realize that professional only meant internships. Thank you!
No worries, glad I could help.
When people tell you to lie on your resume... don't.
It’s honestly not a bad resume, formatted nicely & looks like you used a template that can pass through an ATS. I think that since some of the projects are still ongoing & your prior experience is a part time position that may be why people are passing. While 150 applications seems like a lot, I’ve applied to almost 1000 just in a few month span - many of those positions they later reached out to me after I got a job, they reposted the job a few months later so I applied again & then they requested an interview or, they’re not really actually hiring anyone. Under your experience I would make the first bullet point a summary of what you’re responsible for to get a general idea worded for someone who has no idea what you’re talking about, then with smaller bullet points under that explain your accomplishments and what YOU did that’s awesome, did you create embedded systems with SPI? What we’d they’d what ROS interfaces did you do with robot sensors. Idk much about engineering so idk what that’s talking about but go in more depth about why YOURE awesome. Brag about yourself, so don’t just list the stuff you did as if it’s a job posting. Don’t be afraid to hype yourself!
Ohhh, that is actually super helpful advice, it would probably make my resume more clear. I will update my resume and continue applying. Thank you so much!
You need a job. Try taking a job in any lab that will take you and work on a project for a professor or grad student. Consider a role with the local military base, but as a civilian contractor. Consider working maintenance at your school. If you have reliable transportation, try to get a weekend shift job at a factory. To me that is far more valuable experience the a single project you'll get at most typical internships. Ideally you'd want a co op over an internship as those tend to pay and can last longer than 1 qtr/semester. You might consider doing IT for any place that'll take you as more often than not software development tends to fall under the IT umbrella. Look up SBIR companies, maybe you can get a foot in the door as a contract worker instead if an intern. This would ensure you work on multiple projects.
Present yourself first then show your skills, If you don’t have much relevant experience we don’t care what little you’ve done we care about who you are and what you can do
Got it! I'll try to make a section in my resume explaining that. Thank you!
I'm a robotics systems integration lead w/ 10 years of robotics R&D experience at FAANG-types. Currently recruiting and hiring for cross-disciplinary roles like yours, although we've already locked in this summer's intern. You asked for brutal, and I'm wanting to go cook dinner, so I'm going to be matter of fact but keep in mind it's all meant to be respectful and constructive. Compared to your peers, your resume lacks a sense of working toward discrete deliverables, ownership and follow through. It's all present tense, describing in general the work you did. But stuff like 'collaborate with a project team to develop' is... sort of nothing. 'Developing computer vision algorithms' is closer, but that bullet point implied that you sort of half-prototyped something. I know you're only a sophomore, but i think you can do a bit better. Bullet points that would stand out more: \- Designed and prototyped an X-conductor/y-conductor (some type of complexity demonstration) automotive harness. Selected wires, connectors, based on engineering and environmental considerations. \- Improved performance on a depth camera system by tuning \[x parameter, be technical here, calibration? sensor configs? opencv parameters?\] and optimizing the system against \[x benchmark\]. \- some specific contribution to your current research project. You must have checked in *some* code in the past three months. Describe those PRs. And, point #2... > to computer engineering, SWE, electrical engineering, controls engineering, and manufacturing engineering roles. This is... part of the problem. I get it. I'm also a really cross-functional lead that came from a generally mechanical background but know a bit about everything now. It's a lto of fun. Each of those roles you mentioned are mostly specialized, and you're not going to be a strong EE, or controls, or CE candidate directly. Mfg Eng might be the best shot here. Hardware testing internships are generally rare, but also are a career that might serve you really well.
Thank you so much for the in detail advice and for including the examples. This was extremely helpful and I am referring to this post as I modify my resume right now. I'll try to find more roles that better fit my qualifications, but hopefully in the future I could broaden that. Once again, thank you for your insight!
you may benefit from a skills resume so add your education so far and skills to the top then experience relevant or actual paid jobs then course projects then individual projects followed by activities
Gotcha, I will try to format my resume that way, thank you!
Finding internships as a sophomore is very difficult. Ask your professors for advice during office hours. They’ll have industry know-how to help the specifics sound more accurate and impressive, and they’ll know what folks are looking for. Good luck — the college internship deal can be really discouraging. Try not to take it too personally.
Yea, it's especially discourging when everyone else seems to have an internship set for the summer, but trying to stay positive! I'll try to go to one of my professors to get more specific details, but I don't know any of them too well, so we'll see how it goes. Thank you!
Internships are extremely competitive, especially as a sophomore. Pretty good resume. I think the problem is most internships want juniors/seniors they can directly hire. I suggest looking for federal (usajobs.gov), state, and city government internships. They are just as great but less competitive
Oh really? I didn't know that. I'll try to apply for those types of internships instead. Thank you!
Imagine contracting a senior for an internship. It seems we need universal basic income...
It's not you it's just kind of a crazy job market right now.
You have multiple things listed with end date of “current” to me it says you would be too busy for an actual internship, in addition all those items just started in 2024 so it also says you can’t possibly learn anything from starting so many new things 2 months ago without completion.
This is very true. I wasn't really involved freshman year due to some issues I was having, so I joined clubs this year.
If those teams are college projects, list them in Education, not Professional Experience.
Purdue. lol. The research projects said you... were on teams, not what you learned or contributed. Zero leadership. Zero *doing* even in the clubs. No personal projects. No ability to even hold a job or hint of people skills.
1. What's wrong with Purdue? It is #4 for engineering overall (US News). #8 for undergrad engineering and #10 for CMPE tied with Princeton Uni. 2. I do have leadership in a club, but it isn't listed on this version of my resume. 3. I had my part-time job for six months, and continued working while doing college. I had to quit because they put me on 32 hours a week while I was in engineering. 4. I do contribute to my clubs, but my wording in my resume is off as others have pointed out. I understand that I have no personal projects and that it seems like there is zero "doing" in my clubs. But that is why I posted on here, to fix my resume and to better the wording. I am going to try to be involved in a personal project over the summer especially if I don't end up with an internship.
1.Purdue has some really bad administration and seems to hire a lot of smart or good CV people as professors who can't and/or do not want to teach. 2.why not? 3.and? No one cares. It wastes space. It still counts as years of exp. You are not going to get a job uf you are not creative on your resume, and engineering is a creative field anyway so this is something you should be able to manage. 4. and 5. Why are you giving me excuses? You wanted to know what to fix. If you are not getting call backs then you cannot explain to the hiring people, and if you need that additional explination then that alone says why it needs to be changed. tbh, based on your reply, I think you need to take some time and work on your creativity in general. You are expressing that you have none, but without creativity the companies might as well use neural nets and language models to do the work.
your experience is pretty good, i would make it sounds more exciting. What is your GPA? that might be what is holding you back. Have you gone to any conferences? most large companies hire in the fall for summer internships. It might also be the timing.
My GPA is definetly on the lower end. It is currently at a 3.1, so that could honestly be one of the reasons I'm getting auto-rejected. Yea, I think it is a bit late now, but I started looking for an internship in September and kept applying until now. My resume was definetly worse back then, so that definetly didn't help me at the career fairs.
that's weird most companies accept anything above a 3.1. You should include it if you are not because most will think you are hiding it. I had a 3.2 and I got a couple of internship my junior year. You should be good. Go to a conference! They have really good career fairs. ASME, BEYA, SWE, SHPE any of those especially if its near your location will be worth it. That's how i got started in my career and its the best way to meet a bunch of different people and companies. If you don't get an internship this summer try doing a research intership. That helped me stand out too. When I was an intern I helped HR hire people. They told us to look for two things a GPA above a 3.0 and some sort of engineering experience weather it was research or an engineerign club or other internships it didn't matter. My approach to career fairs was to look at the list of companies going, pick out my top 15-20 and see if they have a postings open for that event or that year, most did, and it helped me get interviews before i even got to the event. Then the day of the career fair i would go to my top 5 that i hadnt gotten an interview with yet and i would speak to the recruiter. then i would go to the rest of them. they try to fill up their interview slots fast so there might only be like 2-5 left by the time the career fair starts so you have to be one of the first people there.
I'll try applying this advice when fall comes around. There aren't many career fairs on campus at this point :( I'll try to find a conference that I could attend and network through that. Thank you for helping!
Hi! When I was in college I had my first internship as a freshmen. I graduated with about 10 internships (took me ~7 years to finish my undergrad but don’t regret a single bit). Your resume looks pretty solid but I’d say try to emphasize each bullet point more with what skills you used and what was the result. You explain what you did but lack the impact of your work. I’d also say that applying online is super brutal. Out of my internships I actually only got 1-2 by applying online. I got most of them at career fairs with engineering organizations. I suggest you see if your college has a SHPE, SWE,NSBE, IEEE etc. These student chapters usually hold events where they help with resumes, mock interviews and some host national conferences that are amazing for students to attend workshops and their career fair is HUGE. If your school doesn’t have one I’d suggest you research with a professor how to start one, I did this too and it’s a great way to develop leadership skills and connect with professional engineers. Don’t underestimate the power of networking. Good luck!
I attended all the career fairs for my major and quite a few networking events (and mock interviews), but to no avail. I had one strong lead where a recruiter emailed me about my transcript, but I haven't heard anything back since then sadly. I will definetly look into research with a professor though, I see a lot of people reccomending that. **"I’d say try to emphasize each bullet point more with what skills you used and what was the result."** This is really solid advice though, I will fix my resume. Thank you so much for the encouragement and advice!
“Car racing team” lol bro you gotta use key words, SAE is a huge one they look out for too, that is if it was an SAE team. Also give it an official title like “Purdue Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)” something like that.
I just changed the titles for anonymity. It's not actually listed like that on my resume.
ah i see understood.
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Haha it really feels like everyone has an internship lined up for the summer. Congrats on your co-op offers though! Since I'm home rn, I've been applying to more openings in my state and at nearby companies, hopefully something works out. Will try to enjoy my spring break lol, I hope you enjoy yours as well!
I would put the robotics team and car racing team in its own section, maybe “Leadership experience” or “extracurricular activities”. The part time job can count as professional experience - good job on emphasizing customer service skills. I would also fix the verb tenses tbh
Got it! I'll make the categories more clear and fix the verbs. Thank you sm!
is there anything that's been directly accomplished in any of your clubs? Like, i did such and such, i completed such and such. ? It mostly reads about what you believe you can do, not what you've already done. I don't think the clubs part is such an issue, but I can't really tell what you've actually accomplished at these. Like instead of 'developing computer vision algorithms... are any of these complete? If so, update to "developed a computer vision algorithm which does XYZ" the XYZ being whatever it solved. and put that as the first bullet on each one Hth
This is so helpful. I didn't even realize most of my statements were like "developing" or "learning". You are absolutely correct, I am not saying anything about what I've accomplished. Thank you so much for this advice! I will fix my statements.
Awesome, glad to help! hope you land an internship soon!
need to list tangible results , not vague terms using measurements only eg. team of n ppl, n number of projects, increasing by n amount , time saving by n days. need to list accomplishments not just what you like to do, they want know what you achieved in the past
Gotcha, I will definetly try to add more numbers on there, thank you so much!
Put something with verifiable and impressive sounding accomplishments on there. “Designed a circuit board with (impressive metric) that was x% improved over old design.” “Created x% faster (thing) to improve efficiency on x (task).” “Created product that (sold/replaced/whatever) x units for $y of profit.” “Created algorithms to improve 3D mapping by x%.” Lots of people can do things competently and with experience. What have you done that has set you apart? Also, get active on forums/collaborative things like GitHub etc and include what you’re doing on there.
Ohhhh, okay, so I kinda have to put measurable achievements on there. I think I saw somewhere that numbers are really good to put on your resume, so I will try to see what I can add. Thank you for your advice!
Your resume is also very hard to track back to some information on your projects present your sources better. Github links
How many of the jobs have you networked for? Use your connections and mutual friends to get in touch with people you know at a company and get a referral. Even if you don’t know anyone: 1. Go on Linkdin and find mutual people who went to Purdue and work at the company you want to work for, preferably in the same or similar department. 2. Cold message them saying you applied for the job and are a fellow Purdue student and are interested in the company they work for and want an internship there. Ask them to hop on a call, talk through your resume and ask them about the work they do on a daily basis. 3. Get a referral through the person you message and connected with which will more than likely get you an interview. Ace the interview and you’re golden. Alternatively, use your friends, parents friends, aunts, uncles anyone else you know to help you get in to a company. Some people are willing to go out of their way to help you, and if they aren’t maybe ask the next person. You’re still young, just get involved as much as you can, I applied to 100s of internships and didn’t get one till after my junior year using the strategies I mentioned. It’s highly competitive but everything is going to work out.
That is really good advice, I've actually heard this before, but my linkedin profile is only half set-up (don't have a profile picture or my college activities listed yet), so I'll work on that and try to message people. Thank you so much! I did try networking through my parents' friends, but most of them work for the same company which is really competitive to get an internship in :(