How I Landed a Great Internship Without Having “Connections”

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Agilent Careers

7 min readJan 24, 2017

The job market has become increasingly competitive. Most college students are eager to build up their resumes with work experience that will help them with their future career. With such a competitive market, people are trying to get ahead of the crowd and set themselves apart.

Internships are extremely useful for students or recent graduates. Employers are much more likely to hire someone with relevant internship/work experience. Internships help you create the foundation for your career by allowing you to experience how it is to work in a certain field.

As we’ve previously discussed, networking is a great way to open doors for yourself and work your way into new opportunities. Knowing a guy who knows a guy who knows a guy who works for this great company can be extremely beneficial — if you know that guy.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.

What is networking?

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We've all heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” While this may be discouraging to some, the fact of the matter is often very true. Why is that? Well, humans are wired to thrive on connection. When you get to know someone, you build trust and having that trust makes it easy for an employee to confidently recommended you.

Glassdoor went through 440,000 job interview reviews posted to the site since 2009, and analyzed how people landed their interviews and whether or not those interviews ultimately led to jobs.

Based on Glassdoor’s numbers, your chances of getting an accepting an offer are a “statistically significant” 2.6% to 6.6% higher if you were referred by a current employee than if you weren’t.

Glassdoor chief economist Andrew Chamberlain puts it “boosting the odds of getting a job offer by roughly 5% would mean on average that 1 in 20 workers gets a job offer who wouldn’t have otherwise gotten one.”

To me, that number isn’t that intimidating. Although that statistically significant 6.6% prove that connections do matter, it also shows that it is certainly still possible to get hired with no connections at all.

Does it make it a little easier to get in with a company if you know someone who can recommend you? Probably.

Is it possible to get an internship without that connection? Definitely.

Will you maybe have to work a little harder? Yes.

Will it be worth it? Absolutely.

Mindset is everything

“The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.” — Elon Musk

If you go into your internship search with the mindset that you have it harder than others, you’re not doing yourself any favors. A sense of entitlement or automatic defeat is a recipe for disaster in any situation, especially an internship search where there will definitely be rejection.

Rejection is a part of life. The most successful people got thousands of “NOs” before they get a yes — and all you need is ONE yes.

If you’re like me when I was beginning my search and don’t have any direct connections, you will be faced with the typical staffing agencies, job sites, college or university referrals, etc. — All of which can yield success.

Here are some tips to put your best foot forward during your internship search:

Do your research

Do research ahead of time and allow yourself time to get organized. Think of broader industries and research the companies within those industries. Researching will help you gain a better understanding the type of work you can see yourself doing. While it’s important to figure out what you’re interested in, this will also help you weed out the fields you might not be fond of.

Many companies start their application process in the fall when looking for summer interns, so keep that in mind if you’re planning for the future.

Every experience is a learning opportunity

The way I see it is that no matter how much you enjoy or dislike whatever internship you end up with, it will teach you something. Every experience is a learning opportunity and it’s important to recognize that when you go into your search. An open mind and positive attitude is more powerful than people understand.

Where to start

Start with what you have. Talk to your peers, mentors, friends, family, family friends, professors, anyone. Though that person you know might not be directly tied to a specific position, they may know something or someone who could link you to an opportunity.

You never know what the possibilities are until you go out there and ask.

Utilizing your university

Many universities have career centers that are often overlooked. These centers are designed to help you. These services are usually included as part of your tuition, you might as well use them to your advantage. Many companies have relationships and contracts set up with universities, so your career center may be able to connect you with an opportunity or at least give you somewhere to start.

Many career centers also host career fairs which can also be a great tool for students seeking opportunities. Here you will have the opportunity to connect with companies that are actively seeking interns or campus hires.

Need tips on how to make the most out of a a career fair?

MASTERING THE ART OF A JOB FAIR

The task of job hunting can be an overwhelming one.

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The Application Process

It’s very important to keep an open mind during the application process. Especially if this is your first internship, you’re not in the position to be picky and selective. Apply to ANYTHING that is related to your field of interest.

Go into this process understanding that you’ll have to will have to put in the effort.

When putting together your applications, make sure you put an adequate amount of time and effort into your resume. Companies sift through hundreds to thousands of resumes, so you want you make sure yours stands out. Cater your resume to whatever specific job you’re applying for. Take the experiences you’ve had and make sure it reflects the characteristics and needs for the job you’re applying for.

This may sound like a lot of work, because it is — but hard work pays off and it will be worth it.

You will have to send end out tons of applications just to hear back from a handful, and that’s normal. For example, you may apply to over 50 jobs, and you might hear back from maybe 2, 3 or even less. You probably won’t have much work experience, so don’t get too discouraged if you don’t hear back from as many companies as you’d like.

My internship didn’t land in my lap, it took a lot of time and effort. It took months of structuring my resumes, researching companies, and applying before I got my internship here at Agilent. All that effort paid off.

I am working for a wonderful company surrounded by great people and I couldn’t ask for anything more. If I let feelings of discouragement during my search take over and gave up, I would never be in the position I am now.

Interview time

If you’re selected to come in for an interview, make sure you are prepared. Obviously know the services of the company, but look into learning more about the leadership and values of the company as well.

For example, Agilent has a whole careers site with multiple social media outlets. Before I came on board, I did a lot of research and looking at those pages really reassured me that Agilent is the company I wanted to work for.

Market yourself

Not only is it important to be interested, but it’s also necessary to be interesting. Frame your strengths and interests in a way that puts the company first. What can you do for them? Package yourself in a way that proves that you fit the needs of the company.

Try and find and a common interest with the interviewer. This will help you build a genuine connection which can be extremely helpful in landing the job.

“I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” — Estee Lauder

At the end of the day, and internship is not what you’ll be doing for the rest of your life, but it can give you insight into what it is you hope to do in the long run. Once you begin working you’ll quickly realize what it is you’re interested in and what your next move should be.