It is almost spring, which means many students are scrambling to secure a summer internship. For many at Ohio University, an internship is either required to earn their degree or heavily recommended by the college.
According to a report by Handshake, internship postings declined by more than 15% between January 2023 and January 2025, while applications increased. This shows that the demand is exceeding the opportunities available.
With the current state of the job market, combined with the fear that generative artificial intelligence is taking over jobs, many students feel pressure to have the strongest resume possible before graduation. Funding cuts to certain programs and positions appear to have created a shortage of internships, making them even harder to secure.
For students seeking their first internship, the process can be much more challenging because it is hard to convince a potential employer that you have experience and the skills to succeed.
In this economy, most students prefer a paid internship because they are expected to put in a lot of hard work with long hours on top of it. Unfortunately, some students have had to settle for an unpaid role if that is all they can get to fulfill the internship requirement to graduate.
It is not fun working for free, especially if you are paying for your own transportation and parking. It may feel discouraging at times and like it is all for nothing. If students are putting in the work with professional responsibilities, they should be compensated fairly by employers.
The good news, though, is that it is supposed to become easier to secure a paid internship once you have some real-world experience under your belt.
However, this advice does not comfort those struggling to land their first one.
Sure, rejection and disappointment are a part of life. However, it gets discouraging after receiving your 23rd automated “We will not be moving forward with your application” email or not receiving an email at all. Students may start to doubt their potential and give up on finding an internship.
Companies receive a high number of applications, of course they cannot offer everyone a position. Instead, employers could offer more remote opportunities. The pay would most likely be significantly less, as transportation costs are not accounted for. This creates less stress on the company and more jobs for students.
According to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, 26.4% of students said they did not participate in internships because they were not selected for a paid internship, 24.3% said the opportunity was unpaid and 14.6% said that the internship had insufficient pay. These results show a clear lack of accessibility to opportunities.
A possible solution to this internship drought is to hire multiple interns for the same position.
It may seem like a lot more to manage a group of interns rather than just one, but it is beneficial for both the company and the students because more work can get done, while students get direct experience working with a team.
Still, internships should not be so hard to nail down. You can only change your resume template or adjust the bullet point wording so many times before it starts to feel hopeless.
OU offers a variety of career and internship support. Although these resources are helpful, it seems the easiest or most attainable way to actually secure a position is to utilize your connections.
Everyone tells you, especially in the journalism field, that it is all about who you know. Even the Society of Professional Journalists states that networking keeps you “happy and fed.”
However, having connections does not help when your connection's company is not hiring.
Employers should make internship opportunities easier to secure, especially for upperclassmen who have put in the work over the years.
In some cases, being the president of your club or organization and having a 4.0 GPA is not enough; it is almost like hiring managers are looking for a very specific candidate, but do not include it in the position description.
According to the American Society of Employers, internships allow companies to scan for potential hires by directly working with the interns, reducing recruitment costs.
It also gives employers a pool of qualified candidates for future positions, as they have already been able to observe the students and see how they fit into the company and its values.
Even if the budget does not allow a paid position for multiple interns, some just want any experience they can get.
The real reward is having valuable, real-life experience and skills that will only help build toward a future career.
Opportunities should be dispersed off of talent and work ethic rather than only luck and connections. Internships are supposed to be meaningful practice for a career, not a barrier that feels impossible to move past.
If more employers begin to recognize students are genuinely trying to improve their skills and what they can bring to a company, we can hope, in return, students will have an easier time when it comes to securing an internship they can feel proud of and apply to their career after graduation.
Hadley is a junior studying strategic communications at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Hadley about their column? Email them at hl526522@ohio.edu.
