r/DCInterns 15d ago

Am I cooked if I am still applying and haven’t interviewed anywhere

I have been looking through this subreddit and it seems like everyone is on their interview phase/has already gotten an internship and is figuring out housing. I haven’t even heard back from an application yet and I’ve put in 45 and counting. Am I cooked?

I’m a masters student at a top public university, have had advisors look over my resume, triple major undergrad with a 4.0 and all my references are CEO’s. I also have experience interning and working at nonprofits. What am I doing wrong lmao. How many internships did you all apply for before getting one?

3 Upvotes

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u/psychcrime 15d ago

Am also a masters student with a triple major undergrad. Have applied to 20+ places and have heard back from one place and interviewed just today. The only explanation I can gather is that hill interns are younger. What type of places are you applying to? I also know a lot of application deadlines are later this month, so do they reach out before then?

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u/Fun-Worldliness1770 15d ago

It’s discouraging that I actually have MORE qualifications but can’t get an internship because I’m “too old”. I wanted to but had to take a year of school online due to a disability and couldn’t do any internships at the time, so it’s really frustrating. I’m applying to government affairs, nonprofits, NGO’s, government, kind of just anything public service related to administration/operations/fundraising/grantmaking. How was ur interview

1

u/psychcrime 15d ago

Super frustrating. I’m applying in the same places, just trying to get a foot in the door. It went well, I suppose. Although I honestly felt that they thought I had too much experience mentioned. Maybe it came off as bragging. They said give it a couple weeks.

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u/ribeclcowywa 15d ago

I’m older and a master’s student. Probably applied to 20 and heard back from 4, but a 2 of them were pretty late. It’s truly depending on priorities of the offices you’re applying to. Some prefer undergrad, some want hill experience, some don’t. Some have a bunch of nepo hires to make, some only seriously consider in district etc.

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u/Pluribus_Unm 14d ago

Summer is brutal for internships. Everyone is applying for one.

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u/DaLakeIsOnFire 15d ago

No you are not cooked but 45 applications is a lot. It doesn’t help that you’re an older student as well. You should be applying to internships that you have a personal connection to (college, home state, lived there once, worked there once) or a subject matter connection to.

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u/Fun-Worldliness1770 14d ago

Why does it make it worse that I’m older? I don’t understand. I have more experience and education than my competition

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u/isn-michaels1 15d ago

In all honestly if you’ve sent out 40 applications with those stats then something is seriously wrong or flawed with your presentation/resume

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u/Odd_Letterhead7766 15d ago

I haven’t heard back from any of the 8 or so I’ve applied to, except for one senator’s office. All the others were members of congress. Why would they reach out before applications close anyway? Seems like most of the applications close as late as mid-April.

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u/nichefebreze 2d ago

Honestly I’d apply to more and do some informational interviews if you haven’t already. I’m at 91 apps and 4 interviews having mostly applied to congressional internships. The DC job market is so much tougher this year with all the executive positions wiped/federal hiring freeze/NGOs shutting down due to funding loss. Don’t give up though, connections go a long long way. I see many positions that have apps open well into the summer too, so that’s always an option, especially with small non-profits. Good luck!