r/ChemicalEngineering • u/Unable-Disaster7197 • Jun 06 '25
Job Search Rising ChemE Junior—Can’t land internships, need advice
Hey y’all, I’m a ChemE major going into my junior year and haven’t been able to land an internship the past two summers. I know I don’t have a ton of experience yet, but I’ve applied to a bunch of places and either get ghosted or rejected. I’ve also had a couple of interviews but never got chosen.
Could someone take a look at my resumee or give tips on what I could do better? Also, any recs and a list of companies that are open to students with limited experience would help a lot.
I really want to make next summer count. Appreciate any advice!
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u/MaxObjFn Jun 06 '25
One general comment is that you might want to put your school work on there. Most internships will expect you to have already taken some core ChemE coursework, and it's hard to tell from your resume.
Also, hopefully this is in preparation for summer '26 because this summer isn't likely.
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u/Unable-Disaster7197 Jun 06 '25
Thanks for the reply! Yes it’s for summer 2026. That is a great addition. I will add that in. Any company recs to apply?
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u/Half_Canadian Jun 06 '25
Talk to your college's career center - those folks are specifically there to provide input on improving resumes. For example, I wouldn't lead off with your Home Depot job.
You mention being involved with three different leadership and professional development programs...I would try to network those experiences better to get more interview opportunities
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u/useitsevr Jun 06 '25
Dude I’m also a rising Junior so I can call you out. Why are u putting stuff like process improvement and process simulation and modeling on your “Technical skills”. No way you know how to do that yet
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u/Soggy-Ad-3981 Jun 06 '25
god forbid a man knows how to improve a process or simulate some pipes in a damn software brotherrrrrrrr
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u/Autisum Jun 06 '25
Oh yeah, that’s a good point. You don’t learn those until at least junior year. Fresh-soph is basic calculus, physics, mass & energy, how to keep your dorm clean.
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u/Unable-Disaster7197 Jun 06 '25
I’m a junior by classification but I’ve more credits than the avg junior as I’ve taken some junior classes. But I’ll review that and make sure it aligns with what I’ve learnt. Thanks for the feedback!
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u/SurveyAlternative842 Jun 07 '25
its absolutely possible depending on the school. 2 of my sophomore year chemE courses have parts that work on process simulation and modeling as well as process control.
dont speak in absolutes when youre clearly uninformed
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u/BeersLawww Jun 06 '25
Just keep applying, increase the amount if you need to. Career fair is probably your best shot. Show your resume but wow them with the way you talk.
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u/ADoggyDoggyDog Jun 13 '25
I would agree with this. Career fair is huge, and so are any opportunities when companies come to visit the university
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u/nrubhsa Jun 06 '25
To build on others, I’d put your relevant skills and academics above your less relevant work experience.
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u/BeersLawww Jun 06 '25
Just keep applying, increase the amount if you need to. Career fair is probably your best shot. Show your resume but wow them with the way you talk.
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u/Thicc-Zacc Jun 06 '25
Generally, internship apps will open up for Summer 2026 in Aug/Sep.
That’s when you really wanna get into it. For now, chill and do your best at whatever you got going on this Summer.
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u/AsianMz Jun 06 '25
Trying doing research in your department. It’s not industry experience, but at least it’s relevant to your field. That way the employers would at least know you have had experience in your field outside of classrooms. I agree with the other comments - main issue being lack of experience (the resume doesn’t stand out). Also I would agree that adding some of your classes may help.
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u/_M1LK- Jun 06 '25
Are you just applying on websites and such? I landed two internship offers my summer from sophomore to junior year and the key factor was networking with alumni. I used linkedins alumni page for my college and spoke to our academic advisor who knew some of the alums, and she set me up. Worked amazingly well.
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u/jper8136 Jun 06 '25 edited Jun 06 '25
Freshman here who’s gotten multiple offers.
Honestly networking at conferences and clubs were what really helped me land offers. It also helps to network with recruiters and company staff during school/company events. It helped me write company specific cvs about why I was interested in their companies, it’s what I think helped me get past screenings.
Your resume looked similar to mine when I submitted my applications. Honestly I tailored my resume to every company I applied to which also helps if you’re trying to get into certain fields.
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u/CananDamascus Jun 06 '25
Hmm, GPA isn't amazing so you could consider leaving that off. The biggest thing might be your lack of relevant experience. I know experience is tricky but employers like to see research work or lab work on there that might have some crossover. Is there anything in that area you might be able to add?
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u/useitsevr Jun 06 '25
No he definitely should not leave his GPA off. Idk abt other places but a 3.3 is above avg for my class
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u/Unable-Disaster7197 Jun 06 '25
Thanks for the reply! That’s true, I will consider. I don’t necessarily have lab work but I recently went on a Study abroad trip and did some foundational research on water and sustainability. Would that count?
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u/CananDamascus Jun 06 '25
Yeah it might, if you were part of a research group you should definitely add that. If you can get a job ad a research assistant at an engineering lab (or a chemistry lab) at your school that will add a ton to your resume for next summer.
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u/screwswithshrews Jun 07 '25
3.3 isn't awesome but isn't terrible either. Good enough to get you in most places. If you omitted your GPA, I would think you had a 2.0 or something awful.
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u/stmije6326 Jun 07 '25
Yeah when I used to do recruiting for my former MegaCorp, the assumption was no GPA = below a 3.0. Wasn’t always the case (and we asked if it wasn’t there), but OP should leave it on to not raise any questions.
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u/peasNmayo Jun 06 '25
Honestly, your resume looks fine other than the minor things other people point out.
Online is kind of a crapshoot, so next year go to your schools job fair if they have one and perfect your interview skills. That's where you're more likely to snag something
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u/yi_gamin Jun 07 '25
apply to linde. you’ll land somethin’. they are always lookin’ for talent to come out to the boonies.
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Jun 07 '25
What kind of internship are you aiming for? I would cut out some of the stuff that doesn’t matter. There is some stuff on the resume that employers just don’t care for. I would add things that you have accomplished in college related to coursework like labs or whatever deliverables that show that you worked hard and delivered results. Employers want concrete results so that they can envision that translating to the internship.
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u/hellobutno Jun 07 '25
If you have no relevant experience, I recommend putting work experience after things like education and projects, and make sure to focus in those sections on things relevant to the jobs you're applying for.
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u/wildeheron Jun 07 '25
NSBE career fairs are pretty good. Get a board seat if you can. That helped a lot of people when I was in school
Add whatever projects/assignments in school where you got to learn and improve the technical skills that you listed.
I would also order your bullet points by how relevant they are to the internship you are applying to. Things like “supervised 10 associate” and “leading on job training” will be more valuable and translate better to an engineering role than customer service experience.
0
u/sapajul Jun 06 '25
My only recommendation is to remove the date for finishing the bachelors, 2027 may have spark son issues with the AI filters most companies use now. Try "on course" or something like that.
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u/Soggy-Ad-3981 Jun 06 '25
lol the ole study abroad in south africa
just apply as a woman i kid you not
gosh one time i was in an interview and i asked if they provide housing for the (2) interns they hire and they went weird acting like i was weird for asking and said of course not we always hire one man one woman
bruh, it was a midwestern college, the company was in washintgon.
the class was like 30% female, how many do you think wanted to leave their friends and families and go to a paper mill 2000 miles away multiple times and delay graduation a year and lose their friends ffs >>
well the answer was like 10, so every woman with a pulse had like 20 offers
i got 0
then the stupid woman ghosted them (for a better off no doubt) 2 weeks after accepting, and they called my ass up waaaaay past the deadline date and asked if i wanted it cuz apparently i was the only loser who was still around, gotta love it
so yeah i took it lmao
but yeah f them.
theres a massive surplus as students, too late for a coop as a junior, just boring meh pay meh work that does meh for getting a job more or less. dont sweat it too much.
as a recruiter....yeah i aint reading no stupid resume for commas and tense. who the f are these hr morons
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u/Autisum Jun 06 '25
Your resume looks standard for someone of your year. I would go over the grammar in your resume. Misuse of commas and past tense for present experience.
If you’ve gotten interviews, then perhaps it’s your interview skills you need to work on.