How I landed 3 internships in today's brutal job market (absolutely no fluff)

The 2026 job market is genuinely so bad and I wanted to help as many people as I can, heres some stuff i used to do when i was intern hunting:

1. Frame your experience WELL (and pack the buzzwords) If you are a freshman or sophomore with zero actual job experience, you have to create your own. HEAR ME OUT—DO NOT ever apply with a blank resume that just lists your coursework.

Build something: a full-stack website, launch an app with a friend, or join a technical club, and frame it as your experience! Put it right at the top of your resume. Then, pack those bullet points with every relevant ATS buzzword you can (React, Node, AWS, CI/CD, whatever the job description is asking for). The recruiters scanning your resume just want to see that you have built things and know the stack well!

I joined my FinTech club on campus and I volunteered to lead the rebuild of our member portal. On my resume, i listed myself as "Full-Stack Developer." I listed the exact stack (React, Node.js, PostgreSQL), talked about implementing auth and managing a database for 200+ active members, and suddenly I was getting past the ATS filters that used to auto-reject me. Recruiters stopped asking if I had a job and started asking how I handled the database schema.

2. Disregard your GPA (if its mediocre) and just STUDY the actual test. Stop worrying about your grades and put all that energy into doing Point #1 and technical interview prep. Grind LeetCode for the basic technical rounds. For the actual engineering/system design rounds, I personally dislike reading the normie textbooks, so I used online resources like: (a) GreatFrontend (for Frontend), (b) Boot.dev (for Backend), and (c) codexprep (for all Frontend, Backend, Fullstack and even AI).

These sites have question banks that are pretty similar to what interviewers are actually asking right now. I had an onsite interview with TikTok for their Backend SWE Intern role and legit (c) and (b) had the exaaaaact same questions they ended up asking.

Don't just guess what they want. Find the recurring patterns, memorize the trade-offs, and learn the exact architectural buzzwords the hiring managers want to hear.

3. It is a pure numbers game. Do not fall in love with one company and wait around for two weeks hoping they reply.

Apply to everything, I MEAN EVERYTHING. I applied to around 1000-1500 applications for every single internship hunt so treat applying like a daily 30-minute chore. Hit the fresh posts on LinkedIn and Indeed within the first 24 hours. Go on Handshake. Cold email startup founders.

IF there is a will, there is a way my friends, good luck!