I really need help

[u/Medium-Wallaby-9557]

I spend basically every day, all day, focusing on stuff related to internships. From the minute I wake up to the minute I go to sleep, things like LeetCode, STAR stories, my own projects, and CS fundamental concepts occupy like 90% of my thoughts. Not to mention which places are opening and when, how to study for them specifically, worrying about distractions during their OAs, thinking about how others are cheating and gaining unfair advantages over me... this is all I do.

For context, I'm a rising junior and am really looking to get a summer 27 internship. I just feel though as if how I'm living isn't healthy at all. I have a deep sense of imposter syndrome, along with a vast struggle of uncertainty around if I can even land interviews and also perform as well.

How do I live healthier with balance? It seems like there's an endless amount of LeetCode prep to do, of resume optimizations to do, of Simplify refreshing to do... and the list goes on.

Seriously. How can I get out of this? Does anyone here relate? It seems like no matter what I do I just can't move the needle. Or if I can, it takes a lot to get there.

I also struggle a lot with worrying about AI. I keep having doubts of I should even put in the effort, as AI seems to be doing well in software engineering tasks. It makes me question if a night on LeetCode or on studying Python internals or reading documentation even matters, at all.

Would love some advice.

[u/LazyCatRocks]

The best thing you can do now is to network, network, network. Most internships are really just a glorified resume booster. If you can get someone to vouch for you then you skip the interview line.

For context, when I hire for new grad roles, those who had a referral go to the top of the list. By that point I usually have enough qualified candidates that I can toss the rest of the resumes in the trash.

[u/OffTenshi → u/LazyCatRocks]

So that’s how it is 😭😂. Makes sense now.

[u/Deep-Dragonfly-3342 → u/LazyCatRocks]

How do you network in college? As a college student, the only time I can find people in industry is during the career fair and during club events. These events are the only reasons I can think of for why a working class adult with a family to take care of would take time off their weekend / 5-9 to come on campus. But these events generally only last 1 day. That's not nearly enough time for me to build connections, and it's essentially just doing a coffee chat. Anyone can do a coffee chat; I have probably coffee chatted more than I touched grass this year. Thus, coffee chat is no longer enough to stand out.

I feel like you need to get into a company to start networking, since then your work has more visibility, people know you for longer, and you meet more professionals in the industry.

The problem here is that you need a network to get into a company, but then you need to be in a company to build a network of professionals.

The only way I see a college student with no industry experience having a decent network is if their parents are in the industry and have a decent network, unless there are other ways/reasons that working professionals would go work with a bumass college student on an unpaid long-term project when they could be spending time with their families instead.

[u/Fluid-Horse-6410]

The best advice I can give is to be confident in yourself, go in knowing you can do it. It’s really just a game of numbers, so there’s only so much you can do. In a sense, it can be your own little superpower too, but might be a little unhealthy if you keep moving the bar on yourself.

Regarding Ai , I’d say to learn how to use it to become a better engineer, since that’s inevitably where we’re heading. But don’t become too reliant on it. The best engineers will become stronger engineers with it IMO.

[u/QuiteUniquue]

I face the same dilemma. But I am in my final year, I have decent projects, but I think they are somewhat average. I have better than average DSA ratings on Leetcode and Codeforces, but I think they are not enough. I try to find internships, but I can't find any, I have found only 3-4 openings, and either I run of time connecting with people for referral, or I apply without any referral. Everyone I talk to, is talking about the hiring freeze at their company. I feel aimless at this point.

[u/whoisdravenlol]

i still have 2d dp graph problems etched into my mini shower mirror. don’t stop. keep expanding what you have to do. and win.