A college student has claimed he applied to nearly 500 positions before finally landing just one single internship in return for the prodigious effort.
Oliver Wu, a University of Michigan computer science major in his junior year, took to TikTok to reveal the massive spreadsheet he had made to track his internship applications.
The list, which he started in July for positions in summer 2024, was complete with categories for 'Applied,' 'Ghost,' and 'Reject.'
At the top was one victorious 'Accept,' next to his application for Ford, where Oliver is now slated to begin an 'enterprise technology' internship this coming summer.
Oliver Wu, a University of Michigan computer science major in his junior year, took to TikTok to reveal the massive spreadsheet he had made to track his internship applications
He claimed he applied to nearly 500 positions before finally landing just one single internship in return for the prodigious effort
In his nine-second viral post, Oliver gives a weak but triumphant thumbs up as text overlay reads: '456 applications, 56 interviews, and 0 sleep in 4 months, all for 1 internship.'
The video then cuts to him scrolling through the massive spreadsheet, a large chunk of which glares with rejections, highlighted in red.
His caption simply concluded it was 'worth it.'
The student spoke to Newsweek about the experience, recalling that he'd begun the application process back in July 'and soon hit 200 applications.'
Before long, he fell into a routine in sending out resumes to company after company.
'Usually, I would open up two or three job boards, see what new jobs were posted, and then apply to all of the jobs if the salary, location, roles etc. met what I was looking for,' he told the outlet.
'I also kept track of which companies I had referrals to and checked on a weekly basis if those companies had opened up their applications.'
Though fighting off feeling 'burned out' at the process, Oliver was certain that he 'did not want to feel regret that I could have tried harder, so I made up my mind to pursue this with everything I had.'
The list, which he started in July for positions in summer 2024, was complete with categories for 'Applied,' 'Ghost,' and 'Reject'
@oliesandroidworth it 🤪 #fyp #foryou #cs
♬ som original - ★ L i k aHe added that 'the hardest part was staying positive and working hard, despite having hundreds of rejections.'
Landing 56 interviews, he gradually became more and more comfortable with speaking to hiring managers and taking subsequent technical assessments - with such assessments being standard for those looking to get hired in computer-science positions.
'I feel much less nervous and familiar with the process. Additionally, I know what to expect, and the areas which I need to improve at,' he reflected to Newsweek.
The second he got the acceptance note from Ford, it 'felt like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders,' he said.
'I was in class at the time and I remember stepping out, going into the hallway and jumping up and down while silently screaming in excitement for around 10 minutes,' he said.
'I ended up landing two more offers, but ultimately accepted Ford.'
Sharing his top piece of advice with Newsweek, Oliver recommended hopefuls 'network' as much as possible.
'A big mistake I made was not networking properly and being scared to network and relying on cold applications instead. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely network more. Take a deep breath, and relax, this is a marathon not a sprint,' he promised.
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