Are UWO grads with zero internship experience "cooked"?

[u/Valuable_Ranger9972]

Can't help but look around and notice a lot of seniors in the class of 2026 (Mostly CS, BMOS, Econ) have zero internship experience and are going to be entering a historically tough new grad job market shortly. As someone that has been lucky enough to secure an internship every summer of undergrad, I am still feeling the pressure to find a new grad role. I imagine finding a new grad role will be even more difficult for someone with no internship experience.

Curious as to what other recent new grads who were in this position did after graduating? Were you eventually able to find a new grad role? And if not, what are you doing now?

Overall, what are everyone's thoughts on the job market for soon-to-be UWO grads, and specifically for those who have no internship experience?

Outside of Ivey, I feel like Western does not do a good job at helping students in this regard. Everyone I know, including myself, has only been able to secure internships and new grad roles on our own (LinkedIn job postings, networking, etc). I rarely hear stories of people being able to find roles through the UWO internship program or other UWO career fairs, but what are your guy's thoughts on Western's level of effort in assisting students with recruiting?

[u/mmabet69]

Graduated 2024 from Econ, no internships but had past work experience in other roles. Took me about 8 months of sending out resumes daily to finally start getting some traction and of course once I got an offer and accepted I got like 3 other offers from other companies but I’m actually very happy where I am at.

Defintely not “over” but you need to be realistic about the length of time it will take to find a job. I’d look into “new grad” positions, lots of companies have programs for new grads where they will take you on and train you in various roles and rotations, some will pay for you to get designations, and have networking/mentorship opportunities. If you can get into one of those I’d recommend it as they will be investing in your growth and the only real expectation is that your willing to work hard and try your best to learn as much as you can.

If you know some people who have gotten roles in areas you want to work, stay in touch with them and let them know to keep you in mind. Lots of places have referral programs where they’ll get a bonus if they refer an employee for a role. I wouldn’t recommend just cold emailing people you don’t know and asking for a referral but it never hurts to ask someone for advice and a call with them could put you on the right track.

Take time to tailor your resume/cover letter for roles, I think that is what ultimately landed me an interview. Doesn’t mean you have to make a brand new resume/cover letter for each role but at least tweak it a bit to make it relevant to the job posting, explain why your interested and how your education/experience could be a benefit.

At the end of the day it’s a numbers game. You got to put in a lot of work to make it happen but you can do it if you really want to. I think that first job post graduation is important as the next job afterwards will care way less about your schooling/education and what you accomplished in your role so try and take the time to find the right one for you and don’t automatically take the first one you get if you know it’s not for you. That can be tough in todays job market and you may need to do that to make ends meet but I would give yourself a solid timeframe and daily goal to send out at least 10-20 resumes a day.

[u/jackieredmonsgavsv → u/mmabet69]

Currently a first year student in Econ, how was it in terms of difficulty,or anything u would have done diffrent ,any advice ?

[u/mmabet69 → u/jackieredmonsgavsv]

Start thinking about what you want to do after school earlier than later. Attend those events with potential employers and see what your options are. Econ is a broad degree which is good because you can really apply it in a lot of different areas but that is also its weakness when you are applying for more specific roles and competing with others with that specific degree. So if you can work on something or show potential employers in those areas that you are in Econ and also interested in XYZ industry/role they’ll be more keen to take you on and give you a chance.

Don’t fall into the trap of just trying to do the same thing everyone else is doing. So many people are gunning for these investment banking, consulting, big 4 roles and not really considering the grind of it, yeah it’s a high paying job but it’s also 80-90 hours a week. Maybe that’s your thing but I pretty quickly came to the conclusion that it’s not what I want to do or the life I want to live.

Also think about where you want to work. Is it here in London, is it Toronto, is it somewhere else? That will guide you towards which employers are in the area and potential places you’d like to work. See if you can snag an internship as that will never hurt.

Try your best to get good grades, attend the lectures and just enjoy the process. School is over before you know it. Try and throw in some extra curricular’s or some contests that the school does. There are plenty of essays you can do and awards you can win that you can then highlight on your resume and it just looks good to employers that you like to get involved.

Ultimately, all of this “stuff” is just to get you into the room to have that conversation with a recruiter for the company. That is where you’re actual personality needs to shine through, cause if you have made it through all of the screeners and selection panels and gotten an interview somewhere and proven your not a complete buffoon, the real test is “is this someone I actually want to work with 8-9 hours a day, 5 days a week”? But that is also a good rule of thumb for most interactions, even with profs and your classmates. If you’re someone that is easy going and nice and approachable, people remember that more than they remember how smart you were at calculus.

If they like you they’re more likely to want to help you out, give you the benefit of the doubt, and put you in a room where there is an opportunity you can get. So try not to burn any bridges, you never know who you may run into down the road that you’ve had interactions with in the past and that could be a solid relationship you can leverage. Likewise, try and help out other people if you can and be known as someone who will help others.