By Natalie Hanna · Sports Editor
As I’m sure most can relate, I felt like I was perpetually stressed last school year. The thing is that it usually had little to do with school and mostly to do with applying for accounting internships.
I constantly had an open Chrome window of 20-30 tabs, each one a possible internship to apply to. I would go weeks without applying because it simply felt like a mountain too great to climb, and then one day I would suck it up, sit down and apply to a bunch over the span of a couple hours.
This was basically the cyclical theme of my entire sophomore year.
The main source of my stress came from feeling the need to secure an accounting internship for the summer before my junior year and, therefore, wanting to apply to as many as possible. But I also had schoolwork piling up at the same time, and I felt like I couldn’t make time for applications without sacrificing homework or studying. Deciding which area to prioritize each day came down to which felt the most important in the moment.
I ended up spending a lot of time on applications and was able to apply to an inordinate number of internships between September and April. I wish I had kept count, because considering how much time I spent, it must be a very large number.
And yet … not only did I fail to secure an internship, but I also was never even offered a single interview. It was one of the most disappointing aspects of my sophomore year: sacrificing countless hours for these applications, only to hear nothing from most of them and receive rejection emails from the rest.
Increased competition in the accounting internship market might be the result of a decrease in hiring. According to Deloitte Partner Doug Hart, while Deloitte’s hiring has not significantly decreased, it has gone down over the last couple of years, partially due to the firm actively trying to understand the impact of AI on entry-level jobs. I suspect this is common among other companies as well.
Courtney Baum, director of talent at Pittsburgh regional firm Sisterson & Co., said one of the primary reasons internships have become increasingly competitive is that “colleges and universities are placing greater emphasis on the value of practical experience. As a result, many students are competing for opportunities while also maintaining strong academic performance and gaining exposure to accounting, public accounting or other relevant experiences that make them more attractive to employers.”
Additionally, over the years, firms have begun to open applications earlier. For example, I have noticed that several summer 2028 accounting internships are closing in a few days. That means students are applying for internships a year and a half before they begin.
These early application windows can further increase the difficulty of securing an internship because students miss opportunities before they even know to look for them.
This trend seems to result from firms reacting to what others are doing. One company created a sophomore program to identify candidates earlier on, and the rest followed. Now, most firms have mini programs for freshmen and sophomores designed to lead to an internship down the road.
One firm started posting earlier application deadline dates because it wanted to secure better candidates before competitors, and the rest followed. Now, most firms have application deadlines dated at least nine months before an internship’s start date.
“Firms also want to hire individuals who will be a long-term fit,” Baum said. “The earlier students are exposed to a firm, the industry and the profession, the better opportunity they have to determine where they want to begin and even continue their careers. Just as students compete for the same opportunities, employers are also competing for top talent, which has led many companies to develop new and creative ways to engage students earlier in the process.”
Another detail of my situation is that I applied for internships strictly within the New York City metropolitan area, known as a highly competitive location.
Hart, who works in this area, noted that from what he has seen, perfect GPAs and resumes are not the most notable attributes of those who tend to land internships in the NYC area. Rather, attending a target school and having connections seem to be the most shared characteristics.
The “target schools” strategy is common, as seen by many Pittsburgh companies hiring Grove City students for internships or entry-level jobs. They know the school, have connections with people here and have had good experiences with Grove City students.
In fact, I was able to attend two accounting leadership conferences over the summer in Pittsburgh due to these Grove City ties and then followed that up by accepting an internship offer with one of them for next summer. It’s really true: connections, connections, connections.
If you are in the same boat I was in last year, do not fret! Just because you aren’t receiving “congrats” emails does not mean you are not a good candidate. It might simply come from a lack of connections or not attending one of that company’s target schools. And even if you do have these advantages, maybe God is trying to direct you to a different path for your summer.
In my opinion, there is too much pressure put on everyone, but specifically accounting students, to acquire early internships. While it is important to maintain a competitive advantage, I think everyone needs to chill out for a second. Yes, we are in the early adulthood stage of our lives, but we are also still college students and have the rest of our lives to work.
In the grand scheme of things, it might be inconvenient, but it is not the end of the world to have an internship-less summer. Don’t take nine months like I did to register that concept.
