Reason #5: Internships That Don’t Exist

If you are studying mechanical engineering, you will quickly be told that internships are essential. Employers demand “experience” for entry-level jobs, and the only way to get it, you are told, is through internships or co-ops. The problem is that for mechanical engineers, those internships are either vanishing, worthless, or impossible to land.

Companies have cut back on ME internships while expanding them in software and electrical, where students feed directly into projects executives care about. The handful of positions that remain often look nothing like engineering. They are glorified technician roles, focused on testing, data entry, or validation reports. Some are unpaid. The competition is absurd. One student bragged about securing a summer spot after sending 30 applications, only to be reminded by a peer that “most people have to put in far more applications. Hundreds, even. We had more than 50 applications for one intern slot for a mechanical role” (Reddit user, 2025).

Meanwhile, students in electrical and chemical engineering sometimes get hired before they graduate. One hiring manager admitted that he routinely interviewed seniors and made them offers on the spot, lining them up for full-time work as soon as their capstone projects ended (Reddit user, 2025). For mechanical engineers, nothing of the sort exists. Instead, students graduate with résumés that look barren compared to their peers. Even chemical engineers, who face a smaller job market, at least graduate into industries where the pipeline occasionally functions. A discouraged graduate summed it up bluntly: “I’ve applied to around 60 positions… I am discouraged… for every position I apply to, there are probably around 50 applicants” (gfd43tg, 2016).

This dynamic feeds directly into oversaturation (see Reason #1: The field is oversaturated). Without internships, most mechanical engineering graduates are locked out of the “entry-level” jobs that demand three years of experience on day one. Employers know it, and they use it to thin the herd. Mechanical engineering internships are supposed to be a bridge between the classroom and the job. In reality, the bridge is missing, and most students only realize it when they are already falling.

References

gfd43tg. (2016, June 28). How can a recent chemical engineering graduate secure an entry-level job? Physics Forums. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/how-can-a-recent-chemical-engineering-graduate-secure-an-entry-level-job.858813/

Reddit user. (2025, February 14). Finally got an internship for summer 2025 after applying to 30–40 places [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalEngineering/comments/1hl0snv/finally_got_an_internship_for_summer_2025_after/

Reddit user. (2025, May 3). Hiring before graduation [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectricalEngineering/comments/1co5lf8/hiring_before_graduation/