Commentary: The Internship Myth in a Shrinking Job Market
Article By: Candace Obi, Student Intern | BCS Chronicle
What You Need To Know:
Student Intern, Candace Obi, reflects on the importance and scarcity of internships for college students.
In a tightening job market, internship opportunities are becoming harder to secure, and students are carrying the weight of expectations they can’t realistically meet.
Job openings have fallen dramatically in recent years, dropping from about 7% in 2021–22 to just over 4% by August 2025.
This shift has created a labor market where fewer positions are available per worker, making it increasingly difficult for students and recent graduates to find opportunities.
Closing the internship gap requires flexibility, transparency and empathy from the institutions and employers who shape our career paths.
Last year, human resources development senior Shayne Medina landed interviews at top companies without much struggle. This year, she’s sent out more than 50 applications and heard almost nothing back.
“It’s been rough,” Medina said. “I’ve only gotten two interviews and each time, the interview has gone well, but I’m left feeling unsure.”
Her experience isn’t unusual. For years, undergraduate students have been told experience is king — that internships are the golden ticket to becoming a competitive candidate for positions. But today, in a tightening job market, those opportunities are becoming harder to secure, and students are carrying the weight of expectations they can’t realistically meet.
Internship applications have become “nearly twice as competitive” compared with last year, according to a recent Handshake report highlighted by CNBC. The 2025 Internship Index shows the average number of applications per internship more than doubled in just two years, rising from 43 in 2022–23 to 109 in 2024–25.
So, what happens when highly qualified candidates apply in a market with almost no opportunities? Nothing. No, like literally nothing.
“The Great Freeze,” a phenomenon coined by economists and labor experts, is the “low-fire, low-hire” we’re currently experiencing. Job openings have fallen dramatically in recent years, dropping from about 7% in 2021–22 to just over 4% by August 2025. At the same time, unemployment stands around 4%, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data reported by Business Insider.
This shift has created a labor market where fewer positions are available per worker, making it increasingly difficult for students and recent graduates to find opportunities. As part of her major, students must complete an internship during their final semester to graduate.
“I think that it’s a good experience, but I’m not sure why it has to be in the last semester,” Medina said. “It takes away from my personal school experience… you become detached from your peers and the Texas A&M community because usually, you have to step away from College Station to get opportunities.”
That is just some of the barriers that she faces in her current internship search.
“Where we’re at economically, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Medina said. “Companies are posting job opportunities that are seasonal and temporary. You end up competing with people that have been laid off.”
And it’s not just her experiencing challenges, she’s seen it firsthand with her friends.
“One friend who’s worked in HR part time is barely getting interviews back,” Medina said. “My friends in tech are worried even as they’re interviewing with top companies. Another friend in a smaller industry got 6 offers and accepted all of them because they were scared some might be rescinded.”
And honestly? That fear is fair and common. On Reddit’s r/jobs community — a forum where thousands of workers share their experiences — users describe mass layoffs, hiring freezes, and anxiety about job security. In response to advice to build an exit strategy, one commenter wrote, “Go where? The job market is hell. I’m holding onto my job for dear life like Grim Hell.”
All of this raises a bigger question: in a job market this unstable, what role should colleges play in preparing students for the world they’re entering?
At Texas A&M, the Career Center’s internship page highlights the usual benefits: gaining experience, building a network, getting a foot in the door, yet nowhere does it acknowledge how much the landscape has changed. There’s no notice about shrinking job openings, rising competition, or what students should do if they can’t secure an internship despite applying early and often. The messaging hasn’t shifted, even though the market has.
“I feel like I haven’t heard much from the college about this year’s internship expectations,” Medina said. “They haven’t offered support for students who are struggling, and I know many people still cannot find one, even with the deadline just a month away.”
In a shrinking job market, flexibility is the support students need, Medina said.
“It’s really tough having all these students competing for limited spots and the consequence is not graduating on time which means paying for another semester,” Medina said. “If they could accept other semesters of internships, that’d help make the process more accessible.”
The struggle to secure an internship takes a real toll on students, Medina said.
“What I wish administrators and employers understood is that students might seem like they’re handling it, but we are really enduring a lot,” Medina said. “We need more empathy. Of course we should try hard, but we shouldn’t have to try this hard.”
Speaking from my own experience, I’ve watched job listings disappear, recruiters ghost me, and honestly just experience burnout from doing countless rounds of interviews for different companies where things feel promising, but then fall flat. And I’m not alone. So many students are doing everything right and still running into walls that have nothing to do with their effort.
Closing that gap will take more than encouraging students to “keep trying.” It requires flexibility, transparency and a little more empathy from the institutions and employers who shape our career paths.
Until then, students like Medina continue to shoulder the pressure, hoping their hard work pays off in a job market that remains unpredictable.