Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice or tips regarding my current situation.
I’m a Data Science student in Germany and have been living here for around three years. I’ve also accumulated nearly two years of work experience in Germany, primarily in marketing, specifically in Analytics & Ads.
For the past three months, I’ve been applying for internships and Werkstudent positions in IT. I’ve applied to over 150 positions but haven’t received any offers.
My CV has been optimized with the help of my university, and I use two versions: one in English and one in German, depending on the language of the job description. I also write tailored cover letters for each application.
I have B2-level German and C1-level English, and I’ve completed four university projects that are showcased on my website.
Despite this, I keep getting automated rejection messages and haven’t been able to land an internship.
Is there anything specific I might be doing wrong? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
by Cette_Rizzler
24 comments
Please ignore the calculation mistake on the chart, it was a typo when coding
Looks like my dating history
Most of the time it is about the CV. Post it in the comments without personal information ofc and we can give you feedback!
The “Got in touch” number is too low, either you are applying in the wrong place or there is an issue with your CV or something is bothering the potential employers… I think there are some people who offer help with the CVs and this kind of stuff, maybe they could review your application / cover letter. It also might be that the industry is satiated at this point.
Could you please share your CV?
An internship is a tough sell in this market. Fewer positions, more competition. Are you on a non-permanent resident permit? That would be compound the problem.
124 rejections already is very good lol, you are lucky if you even get one of those automated rejections
Only 26 ghosted is actually pretty good. When I was writting applications for an apprenticeship it was more like 70/100 gehosted me. I’m still “Schadenfroh” whenever I see them publicly crying about “Fachkräftemangel”.
>B2-level German
Thats the problem I assume. If you want more advice, you can always share your CV (anonymize it before)
Currently is a really unfortunate time to search for a new job/internship.
Good luck for you search!
A bit off topic question. What software did you use to make the graph?
There is virtually no need for data scientists. Like, at all. But we are training thousands. Many many more than we need. And in a supply vs demand situation like that, you will always lose out with English only at C1 and German not near perfect. Most companies struggle to even have usable data, so there is a lot on the domain side to be done which is 99% German. If I have multiple applicants, you lose out. If the jobs even exist in the first place.
One problem may be that internships and Werkstudent aren’t very common or wanted… Did you try applying for a full time /part time job?
Your problem is there’s no fluffer
Same here man. As a Masters student looking for a Working student job, I’ve been rejected 53 times. I study Data Science with is supposed to be hot, but still nothing. My German is A2, which is decent enough I feel.
Can anyone here give advise on where to get my cv checked since I have absolutely the same problem :/
Try with Administration to apply for something like the Auswärtiges Amt
Experienced Data Analyst here. Only English, No German. Took me 1.5 years, 1000 application, for 15 interviews and 1 job. It’s tough out there man …
Here’s my take, hope it helps…
– Your numbers look like applications on Linkedin. I’d say Direct applications at the company’s website works 10x better.
– You should try putting your CV into an ATS (see if it can parse correctly …). IMO, 1-column CVs parse much better than 2-column…
– For students, try to keep it short in 1 page.
Are you also doing Anschreiben? Data Science is a bit of an over saturated field I think, years of recommending every potential student to enroll in some sort of CompSci field has borne its fruit by now, tons of untrained university students or recent graduates but not enough companies and more importantly senior employees that can train or supervise them.
If you have a good Anschreiben that might be able to balance out this problem and the issue of B2 german level being a problem for a lot of employees.
From what I saw here on reddit many in IT related fields think an Anschreiben is unnecessary but the fact is that if 10 people apply and only one has an Anschreiben, the company will likely invite the one with Anschreiben first.
I have an educational background in humanities (Geisteswissenschaften) and always wrote Anschreiben, internships only took me about 5-10 applications. Whenever I see these absurd application numbers from IT people I have the feeling they just scattershoot out their cv and an email with a generic two sentences a la “hello I’d like to apply, see the attached cv”. Thats just not enough to show the hiring manager that you are highly interested and who you are as a person.
Are you applying in the vicinity of your university? A company will likely reject an werkstudent if it is not plausible for them to reach work and uni on the same day.
Try LinkedIn premium, I heard it helps for applications etc. Try trial version first, maybe you can share your experience once you have done that. It costs nothing.
How dare you apply for an internahip without 20 Years of Experience and 2 academic degrees! /S
Jokes aside its generally insane how mental companies are.
this brings out bad memories when I was trying to apply for my praxissemester
What is your native language?
I would change the CV layout to fit in one page. The current format wastes 1/3 of the page for no real use.
And I assume the language is what is holding you back. I can see the same thing happening for me in Italy as well. Companies always prefer people with C1 English **plus** near C1/C2 for the country’s language as well. It just filters you out of the pool in many cases :/