A college student who applied to almost 500 internships has left TikTok users stunned by showing the results of his efforts.
I don't want to sound too negative, but let's be honest: trying to get a job in your chosen field nowadays can feel almost impossible.
Even entry level positions somehow require a ton of experience, but you can't get the experience without having experience - it's a viscous cycle.
Oliver Wu, a computer science major at the University of Michigan, experienced first-hand the struggles of getting into the working world as he applied to not one, not two, but 456 internships with the hope of getting a career in tech.
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In a video shared on TikTok, Wu shared how he'd put his skills to use to create a spreadsheet to track the status and success of his applications, with columns to mark down interview stages, Google search links and focus group referrals.
Wu is still a junior in college, but he's been driven by his desire for experience and began applying for internships in July, before he even started college.
Wu soon hit 200 applications, but while he quickly stopped keeping track of the number of applications he'd sent off, he settled in to a daily routine.
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Speaking to Newsweek, Wu said: "Usually, I would open up two or three job boards, see what new jobs were posted, and then apply to all of the jobs if the salary, location, roles etc. met what I was looking for."
"I also kept track of which companies I had referrals to and checked on a weekly basis if those companies had opened up their applications."
Even when he wasn't spending his time applying, Wu would practice his technical interview skills.
So it sounds like he was doing as much as humanly possible to advance his career, which is why people have been left so shocked by the results.
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In his TikTok video, Wu revealed that out of his 456 applications, 56 interviews, 30 technical assessments and 22 second and third-round assessments, he'd received just one offer.
"The hardest part was staying positive and working hard, despite having hundreds of rejections," he told Newsweek.
Viewers were left shocked at the revelation, with one person responding to the video of his spreadsheet to say: "This makes me even more hopeless because I don’t even have the willpower to do all that."
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Another person commented: "The struggle is real. Also having a hard time to find a job."
Though the amount of rejections Wu received is disheartening, the student said on TikTok it was 'worth it' as he ended up accepting an offer at Ford as an enterprise technology intern.
As soon as he landed the internship, Wu said he felt like a 'massive weight had been lifted' off his shoulders.
"I was in class at the time and I remember stepping out, going into the hallway and jumping up and down while silently screaming in excitement for around 10 minutes," he said.
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Following his initial offer from Ford Wu did end up received another two offers from different companies, but he ended up sticking with Ford.
Having gone through such a long process, Wu shared his top three tips for anyone in the application process themselves.
Number one - network; reach out to people on LinkedIn and at career fairs. Two - practise interviews. And three - be patient.
Emily Brown