Employer rejects unpaid internship applicant for lacking experience, despite the internship being designed for inexperienced students: 'I can tell they were disappointed that I didn't have any real-world experience.'

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Apr 14, 2026 7:45 AM EDT

Internships are supposed to be designed to give students experience!

If you've ever seen an entry-level job posting that requires 3-5 years of experience, you might've wondered, "What gives? Aren't these positions supposed to be for people who have little to no experience?" There are definitely levels to entry-level jobs, despite what the name implies. There are entry-level jobs for people fresh out of college, and for those with more professional experience but not enough to be a manager quite yet. Sometimes, a fresh college graduate can do the exact same job as someone with 5 years of experience, but other positions are better suited to someone with a better grasp of the professionalism standards expected in the role. However, there are 22-year-old college graduates with 3-5 years of experience in their field because they were proactive about securing an internship every semester of college. This student is certainly the exception to the rule. 

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  • A man sitting at a table with a laptop
    via The Jopwell Collection

    A young student interviews for an unpaid internship.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Internships can be incredibly competitive because college students know that they can be the only way to break into the workforce after they graduate. If you stroll up to a job interview without any relevant experience outside of your college degree, there's a good chance you'll get laughed out of the room at a major corporation. If there's one place a student with no experience can get some, it's an internship sponsored by the school, intended to give its students work experience. In this student's case, he couldn't even get an internship through his school. 

  • An employer left this note at the bottom of my interview form. It's for an internship for students with zero experience...

    GRADE SIGNATURE OF INTERVIE NEED MORE EXPERIENCE
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • Just to add some more context: im in a trade school (college), internships are REQUIRED for our graduation.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • These companies know we are brand- new to our field of study, we have literally 0 experience outside of our classes.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • This interviewer has worked with our college for years, they had shown up and did a presentation in our class, they KNOW we are fresh.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • Trade school student watches as a professional welder works
    via PTTI EDU

    Trade school student watches as a professional welder works.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I had shown interest and decided to do an interview. sure, my resume is a little bare-bones but that is to be expected for all students.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • during the interview, I can tell they were disappointed that I didnt have a background or any real world experience.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • A job interviewer looks disappointedly at an internship applicant after learning he has no experience in this field outside of his schooling.
    via The Jopwell Collection

    A job interviewer looks disappointedly at an internship applicant after learning that he has no experience in this field beyond his schooling.

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • They told me that I should look into internships that would "mold" me and that I will shadow someone....
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • which is literally what I was there for. although I did receive a good grade on the form, I felt frustrated and thought it was massive waste of my time.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • OhWhatATravisty Talk to the person who runs the program and let them know the employer is doing this. It wont help you, but if the employer is partnered in any way with the school it should help level set expectations in the future. Or... send it back with a "needs better pay".
    via u/OhWhatATravisty
  • TarsigeroftheBush They are looking for unpaid employees, not interns. Illegal btw
    via u/TarsigeroftheBush
  • ALIENDUDE999 Original Poster's Reply I think they took "unpaid internship" a little too seriously
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • NemeanLyan So when you say your application was a little bare bones... Is this your first job? Do you have any volunteering experience you could list? Especially given that the company has been partnered with your school and is extremely aware of your student status, it kinda sounds like you turned in a blank page of printer paper for your resume. When they say "Needs More Experience" they probably don't mean in your field. Also, welcome to job hunting lol. You'll put in probably hundreds of app
    via u/NemeanLyan
  • ALIENDUDE999 Original Poster's Reply Ya I should've specified, I have worked multiple jobs and have volunteer experience before just not in this particular field, the resume is 2 pages long completely filled out. What i meant barebones was for that job specifically, my 2 years of schooling does count as "experience", I just have nothing outside of that.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • Ifriendzonecats A two page resume is not necessarily better than a one page resume. Especially if it's mostly highlighting unrelated work. It could be that your classmates are much better at highlighting their relevant classes, group projects and/or related experiences. I'd take this as a reason to talk to someone in career services (or whatever it is called at your college) about improving your resume.
    via u/Ifriendzonecats
  • ALIENDUDE999 Original Poster's Reply Good point, and I did. It was required for our classes to do this and ive even had outside professional help looking over and assisting on my resume. Ive received many compliments on it, including career services'.
    via u/ALIENDUDE999
  • BittusDiccus98 What do they think you're trying to get?
    via u/BittusDiccus98
  • ZingierPond5471 If this is a partnership with the school than bring this up with administration/Dean. It's one thing if they deny you due to lack of professionalism or something but for experience is not acceptable. They are there for internships and if they aren't than that needs to be addressed with the school.
    via u/ZingierPond5471
  • gorginhanson Same thing happened to me. I have a graduate degree and I can't even get an internship.
    via u/gorginhanson
  • SipoteQuixote They want the people who left their country with experience so they can start them off at the lowest position but with the experience included for free.
    via u/SipoteQuixote
  • WrathOfWood Also them "nobody wants to work hard for anything anymore"
    via u/WrathOfWood

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