I finished undergrad in 2024 with only 1 internship (which isn't even on my resume anymore) and realized how competitive the aerospace market was. I'd always prioritized my grades over experiences and realized my mistake a bit too far into my undergrad. So, I took a gap year and was lucky enough to string together two GNC internships at space startups that year, all while applying to master's programs. The program I'm in is 2 years long, but it's flexible, so I took a brief pause this spring to do another double-header of internships, one at a startup and one at NASA. I basically filled out 90% of my current resume in the last two years, and I think it really helped that I targeted a specific niche in the industry. I received a return offer with a tight acceptance deadline, which I used as motivation to make a big recruiting push at the end of the summer. After about a month of interviews, I'm super excited to have received a SpaceX offer that aligns really well with my skillset and interests!

One piece of advice I think is important is to make the best of your situation. Did you recruit really hard and get two internship offers for next summer? Take a gap quarter/semester and negotiate to move one up to the spring! Did you get a full-time return offer from your last internship, but it's not your dream company? Take the skills you've built and reach out to recruiters about similar roles in other places! People get nervous about dedicating a full "gap" year to internship experience, and they underestimate how much it can inform your future academic/career choices and interests. Take pauses to work and understand what you enjoy instead of rushing to graduate as fast as possible.

Thank you to this sub for all of the great resume tips and for keeping me motivated during recruiting season!

EDIT: grammar

Trying to apply to this thing which would help get into uni but I've recently realized that the only thing I have going for me is my grades and grades are the bare minimum for stuff like this. Is there anything impressive I can do in 5 months (that's when applications are due) that I can put on to make me seem more impressive? Also I feel like I should mention the fact that I only have £500 so I can't do anything too crazy.

Background: B.A. in Computer Science, graduated January 2026. No internships. Since graduation I have been self-employed and built two production web apps from scratch: a real-time captioning and translation app that has real users, and an apartment sunlight simulator deployed on AWS.

Targeting: US new-grad / 0–2 YoE software engineer roles, mostly big tech plus a wide net of mid-size companies. Applying nationwide, willing to relocate anywhere in the US.

Job search so far: about to start applying this month, so this is a pre-submission review rather than a "not getting interviews" post.

I rewrote the resume against this sub's wiki (STAR/XYZ bullets, 10.5pt, no italics, no periods, skills last). Personal details and product names are redacted in brackets.

Specific questions:

1. With no internships, does "Independent Software Developer" with two self-built products read as real experience, or as a gap?
2. Are the project bullets too dense? Which one would you cut first?
3. Skills section at the bottom, three lines: fine, or should it move up for a new grad?

Thanks in advance.

I’m a Johns Hopkins mechanical engineering student and part-time manufacturing lab technician seeking mechanical design and manufacturing internships for Spring/Summer 2027. I’m applying across the U.S. and am open to relocating. I’ve been struggling to get interviews and would appreciate feedback on whether my experience and project bullets clearly show my technical impact and what I should improve. I’m a U.S. citizen, so I don’t need visa sponsorship.

Hello everyone,

After landing a contracted role as a "Data Science Analyst" back in July, I've been applying since around September, as it was unlikely that my contract would be renewed based on project needs. Unfortunately, after around 150+ applications sent out, I've yet to have any positive signs during the current search, where I am targeting entry-level Data Scientist / Data Analyst / AI or ML Engineering roles in SoCal and remote across the USA. I've followed a bit of the formatting advice found here on the wiki, and I eventually had one promising call with a recruiter who was screening for a new-grad Data Scientist role, which did lead to an interview, but ultimately I never heard back after the first technical round.

I'm specifically wondering if there are any weaknesses in my current resume that I can remedy either through formatting, taking on new projects (current ones are not that interesting, I think), rewording certain bullets, etc...

I've blacked out any identifying information, as well as any research publications I've listed where I am a Co-author. Some of the roles I've targeted specifically mentioned that publications of any kind are a plus, which is the reason they are in there, but I could always remove them if it doesn't help.

Open to advice and critiques of any kind! Be as blunt as you like; I truly appreciate it!

Additional context that I get asked occasionally:
-Undergrad (USA) was at a top 50 R1 institution
-Grad program (USA) was at a state school, t150

It might just be me, but I feel like the resume template on this subreddit (and other similar styles in that same general format) and a lot of the general guidance notes, are tailored to US resume advice. I've tried making so many different resumes and making changes, using the subreddit template and guidance notes, but I've had no luck with jobs here in the UK. The kinds of resumes I've seen on UK subreddits and through general career advice in school/university are very different to the advice on here. The layouts for one, don't usually look anything like the resumes that get posted on here, and you often see formatting that goes against what the guidance on this subreddit says, such as using multiple columns and pages.

Has anyone from the UK had any luck by using the resume template (or similar) from this subreddit?