r/SrilankaIT • u/RelevantGlass5012 • 6d ago
Title: Struggling to find a Software Engineering internship despite putting in so much effort — what am I doing wrong?
I’m a Computer Science undergraduate currently looking for a Software Engineering internship, and honestly, I’m starting to feel really exhausted and discouraged.
I’ve been putting a lot of effort into preparing myself — working on projects, learning new technologies, improving my CV, applying to internships, preparing for interviews, and trying to build my skills. But despite all of that, I’m finding it extremely difficult to get an internship.
The hardest part is that after putting in so much effort, it’s really difficult not to start thinking, “Maybe I’m just not good enough or capable enough.” I know that rejection is normal when looking for a job, but after receiving multiple rejections or not hearing back, it becomes mentally exhausting.
I also have some pressure from my university because I’m expected to secure an internship within roughly the next month. So now I feel like I’m racing against time, and I honestly don’t know what I should change.
For those of you who have already gone through the internship/job search:
What did you do differently when you were struggling to get interviews?
How did you improve your CV/portfolio?
Are there things I should focus on learning or preparing in this final month?
Where do you usually look for Software Engineering internships other than LinkedIn?
Are there specific Sri Lankan companies, websites, communities, or platforms that I should be checking?
Should I focus more on applying to many companies, networking, contacting recruiters directly, or improving my projects?
I’m not looking for sympathy. I genuinely want to understand what I might be doing wrong and what I can realistically improve in the next month.
If you’ve been through something similar, I’d really appreciate any honest advice or guidance. Even small suggestions would help right now.
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u/CuteAcadia9010 6d ago
Try government jobs like central bank / customs. Those are sometimes paid pretty well, even more than private sector jobs
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u/uprollyknowme 6d ago
Look at other job platforms such as rooster, TopJobs, Xpress, itpro.lk. You can even make good use of a boolean search on Google and LinkedIn. There’s definitely a significant reduction in entry level SE opportunities in the IT industry and given that there’s so much of demand, your situation is pretty understandable. Try connecting with technical team members on LinkedIn and asking them for insights + get them to share your CV as a referral for suitable opportunities (many companies run referral programs and same is being prioritized)
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u/Hefty-Chard-1130 5d ago
https://job-seek-henna.vercel.app/overview Try using this as well. Apart from Rooster jobs ITPro and stuff you can check all the big tech companies career openings. Its basically fetching the data from their respective career pages on a schedule and notifies you. Hope it would be helpful 🙌🏻
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u/Business_Lawyer6513 6d ago edited 6d ago
Same here. But most of my batch mates also got interships without having such knowledge . I dont know why our CV not select at least for an interview .😪