I’m an civil engineering major and I’m gonna be a college junior in the fall. Unfortunately I was loaded with schoolwork during the year and despite applying to perhaps around 10-12 companies, I couldn’t get an internship anywhere or even an interview. Other than my friends who had engineering connections (ex. parents are engineers or friends with one), or had near perfect GPAs, most of my friends who are in my year are apparently in the same boat. I believe the majority of my friends will be taking up regular summer jobs (ex. cashier, waitering, retail).
On top of not being able to find an internship, I also couldn’t find a research position, and don’t want to take summer classes as I took them last year, and to be honest, feel quite burnt out and would like to take a break from the schoolwork.
I’m from a big urban city and theoretically think I can try to just grab a regular summer job, but I’ve been thinking I might just take the summer off and relax. I do have a lot of plans, for instance I am planning to focus on my hobbies, and am planning to take music lessons, practice songwriting, and possibly putting together and strengthening my repertoire. It is something I’m very passionate about and I would also like to travel, visit, and connect with some of my relatives from far away. The thing is though, while all of this means a lot to me, none of these plans are necessarily going to boost my resume and my fear is that it will leave a gap in my resume that may not look very good.
What would everyone’s opinions be about this? and Are there any ideas on anything I could possibly do to help my resume? Should I just try to take a summer job? Thanks and any help is appreciated!