Dear Jonathan, How much time is it worth sacrificing in the pursuit of internships?

"It's the time of year where everyone seems to be talking about internship applications. I've spoken to people who send off dozens and dozens, just to receive one offer. This takes so much time, especially if you don't want to use AI to tailor your application. How much time is it worth sacrificing in the pursuit of these "Golden Tickets" to the world of work?"

- 2nd year student, MPLS

Studying at university is a precious time when you are working for yourself, not an employer, and spending that time to achieve a good degree, meet people, develop new skills and have new experiences. The time taken to apply for jobs is competing with these other, once-in-a-lifetime, opportunities and you want to spend it efficiently.

Let’s take this from first principles: you seek to gain an internship to enhance your prospects in the world of work after you graduate. Perhaps the pressure is higher now because of the unquantified threats of AI, the global talent search, and the overall lower numbers of graduate jobs. 

Employers tell us that they spot and discount AI-generated applications – they seek to understand your authentic self, your underlying motivation, and how what you have done and what you could do, would help them deliver their products or services. In other words, do they want to work with you?

So perhaps it’s no surprise that AI-generated applications, that can mask your true self, have a low success rate. But what is the alternative? Think about employers’ underlying questions: can you do the job? are you motivated to do it? and are you good to have on the team? You can communicate this really well to an employer having done the research, perhaps talked to people (alumni?) who work there now, and write all this in a personal letter or email.

Better still, and as a precursor to an application, go to meet people if you can. Where better than a careers fair. As you say, this is the time of year not just for internship applications but for careers fairs and employer events. Find every opportunity to meet people on the stands at the fairs, at the talks before or afterwards, at events they organise across campus. While fairs can be noisy, crowded, and perhaps intimidating, push past these issues and have a two-minute chat with the employers. Take their names, follow up, and demonstrate your energy, motivation, and interest. They too are looking to have human interactions at the fairs and some will note down who they meet.

And think broadly – visit the stands of organisations that perhaps you haven’t considered – the career path is not linear and, in this market, you may not get the dream job immediately. Two hours at a careers fair, maybe 2 or 3 times this term, plus time at employer events, can be a really efficient way to make personal contact with employers – and much more effective than making 50 AI-applications. It’s also a way to learn about the sector, polish your introduction, and uncover the key issues facing the industry.

Useful links

• Micro-internships exclusively available to Oxford students; open for applications until 2 November 2026.
• OxAbility placements for Oxford students with a disability, long-term health condition, or who are neurodivergent; open for applications until 2 November 2026.
• Careers fairs at Oxford University.
• Guidance on using AI in applications.

For six years, the Careers Director at the University of Oxford, Jonathan Black, wrote a fortnightly column for the Financial Times answering readers’ careers questions - you can still find it here.

Now, the “Dear Jonathan" column has come to Oxford.

If you are an Oxford University student, send in your career question to [email protected] and each week of term, he will answer one of the questions in this feature. We’ll anonymise the author (but please tell us whatever is relevant) so you can be sure that readers won’t know it’s you.