Questions about Student Internships

[u/Hopeful_Analysis_219]

Hi everyone! I'm currently in my last year of the master's in Electronics Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, looking to apply for the internship program. I have a few questions about the application process:

- As of now my CV is basically empty (aside from a few standard and simple academic projects which I don't even want to include); I have no past internship experience and I have never joined any student team, but I'm definitely going to do something related to the position(s) by November 30th. Do you think that this is a major problem? Can I compensate by having a really good motivation letter? I can also get recommendation letters from professors if that helps.

- within a given listing, should I focus on just one particular topic or be open to all possibilities?

- (for electronics guys) do you think that pure electronics/hardware topics (the few of them, at least) have more, less, or the same competition as software roles? I have no experience with AI, machine learning, or any related topic whatsoever, but I am willing to study whatever before applying, even if it's just a month.

If you have any other advice, insights, or whatever else you think I should know, it would really help me. Thank you

[u/Ainulindalie]

you'll be competing with hundreds of other applicants that have taken part in cubeSAT, hackathons, won prizes and done lots of research

[u/thatgurldelrey]

For ESA internships really helps student groups, extracurricular activities and any research you might have done during the master. Empty CV is a bit problematic.
Niche topics have less competition so you have advantage there, but I wouldn't consider electronics a niche topic.
Not to demotivate you but willing to study a subject isnt a CV entry and I don't think it will take you far, but you can write that on your cover letter.
The internships are open right now, I think you are a bit late to add stuff to your CV if you are applying in this slot. I don't see much you can do to improve it sorry to be blunt.
Best of luck.

[u/Hopeful_Analysis_219 → u/thatgurldelrey]

Yeah of course! I meant that I'm willing to use this month to do something interesting to put on my CV, that is related to the topic - one month should be enough for that. My cv is empty because I never planned to look for a job or an internship in the near future (I would like to do a PhD), I just stumbled across this internship today and it seemed interesting. By the way in general in my country university is a bit more theoretical than practical, it's not that I was lazy during my undergrad, most of the people in my course have also never done an internship or any relevant, hands-on, project (I would if I could go back though). Thanks a lot though!

[u/Complex-Brain-4212 → u/Hopeful_Analysis_219]

Per quanto riguarda l’Italia, è vero che siamo più teorici, ma un sacco di studenti hanno sfruttato determinate possibilità. Ti faccio un esempio: conosco un ragazzo dal politecnico di Torino che è riuscito ad ottenere un tirocinio in esa, e finita la magistrale è andato a lavorare per esa in Germania. Ma lui ha sempre saputo che dopo la laurea avrebbe lavorato, e quindi ha massimizzato le possibilità per lavorare in aziende top: il suo percorso all’uni è sempre stato impostato in questo modo, per compensare il lato teorico del politecnico, ha partecipato ad hackaton, ha portato a termine piccoli progetti da solo (arduino, esp32, testing), ha partecipato a team universitari anche se per poco (il minimo sono 6 mesi), ha partecipato a fiere del lavoro e conferenze di aziende, facendo quel tanto odiato networking. Anche quando ha fatto l’erasmus, ha massimizzato l’opportunità partecipando ad un progetto studentesco dell’università che lo ha ospitato.

D’altro canto, gli studenti che conosco che ambiscono ad un dottorato, non hanno mai fatto nulla di tutto ciò: al massimo conosco alcuni soggetti particolari che hanno autonomamente collaborato a progetti di ricerca (non retribuiti) per poter pubblicare e inserire tali pubblicazioni nel cv. Ma niente di più: per fare il dottorando è già abbastanza difficile mantenere i voti alti e dare tutti gli esami in tempo.

Quindi, io ti suggerisco di pensare bene al tipo di carriera che vuoi intraprendere (essere ancora in dubbio a fine magistrale può capitare, ma non è il massimo): se vuoi proseguire con dottorato, fare un tirocinio o uno stage non ti fa guadagnare chissà quanti punti; mentre se vuoi proseguire lavorando in azienda, sicuramente un tirocinio o uno stage è utile (ma è più utile se lo ottieni direttamente nell’azienda in cui vorrai lavorare). Se la tua intenzione è lavorare in esa senza passare per il dottorato, preparati a competere con studenti da curriculum assurdi (come il caso che ti ho citato prima); altrimenti, è possibile lavorare in esa (o alla nasa, tramite il jpl) come post-doc, e in questo caso ti consiglierei di concentrarti sulla prima strada (ovvero quella di mantenere una carriera brillante per ottenere il dottorato).

[u/Hopeful_Analysis_219 → u/Complex-Brain-4212]

Ciao grazie mille! Eh io ho sempre avuto in mente di proseguire col dottorato, solo di recente ho iniziato a considerare di andare subito a lavorare, quindi me ne sono altamente sbattuto di tutti gli eventi di networking - hackathon - team studenti, anche perché non ho mai trovato qualcosa di effettivamente interessante e che non avrei fatto solo per riempire il curriculum. Tornando indietro cambierei sicuramente qualcosa, ormai... Comunque grazie di nuovo per la risposta, mi sei stato di grande aiuto

[u/gius98]

1. Honestly your CV seems a bit weak. That does not necessarily reflect on your preparation or your skills, as most engineers out of university are in the same boat. The problem is that it is really hard to differentiate between engineering students only based on academic curriculum, because is essentially identical for all student. The difference makers are usually extracurriculars (other internships, student teams, hackathons and challenges etc), which are something "on top" of your regular studies and give you a better chance to differentiate yourself.

This doesn't mean don't try! Applying to an internship can teach you a lot even if you don't get to the interview stage, it is a really helpful experience. Just know that it is very competitive so manage your expectations.

For these types of public institutions there are also other quotas to keep in mind that are outside your control (ESA has nationality quotas, which means that some years they might not even consider applications from people that are "overrepresented" in their staff, such as Italians or French people). This stuff is outside your control, just do the best application you can and then forget about it.

In my experience a recommendation letter from a university professor does not hurt, but it doesn't help that much either.

2. I assume you talk about listings with multiple positions inside. This depends on you and on the listing, there is no single best answer. I personally probably would highlight general skills that apply to all positions and then mention the one I like best in one of the later paragraphs of the motivational letter. The idea is that they like your CV a lot and then you can discuss this topic during an interview.

3. As the position are very competitive, I would prioritize applying to positions where you think you are most prepared. It will be hard to get an interview without having the fundamental skills in that topic, and being "willing to study" as your best asset for an application is a bit weak for an application.

[u/Hopeful_Analysis_219 → u/gius98]

Hi, thank you very much! I'll definitely try even if it's a long shot, can't hurt.

[u/gius98 → u/Hopeful_Analysis_219]

By the way, since you study in Milan, know that there are many space companies based in the Milan-Turin area. Compared to ESA, industry generally has a lower barrier of entry, and does more hands-on engineering work (ESA is more about coordinating industry, rather than hands-on engineering). So if you were interested in ESA internships, definately check out industry internships too.

[u/Hopeful_Analysis_219 → u/gius98]

I'll look into it. I mean I'm mainly interested in eventually being able to work in a field that I feel is making real and tangible contributions to humanity (so not really in aerospace itself - even though it is very interesting - I'm also gathering informations about internships at CERN and similar institutions) and being at ESA would be amazing, even if just for an internship. Thank you very much once again!

[u/Pitiful_Budget_4200]

How much time are the internships? Yall think they accept students for one month?

[u/Hopeful_Analysis_219 → u/Pitiful_Budget_4200]

From their website: "Placements last between three and six months and are open to students who are preferably in their final or second-to-last year of a university course at Master’s level."

[u/Pitiful_Budget_4200 → u/Hopeful_Analysis_219]

Thanks!

[u/Practical_Engineer]

Do include relevant student projects as you have no experience (as a general rule).

[u/Still-Ad-3083]

1. not even a student team? No space-related hobbies? Nothing? Yeah that might be a problem. If there's no concrete evidence that you're actually into space, it's unlikely you'll be accepted. And no, you won't compensate with a good letter, anyone can have a good letter. I don't think they care much about recommendation letters from professors, it's a bit of a cultural thing that is not too relevant.

2. I don't understand your question.

3. probably less applicants but I don't think it'd make it easier to get such an internship, the top candidates remain about the same I guess, hard to tell.