Are Engineering Internships Frequently Only for Current Students?

AManCanDream

I just graduated, but as most jobs want more experience than I have, it seems like my only realistic option is to get an internship. However, upon searching for internships I'm finding that the majority of them appear as if they are only accepting applicants who are still in school. Under the job requirements they frequently say things such as: "Currently enrolled in an engineering program", "Actively enrolled in an accredited engineering program", "Candidates should be in their junior or senior year", etc. Then there are the statements like "Student should have completed junior year or higher" which appear a bit more promising since I have completed junior year or higher, but once again I'm not a student.

So I'm just wondering if it's a waste of my time to apply for jobs that make these types of statements, or if companies simply expect only current students to apply but are open to recent graduates. Considering it takes a decent amount of time to tailor my cover letter and resume to the specific job, I don't want to waste time doing it for jobs that I'm disqualified from.

Vanadium 50

In most cases, yes, you need to be a student. There is an exception to minimum-wage laws for students that does not apply to persons in general.

ParticleGrl

I'd suggest finding out who in HR at the company handles the internship recruiting/hiring. My company recently took on an 'intern' who just got their terminal masters degree, he apparently called the company, explained his background, and HR figured out some way to take him for a year as an intern. In short- there may be exceptions to the rule, but the only way to find out is to actually call the companies you are interested in.