Like many students, I’m attached to my phone, but more specifically, the Notes app. The night before my first day at McMaster, I wrote myself a note.

It listed all my anxieties and ended with a reminder: To become the person I wanted to be, I’d have to step out of my comfort zone.

You may be wondering why this is important. This note still matters because I started exactly where you are. Anxious (still am), full of self-doubt, with high expectations and no clear idea of how I’d get there.

If you’re navigating your internship hunt and are worried about what’s to come, don’t worry. I’ll walk you through the missteps, the small wins, and the big turning points that shaped my path. I’m even sharing an opportunity for you to gain some real-world skills.

Table of Contents

• 1st Year - Big Ideas

• 2nd Year - Know Your Resources

• 3rd Year - Limitless Opportunity

• 4th Year - Clarity

• What’s Next? - An Opportunity For You

1st Year - Big Ideas

In high school, I was obsessed with writing stories. I would stay up at night writing down all of my big ideas. Although true, I dreaded sitting down and writing out the story in full. Discipline was an issue, that is true. Moreover, the process was not exciting to me.

I knew I was a big idea person, so I leaned into something that celebrated that. Cut to me pursuing a Commerce degree at McMaster University with a clear goal of becoming a marketer.

I wasn’t sure where to begin, but I knew I needed experience. And getting internships as a first-year student was hard. Still possible, and many have proven so. Props to everyone who was a LinkedIn warrior and coffee-chatting speed runner. I unfortunately was not as brave as they were.

Instead, I joined the Venture for Canada Intrapreneurship Program, which paired students with startups for part-time 60-hour internships over 7 weeks.

Prestigious? No. Accessible? Yes.

• First Project: A motorcycle company tackling carbon emissions. I was a social media intern, which was far from my interest, but it was something.

• Second Project: A photobooth company (cool concept!)

• Third Project: A skincare company. I was excited about this one in particular, as I was into skincare myself, but the expectations my manager had were challenging to live up to. Expecting proficiency with tools I’ve never heard of, a lack of communication, and support. They were seeking an independent intern, but what I needed was mentorship.

I also tried applying for full-time internships that summer. Nothing. No interviews, just rejection emails. I didn’t coffee chat either. My resume was far below mediocre. I didn’t know how to even start. I put my head down and refined my experience and resume for the next summer recruiting season.

2nd Year - Know Your Resources

This year, I doubled down. I kept doing small projects with Venture for Canada while applying to every internship I could find; marketing, finance, business analyst, everything! 200+ applications and no less. This is what we call the spray and pray method. Please don’t do this. You’re better off following the strategy I will share below.

I got a few interviews with smaller companies, but nothing landed. It was depressing seeing peers post on LinkedIn about their amazing internships. Who am I to blame? My strategy was ineffective. It was a waste of time. I was ready to give up my search as the job postings were slimming down, and summer was soon starting.

At this point, I never reached out for support. This process is tough, and having others support you through it can help you keep going.

I built the courage to reach out to DeGroote’s Career and Professional Development Office. That meeting helped more than I expected. We reviewed my resume, LinkedIn, and strategy, but more importantly, I got the pep talk I desperately needed.

It was the final push I didn’t know I was looking for.

I had two interviews left:

• A transportation tech startup.

• And Unilever, one of the biggest CPG companies in the world.

Before I finished the second round with the startup, Unilever called. I got the offer. I said yes.

3rd Year - Limitless Opportunity

Fall 2023, my internship at Unilever began. I had only taken an intro to marketing course so far, and all of my marketing experience was social media-based. To say the least, I felt unprepared. There were also no McMaster students doing internships here, which made things feel even more foreign.

This internship completely changed who I was as a marketer. The possibilities of what you can do as a marketer at Unilever felt limitless. Sitting in on meetings with our agency partners and even our Global team felt like I was a kid in a candy shop.

Challenging was an understatement for what I encountered, but my goodness, did I enjoy every second of it. Looking back, although I loved the work, it was my manager, team, mentor, and fellow interns who made the experience what it was. If I could go back in time, I would have networked a lot more with people outside of my team and the cross-functional team with whom I worked daily.

I can yap a ton about my experience, or you can check out my portfolio here, where I go into a bit more of a high-level overview of the projects I worked on and my impact.

4th Year - Clarity

I knew I wanted to do a 5th year mainly because of the economic situation, and that meant I could look for an internship for the summer instead of a full-time role.

Applying to internships was no longer daunting. I had a great resume, and my confidence was through the roof. I knew what I was capable of and how to go about my application strategy.

I sent 40 applications, I had 1 referral, did interviews at 4 companies, and received 1 offer.

My strategy was to apply for the jobs I genuinely wanted and make my application as perfect as possible.

Here were the steps I took:

Prep Work

1. Used LinkedIn as my primary source to find jobs.

2. Created a Google Drive where I created folders for each job I applied to, with a copy of my resume and the job description.

3. Created a spreadsheet to organize the jobs I was applying to and any other relevant information.

4. Created a standard resume that I can tailor.

Applications

1. TAILORED my resume for every job I applied to. I also leveraged ChatGPT to support me where necessary for creating the perfect resume bullet points.

2. Reached out to recruiters when I was able to find their emails or LinkedIn’s shooting them a quick message saying I applied.

3. Coffee chatted with people on the hiring team (this was hard to get their attention, but I still tried).

4. After an application, I moved on to the next. I didn’t wait for a response; I just continued moving forward.

Interviews

1. If I received an interview invite, I dropped everything and focused on prepping. I researched the company, the job description, my experience (what was most relevant), and Glassdoor to find interview questions. Additionally, I researched the person interviewing me.

2. With the research I did, I created engaging questions to ask at the end of the interview.

3. I practiced, practiced, and practiced. Any question they could have asked, I had a story to share.

4. Post interview, I sent a thank-you email.

Outcome

This summer, I joined President’s Choice Financial as a Product Marketing Intern, supporting the Mastercard products. I get to work on both the email marketing and product management of the products.

There is so much I’ve already learned, and I’m excited for all the opportunities awaiting me.

What’s Next? - An Opportunity For You

I started Mimicry to share my internship journey.

But now? I want to go further.

I’m launching the Mimicry Online Case Competition—a way for students to gain real-world experience by solving problems that real businesses are facing.

It's built for the students who feel like I did: lost, unqualified, unsure how to break in.

If you’re interested in our beta, sign up for the waitlist here.