How to get a first internship with no experience
A first internship usually comes from a small company, a public agency or a professor, not from a famous employer. Apply widely, expect a low reply rate, and treat the first one as the thing that makes the second one easy.
- Many students have no internship after first year. That is normal.
- Small firms, startups, public agencies and university research are the realistic routes.
- One student reported 3 callbacks from 60 applications with no experience, then more than 10 from 30 a year later with one internship.
- A screening test is usually the first filter. Practise for it before you apply.
How hard is it?
Replies to first-year students ranged from expect no offers to apply anyway because it costs nothing. Both are fair. Offers in first year went mostly to students who already stood out through earlier work, strong grades or competitions. Everyone else was pointed to smaller employers. The first internship is probably the hardest search most students will do, because there is nothing yet to be judged on.
The callback numbers one student shared show why the first placement matters: about 60 applications and 3 callbacks with nothing on the resume, then more than 30 applications and over 10 callbacks the following year with one internship listed.
Where first internships come from
- Startups. Message founders directly. Expect most messages to go unanswered.
- Startup job boards and accelerator lists. Smaller firms post there and get fewer applicants.
- Public agencies. Several were reported to take students before university, and one to pay them the same as undergraduates.
- University research. A project with a professor counts as experience and often needs only an email.
- University programmes. Summer build programmes and open-source projects run by student groups.
What gets a first-year student through
For software roles, replies were blunt: basic data structures and algorithms are the test for first and second-year students, because there is little else to judge. One student sent more than ten applications in a day and failed most of the coding tests that came back. For business and finance roles the equivalent filter is an aptitude test or a recorded video interview.
Either way, the screen arrives within days of applying. Practise the format first.
Pay and expectations
First-year interns at smaller employers reported about S$800 to S$1,000 a month. Unpaid roles were treated as a warning sign, acceptable only if the learning is real. Advice from mentors was to choose learning over pay for a first placement and not to try negotiating without another offer.
A plan for your first year
- Before applications open. Build one project that someone other than you has used.
- When they open. Apply to everything realistic in the first two weeks.
- Alongside. Send short, specific messages to ten small companies that have no posting.
- If nothing lands by late spring. Line up research, an open-source contribution or a structured university programme for the summer.
- Throughout. Practise interviews steadily. Mentors said consistent practice mattered more than any single application.
How far to trust these numbers
The callback figures are one student's experience, not an average, and most of this evidence is about software roles in Singapore. Pay figures are a few reports and should not be read as a benchmark.
Related guides
- Alternatives when you have no internship
- Cold outreach to small companies
- Off-cycle and winter internships
Frequently asked questions
Can I get an internship in my first year?
Sometimes. Students who managed it mostly joined startups, small firms or public agencies, or already had prior work, strong grades or competition results.
How many applications does it take to get a first internship?
There is no fixed number. One student in forge's data reported 3 callbacks from about 60 applications with no experience.
What can I do instead of a first-year internship?
Research with a professor, open-source contributions, university build programmes and competitions were the routes most often suggested.
Should I take an unpaid internship?
Candidates treated unpaid roles as a warning sign and advised accepting one only if the learning is clearly real.
How much do first-year interns get paid?
At smaller employers in Singapore, students in forge's data reported about S$800 to S$1,000 a month. This is a handful of reports, not a benchmark.
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