If I can take a metaphor, students who are looking for internships now are like hunters who are hunting in the woods. Some are really hard workers and do all ways and then expect maybe some animals will fall into their traps, some trust on their luck-fates just by doing less and waiting, other are quite detail and have well-planned strategies to get the big ones, and there are also some others who are scared before trying and just wait outside the woods and perhaps there will be a deer jumping over the street.
Ones who are scared are the pessimist type. They do not believe on their own abilities and often see that the neighbors' gardens are always greener. It does not mean that those people are incapable or have fewer talents than the others who go for big hunting seasons. It just because they need more courage and support from the surrounds and more self-confidence to say "yes, I can do it, I will go for it."
In contrast, there are also the over-optimistic people. The hunters who believe they are the lucky ones because he/she has more qualifications than others. This confidence shows up because perhaps he/she got the high rank at school or he/she has a lot of talents and other supports. Those people might be ones who companies search for. But since the person is capable in many things, sometimes he/she falls because he/she overestimates of himself or herself. They would tend to do fewer efforts with expectation that the chance will be higher for them to be accepted. On the other hand, mostly the failure of this type is their too many abilities that all are mentioned in the resume/CV. We know that certain jobs need more specific qualifications too. It's better to master one thing than to be average in many things.
The hard worker types often have bigger chance to get jobs (but not always) than other hunter types. They send applications randomly to all job offers that they can find with less considering whether it is the job that they desire or not. As long as they get the interview they will take it first and keep it until they get another offer then choosing the better one. I would say this is the common ways to do for most students who want to get an internship. Just by composing one application letter and a resume then changing the name of the company and date every time there is a new job offered. It is easy and faster but in quality, it might be questioned.
The well-planned type is not the best one either. Believe it or not, these people spend more time and work twice harder than other types just to make one good application. The strategy maybe just like the over-optimistic one but the effort is more worth. The problem is that there is sky above the clouds, there might be someone better or sometimes the company prefers who is faster is the winner. More than that, it is all about "luck" aspect; when the applicants are too many the one who in charge of recruiting new trainees may just take randomly some of the applicants and then select the best one.
Maybe the combination between hard worker and well planned type could be the best match but again who knows? I don't, either do you who are still looking for internships like me now. However it is only my opinion while I am about wondering getting the right job soon. I really want to enjoy my internship time and gain another experience just like my friends who are doing their best in finishing their internships now.
