Which job was it? It might’ve been my portfolio, I lost count of job apps around 80 and spammed my resume/portfolio at anything I was remotely qualified for.
You do have a point about making the students work for their experience because that’s how the real world is, but on the other hand when they’re starting from scratch with zero experience and only a couple design projects in their portfolio it’s kinda like tossing them into the deep end of the pool to learn how to swim. At least give them a pair of floaties or something the first time around, even if it’s just an introductory email to someone at the company.
I keep reading about these other schools with established/mandatory co-op programs and keep thinking “man I wish we had that”.