Match Group Received 30,000 Applications for a Tinder Internship

Gen Z is facing a tough job market as companies cut staff and entry-level positions disappear. In this landscape, Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff is taking a different approach and doubling down on early-career talent. 

Soon after Rascoff took over the dating giant last February, he started asking about internship programs to give more young workers a way into the company. 

“Two or three months after I started, I called my head of HR and said, ‘I’m just curious about the summer intern program. When do the interns arrive?’” Rascoff recently told Fortune. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, no, we can’t. The last CEO canceled the internship program last year to save money.’”

Rascoff called the news “the craziest thing” he had ever heard. In his eyes, Match Group, the company behind Tinder, Hinge, Match.com, and OkCupid, builds apps for Gen Z. The company’s main demographic audience is 18 to 22-year-olds, and even a few months of young interns “spreading vibes” and chatting with colleagues can help the business, he added. 

“Of course, we need as many of these folks around our halls as possible,” he said. 

With that in mind, Rascoff moved fast to revive Tinder’s summer “Tindership” program this year. 

Instead of rolling out a big ad campaign, Rascoff just shared the internship on his LinkedIn and other social channels, and the listing went live on Match Group’s site. The response was immediate and overwhelming: more than 30,000 people applied for only 27 spots, giving the program a 0.09% acceptance rate. 

Why the internship attracted so much interest

The flood of applications took leadership by surprise. Rascoff said that the rush of interest showed how desperate young people are for solid job opportunities. He also thinks the demand was supercharged by the pull of the Tinder brand and by a broader surge of interest in working at consumer-facing companies. 

“It probably speaks a little bit to the challenges of job seeking among early career people, I’m sure,” he said. “But I’d like to believe that it mostly speaks to the quality of the company that we’re at. I’m so excited.”

The program starts on June 1. The 27 interns will spend the summer embedded within Tinder’s engineering, product, design, marketing and analytics departments until August 28. 

Match Group has overhauled the curriculum, coaching and mentorship sessions to make the experience more structured and substantive. Rascoff also plans social extras, like a pickleball day where interns bring their managers, and a gathering at his home to spark mentorship. 

The broader job market shows that internship postings are falling, especially over the last couple of years. On Handshake, one of the largest early-career job platforms, internship postings fell more than 15% between January 2023 and January 2025. 

At the same time, applications surged: As of January 2025, 41% of recent graduates had applied to at least one internship on Handshake, up from 34% in 2023.

Gen Z is facing a tough job market as companies cut staff and entry-level positions disappear. In this landscape, Match Group CEO Spencer Rascoff is taking a different approach and doubling down on early-career talent. 

Soon after Rascoff took over the dating giant last February, he started asking about internship programs to give more young workers a way into the company. 

“Two or three months after I started, I called my head of HR and said, ‘I’m just curious about the summer intern program. When do the interns arrive?’” Rascoff recently told Fortune. “And he’s like, ‘Oh, no, we can’t. The last CEO canceled the internship program last year to save money.’”