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Tech Internships

I will be a Computer Engineering major and I am hoping to get an internship while in college. What are some tips to getting a good internship?
#internships #engineering #computer-engineering #computer-science #college-advice #technology

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Daniel’s Answer

First off is apply early, apply often. This is especially true for the larger companies, since they'll get going for summer internships in like October (!), and by the time Feb-April or so rolls around they will have filled all their positions for the summer.


Apply often (i.e. to many places) because you don't know how often your resume is going to actually get seen by a human and not immediately filtered out, etc.


Most big companies will have huge intern programs. Fairly well-greased application processes, and an an army of recruiters to guide everyone through. You can also intern at smaller local shops (I certainly didn't intern at any larger companies, mostly because I didn't think I could do it lol), though the method of getting such an internship can be different. Keep your ear to the ground, look for fliers and emails in your department, maybe figure out who the local companies are and ask them directly (they might want an intern but not actually actively be trying to obtain one).


Figure out what type of internship you're looking for. For some pure software internships (e.g. most (not all) of the stuff at Facebook Amazon Google Netflix Microsoft etc), you'll want to make sure you're taking the requisite courses earlier rather than later - especially data structures & algos, and also to make sure you're comfortable programming on the spot. (HackerRank, leetcode, etc are reasonable starting spots to check your familiarity - actually learning to code better, that's a completely separate question).


If you wanna do an internship that's focused on something more comp-e-like (architecture, embedded systems, etc), make sure you figure out what programs would be reasonable to apply to, so you get a reasonable match on actual job duties.


If you wanna do an internship that's focused more on research/academia, make that clear as well. (I don't know what your plan is after undergrad, so maybe this is not relevant). There exist all over the place (certainly in the Midwest, that's where I did similar stuff) a number of small research labs, often defense contractors / subcontractors chasing SBIR & STTR grants, and they can often use cheap labor.... I mean, interns. Another option there can also be just doing research with a professor/lab at your Uni, if it's a large research Uni (if not, then never mind).


If you're at Uni, it's also worth checking with your department if they have proper co-op dealies in addition to just intern (can be longer duration, learn a lot more).
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Ken’s Answer

Congratulations on wanting to become involved in an internship. That is a great way to gain experience and to begin to create meaningful networking relationships that will help you throughout your education/career journey. It is not necessary to wait until college to start to seek out internship opportunities. Also, with career exposure in mind, it would be great to consider going to a community college as the costs are more reasonable, the classes are smaller meaning more personal attention, and they have coop and internship opportunities. Having been involved in human resources and college recruiting for many years, I would like to recommend the following steps.

Ken recommends the following next steps:

The first step is to take an interest and aptitude test and have it interpreted by your school counselor to see if you share the personality traits necessary to enter the field. You might want to do this again upon entry into college, as the interpretation might differ slightly due to the course offering of the school. However, do not wait until entering college, as the information from the test will help to determine the courses that you take in high school. Too many students, due to poor planning, end up paying for courses in college which they could have taken for free in high school. I have encountered too many students who skipped this step and ended up in career situations for which they were ill suited.
Next, when you have the results of the testing, talk to the person who tracks and works with graduates at your high school and college which you might be planning to attend to arrange to talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people doing what you think that you might want to do, so that you can get know what they are doing and how they got there. Here are some tips: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate and attend meetings of professional associations to which people who are doing what you think that you want to do belong, so that you can get their advice. These associations may offer or know of intern, coop, shadowing, and scholarship opportunities. These associations are the means whereby the professionals keep abreast of their career area following college and advance in their career. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
Let me share an interesting story about internships: During my daughter's senior year in high school, the highlight of the year (and of the whole high school experience) was to be a several month long internship program. Everyone signed up and indicated the type of internship that they wanted - all except for one girl. This girl wanted to become a doctor and wanted her internship to be with the local EMS unit at the local fire station. So, she talked to the head of the EMS unit and got his approval and made arrangements with the school to create her own internship. Of all of the students about which I heard, she was the one who benefited the most by her internships. My daughter's was definitely not the highlight of her school career. Her first choice fell through and her final assignment was not really what she wanted and did not give her the type of exposure that she had hoped for. This shows that you can create your own internship! Locate a company that fits the parameters of the type of experience and exposure that you are seeking and work with them and the appropriate people in your school to put it in motion. After all, if there is an internship program existing today, anywhere, it had to be created by someone.
It is very important to express your appreciation to those who help you along the way to be able to continue to receive helpful information and to create important networking contacts along the way. Here are some good tips: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-informational-interview-thank-you-note-smart-people-know-to-send?ref=recently-published-2 ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-tips-for-writing-a-thank-you-note-thatll-make-you-look-like-the-best-candidate-alive?bsft_eid=7e230cba-a92f-4ec7-8ca3-2f50c8fc9c3c&bsft_pid=d08b95c2-bc8f-4eae-8618-d0826841a284&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_20171020&utm_source=blueshift&utm_content=daily_20171020&bsft_clkid=edfe52ae-9e40-4d90-8e6a-e0bb76116570&bsft_uid=54658fa1-0090-41fd-b88c-20a86c513a6c&bsft_mid=214115cb-cca2-4aec-aa86-92a31d371185&bsft_pp=2 ##
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Akshama’s Answer

Work towards building a good career profile. Work on relevant projects and assignments/paper publishing. Network with people on LinkedIn and make sure to apply at a good number of places to increase your selection.
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R’s Answer

Hi Melissa,

My company is a San Francisco based tech SaaS company. We have very strong Intern program. For Interns that do well, we often make them offers after a successful Internship. Many will apply. It does not hurt to reach out to recruiters on LinkedIn and ask. I try to accept all invites from students or graduates that want to connect with me and many ask about how they get considered for Internships. Some recruiters may ignore messages from new graduates and students because they may not be involved in that program or they may be too busy. Don't let that be discouraging.

If an person reaches out to me and asks about becoming an Intern, I tell them that I will forward their resume, but be sure to apply online, because that will guarantee review of their resume. My company looks for people with the technical aptitude, but we also value things diversity and inclusion and giving back to the community. If you can show that you have that technical aptitude and have done things like mentoring others (ie. maybe teaching others like high school students or grade school students) and volunteering (ie. maybe working at a food kitchen) then that will get the eye of the reviewers. Why? Because it aligns with our company values. Most tech companies today have their company values listed on their website.

All the best!

Regards,

Richard
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