How to get an internship in a London tech startup for students
This is a guide for students looking at how to get internships and entry level jobs with startups in London. The best way to get into tech is to work in a startup or technology company. Whoever propagates the “banking or consulting first” myth I’m guessing mostly wants to see how it feels to make a very large amount of money at the age of 24.
Tech won’t pay you a £50k starting salary, however it also won’t demand you donate your right kidney or promise away your first born for the luxury to work there, so ceteris paribus, you’ll come out on top in my opinion. Tech is an amazingly social and a friendly scene, as well as working in a startup can also provide amazing experience and insights for those preparing to start their own company. Most importantly though in my opinion, working in tech you build stuff and there’s a definite vision of the future and where to go. A lot of the other graduate jobs and internships in the sectors mentioned above are more about maintaining or incrementally improving what’s already there. This is what I find the most attractive.
There are many startups out there that want to hire graduate talent. They just don’t have the time to set up shop in the middle of your campus with a huge tent and give out free coffee. They are looking for an intern that can start next week, rather than some distant spring week. By far the easiest way to get an internship with a startup is to go out and talk to a couple of them, network and let people know what you are looking for.
A cold email will normally get read, but please keep it short. If there’s no reply that usually means they don’t have anything available, no hard feelings. I haven’t come across any comprehensive or central list of London startups but I’d probably just search around the net for an hour or two and find ten you want to work for. Email each a paragraph why you want to work for them with your CV (one-page) attached and you’re well on your way. Don’t email the same paragraph to all of them.
Networking is trickier, there’s tons of ‘how to’ guides on the internet however I have yet to see any that are any good. If you’re job searching as a student you probably don’t have a lot of very in-demand skills, but rather a good attitude, you’re clever and you work hard (hopefully). Let that shine through and you should be fine. Personally, I like to get to know one or two people at an event properly rather than spray and pray hoping someone remembers me.
Here are some good ports of call that may aid your search.
In terms of job boards that regularly post opportunities for internships and entry-level jobs, here’s a few:
campusboard.io (dedicated to startup internships)
Unicornhunt.io (searching for “intern” shows a few good ones here)
enternships.com (dedicated to startup internships around Europe)
workinstartups.com (Less internships, but searching for jobs marked “junior” work)
angel.co/jobs (Less sure about this one for internships but you might as well familiarise yourself since really good jobs get posted here)
escapethecity.org (Really exotic stuff gets posted on here, plus some internships)
Entrepreneurs First companies take on summer interns and you apply centrally here
Join these Facebook groups:
Check them regularly, like all boards there’s a lot of spam, but the occasional golden opportunity gets posted there. I got my first internship through one of them.
It is worth noting that getting a job with a big tech firm (Google, Dropbox etc) straight out of university is breathtakingly competitive. I interviewed for graduate account manager at Facebook for the Norwegian market. Out of five hundred applicants they interviewed four of us and they hired one, not me unfortunately. Mind you that this was a very niche position that required you to be a native Norwegian speaker and wish to relocate to Dublin. The recruiters I met there said that the English language graduate jobs there always had at least five thousand applicants. That means that if you’re in top one percent you’re still competing with fifty people. If you have a burning desire to work for one of them it’s easier to apply as an experienced hire in a few years.
None of what I’ve written, is as far as I know, applicable to technical recruitment which is a whole different world. Let me know if you want me to write one on that subject and I’m sure I can produce something of value.
Last but not least, good luck! Working in tech is awesome, and none of your relatives will understand what you do when you meet them over holidays.
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