10 tips for finding tech related internships

With 7 weeks left in Software Engineering, here are some tricks that were good to know.

1. Start applying early

For an internship during the Summer, work on your CV during the Christmas break, and then start applying end of January. You can extend that until the Spring break, but the more you wait, the trickier it gets: most job offers are gone by the end of February.

For an internship during Winter, work on your CV in August and start applying early October (keep applying, I’ll say until late November). There are also more chances to get an internship for Winter since there are less candidates, therefore less competition.

2. Attend events

Yes, get out of your confort zone. Go to career fairs, networking events at your uni (and around), and hackathons (checkout https://mlh.io/ for their seasonal calendar). Hackathons are free programming competitions where you meet awesome people + recruiters and learn awesome stuff (checkout Hack Princeton, that place is amazing). Join computer science / engineering / hacker groups at your school or if there is none, make one (and showcase that on your cv!).

3. Work on a side project

Have something that you can showcase, that you’re working on, a tiny thing, not school related. Even if it’s in a “mockup” state (or even better, prototype), this is gold. You’re going out of your way, you take initiatives. For recruiters, this is priceless.

PS : It’s hard to balance school, side projects, friends, family and sometimes work, but that’s why I’m mentioning it here : during summer or during the Christmas break, or when you have some little time, take those opportunities to start preparing, to work on an idea (or ideas), either alone or with some buddies.

PS 2: Yes, I didn’t mention sleep, food and some exercise. I know you won’t consider them too much, at some point, but try to. Seriously.

4. Take some online classes

Again, this shows initiative, you’re going out of your way. Coursera, Edx, Udacity and Udemy are all amazing places to get a fair amount of coverage about a topic that you’re interest in. Also, if you want to get started with a new programming language (or refresh some basic notions), checkout Codeacademy. Treehouse is also stunning crystal clear, especially for mobile development (checkout their free month trial and their student reduced price).

5. Ask questions

It’s insanely useful and rewarding. Ask for feedback. On your side projects, it will help you improve, see things you haven’t seen and open your eyes/mind on new ideas. Some people will be harsh, but don’t take things personal : take the essence and the logic of it.

Ask questions about companies around you. Ask for help so you won’t spend 5 hours on something that can be easily explained in 5 minutes. Same during interviews. Make sure you understand the requirements. Again, ask for feedback.

6. Read the Bible (Cracking the Code Interview)

Go through the table of contents and start with the things you get, practice those, build up your confidence, and then tackle the rest.

7. Ask people to be as harsh as they can with your CV

By that, I mean get as much feedback as you can on it. The style and the end word will be yours, but it’s crazy the amount of inconsistency and the amount of typos different people will find on a single sheet of paper. Your CV will only get better.

8. Be open minded

Accept critique and diversity of thought and look forward to put yourself in those situations and to learn from them. Look for diversity, within the approach, within people, within ideas and design thinking. Empathy attracts sympathy.

9. Get a LinkedIn

If you have some time, get a LinkedIn, showcase your skills (I mentioned online courses and projects before, so yes you do have skills) and highlight the fact that you’re looking for an internship.

10. Show your passion

Show that you are passionate. I let this for the end because I think it’s the key. A lot of people can and will get outstanding academic results, putting in the effort, the willing, and the priorities. A lot of people will also get internships in tech: the demand is high and experience is required. But where differences are a lot more distinguishable is in how passionate we are, how much motivation, how high is the desire to solve problems. It’s in the work that you put, the knowledge that you have and share.

Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Apple, Khan Academy, Facebook, Mozilla, Canonical, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter, Tesla, Disney, Sony, BlackBerry, DropBox, Adobe, TripAdvisor, Expedia, AirBnb, Bell Labs, Cisco, HP, Oracle, Ericsson, Bombardier, Dell, Intel, GE, Nuance, Siemens, CGI, SAP, Red Hat, Philipps, Ubisoft, the government, New York Times, Groupon, Netflix, Samsung, Motorola, PayPal, banks, AT&T, Salesforce, Coursera, Shopify, Venmo, Huffington Post, Yelp, eBay… they’re all looking for passionate people. Show them.

Good luck !

@dandancrisan — currently working on @10minMTL and counting the days until April 29th ! #graduation