How to Get a Tech Internship… and Make the Best of It!
One of the questions that find themselves in our inboxes the most often is: “What does it take to get an internship at HelpSystems”. And throughout our experience of hosting internships of all sorts and all levels, we’ve gained a lot of insight into this question. So consider this a very long FAQ answer that will show you what to do to get an internship and moreover — how you can make the most of it. We’ve talked to the members of our team that work directly with interns and asked for their advice and insight.
Step 1: Submitting a CV
First things first, how to make sure your CV gets shortlisted.
All the regular rules of job applications apply here too. But we’ve seen that people either don’t know how to craft a good CV or don’t want to invest the time into making it competitive. Well, we’re here to say — don’t overlook the importance of your CV. This is your first interaction with the company, so make a good impression! We don’t want to reinvent the wheel and write down a manual on how to make a good CV. But we’ll leave this manual from one of Montreal’s largest universities — McGill.
One thing we could add to this is to keep in mind the person who’ll be reviewing the CV.
Make it simple
Don’t use a million fonts
Remember that on average a person spends 6 seconds reviewing your CV
Another piece of advice would be, always include a short bio, it’s another chance to show your motivation and enthusiasm in a form of text.
Our HR manager Rita Margaryan noted that it is important to include projects you’ve worked on. No matter how insignificant you think they are. This is our only chance to have a glance at what you are capable of. Be it a university project, or a small project on GitHub — share it with us.
Step 2: Passing an interview
At HelpSystems, during the interview, we look at a few things. When it comes to selecting an intern, of course, technical ability gives you a boost, but we pay the most attention to motivation. Do you truly want to become a top professional? Great, show that! What put you on a career path, how do you see yourself evolving, how could this internship be helpful to your growth as a professional? These are all questions that could make or break a decision.
It’s important to showcase your logical and analytical thinking. We usually have test tasks to asses these qualities.
We’ve talked to one of our team leads Khatchatur Nikoghosyan about internship interviews. He conducted interviews for the current cycle of our internship program. As we had an educational component and didn’t require previous knowledge, Khachatur said that his priority was to come up with a system that will help him asses the following skills:
Willingness to work hard
A sense of responsibility
Teamwork
Enthusiasm
Ability to learn fast
Leadership skills
As a result, the interview was in the form of a practical task. The applicants would be interviewed in groups of six. In the beginning, they would get introduced to the task and they’d be provided with the necessary tools to solve them. They’d work a bit in the groups of six, here we could see who stood out as a leader, would take the initiative, who worked the best in the team, etc. Afterward, they would be divided into teams of two, where their ability to learn and implement would shine through. So even, if it’s not obvious for you that you’re being tested for your soft skills — make sure to always be at the top of your game and show your abilities.
We asked Khatchatur if he had one piece of advice to give to someone who’s applying to an internship what it would be. His answer was simple:
“Don’t be afraid of anything”.
Leave the fear and show your best qualities at the interview!
Step 3: Making the best of it
So you passed the interview and got the internship! Congratulations! Now what? Here’s advice on how to make sure you complete the internship getting the most of it and maybe even getting a job offer!
Being proactive is a must. Ask questions, and do your research if you need to. Make sure to get what you need from the internship. Take responsibility for your growth and the company will provide the knowledge and the tools necessary. One thing any organization will value is independence. Figuring things out on your own and making things work, learning on your own are all things any supervisor will notice and commend you on.
Our Principal Software Engineer Mariam Karamyan who usually works with interns says that throughout the internship it’s important to communicate the knowledge you have. Many participants might be shy and not want to flaunt their previous knowledge, but this helps your supervisor guide you better and make sure you leave your internship with the most.
We asked one of our current interns — Aneta Baloyan, what she would tell her peers who are trying to get into a tech internship.
Aneta had a lot of advice she shared with us. One thing she noted was that you need to come with a willingness to work on the skeleton of your knowledge and fill it out. Be open to new information, philosophy, and knowledge. It’s important to connect what you learn with what you already know. Don’t reject repetition and make sure to fix the new knowledge in your head. Give yourself some time to process the information you received. She says:
“Personally, I went through the HelpSystems internship where we had classes before we took part in the practical internship. And even though everything was clear during the class, I made sure to look at the material at home. Because I knew that it’s hard to learn information in a large amount and absorb it fully. You need to give yourself time to make the knowledge and skills yours and connect it with the base you already had”.
Another tip Aneta gave was about asking questions. She says it’s one of the most important things to ask questions. Leaving your ego at home and coming to the internship in the role of a learner, not afraid to seem stupid or not knowledgable enough. But a tip she has is not to rush, hold the question for 10–15 seconds in your head, make sure you don’t have the answer — then ask. She concluded by saying:
“In the beginning, you need to accept that even if you think you know a lot — it’s just the tip of the iceberg, you’re in the position of learner yet again. You probably don’t even know of the things you don’t know. You shouldn’t think of yourself as less, underestimate your abilities, just understand that you have a lot to learn.”
To conclude, from the moment you type up the email to apply to the internship to actually sitting and working in the office, it’s important to genuinely do your best. Remember that at this stage, some of your soft skills might be more important than actual technical knowledge. And be mindful about learning and then practicing what you’ve learned.
And if you want to be notified when our next internship cycle starts, sign up here.
