I've looked on dice,monster,craigslist etc. and I can't for the life of me find somewhere that wants a sophomore in college as an intern. I really want to do one this summer simply to learn and because I love to program. Did any of you guys have any luck with maybe an on campus intern referral? (I don't know if this even exists at my school, I'll have to look into it) I've only done a semester of assembly, java, and two semesters of C++, also I've dabbled in C# on my own. Any tips for finding someone/somewhere that will be willing to take me in and help me learn over the summer?
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I feel helpless while looking for a programming internship
- Thread starter tpfaff
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Definitely speak with your Comp Sci and/or IS/MS departments. Have you spoken with your teachers/professors about this desire? They likely have contacts in the industry, which may have internship opportunities. Have you done any personal programming projects, ie: projects not listed on a syllabus?
Edit: Other than classroom and personal project history, another area you'll need to prove is your work ethic and commitment. There's also other, equally important soft skills, such as communication and teamwork.
Edit: Other than classroom and personal project history, another area you'll need to prove is your work ethic and commitment. There's also other, equally important soft skills, such as communication and teamwork.
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maybe try directly contacting development companies. There are places that dont openly advertise for interns but will be willing to accept a person that showed the initiative to seek out an opportunity with them. My job is one of them.
and if all else fails you should be able to find a professor to assist over the summer. It may not be the "real world" experience you may expect but it still would be very valuable for a resume.
And dont sweat it too much, I think you are already ahead of the curve seeking internships as a Sophomore. Most people I know held off on that until late into their Junior Year, if they interned at all.
and if all else fails you should be able to find a professor to assist over the summer. It may not be the "real world" experience you may expect but it still would be very valuable for a resume.
And dont sweat it too much, I think you are already ahead of the curve seeking internships as a Sophomore. Most people I know held off on that until late into their Junior Year, if they interned at all.
Postings on those sites cost money. People are reluctant to spend money advertising & recruiting interns. Just reviewing applicants, before you even interview them, is a major PITA - most people hate doing it for important jobs, they're not going to go out of their way to get more applicants for an intern position.
You best bet would be to go through the department or the school career placement office. These are the places that companies wanting interns end up contacting. If you have any major tech companies in the area, you might also consider contacting their HR departments directly.
You best bet would be to go through the department or the school career placement office. These are the places that companies wanting interns end up contacting. If you have any major tech companies in the area, you might also consider contacting their HR departments directly.
Red Squirrel
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It's probably very hard to find a programming job these days outside of Google, Microsoft, Facebook etc... given most companies that arn't directly into making software just outsource programming.
Wiseguy2001
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Sorry but that is bullshit, I live in a small town (<60k) and I could name a dozen places that develop software (yes proper software not web designs companies). If I hop a train for 30-45 minutes..hundreds!
I think the OP's problem is that he is going about it the wrong way, go visit these places in person tell them you're in college looking for work experience/ internship for the summer. If they say "sorry we're not looking for anyone" - don't worry the receptionist properly will. Say "please can I speak to one of the managers, it will only take a few minutes of their time and it will mean so much to me". Hopefully they will give you that opportunity, but if they don't polity hand them your cv and ask them to pass it on.
If that doesn't work, then I'm perplexed. Companies turning down free labour are crazy, even if it is to do the monkey work and make the coffee's - (hey coffee is important! no coffee, no code!).
Goodluck and don't worry if you get a few knock-backs, I'm sure you will be fine.
mmmmmdonuts
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This is by far the best way of trying to get a job or internship. It separates you from the pack and thats what you need to do. It doesn't always work, but you get much further much faster than filling out stupid shit online.
The best way is networking though. Sign up for Linkedin, and start networking. Post a status update on your facebook wall or twitter wall. It may sound stupid but your friends and acquaintances are willing to help you if you ask for it. You won't believe the number of opportunities/connections you can find.
Most importantly: Don't get discouraged and be persistent and use thank you notes on EVERYONE. I am on my second go around in three years and its a very, very rough market out there, but you may get lucky and find something.
Sorry but that is bullshit, I live in a small town (<60k) and I could name a dozen places that develop software (yes proper software not web designs companies). If I hop a train for 30-45 minutes..hundreds!
I think the OP's problem is that he is going about it the wrong way, go visit these places in person tell them you're in college looking for work experience/ internship for the summer. If they say "sorry we're not looking for anyone" - don't worry the receptionist properly will. Say "please can I speak to one of the managers, it will only take a few minutes of their time and it will mean so much to me". Hopefully they will give you that opportunity, but if they don't polity hand them your cv and ask them to pass it on.
If that doesn't work, then I'm perplexed. Companies turning down free labour are crazy, even if it is to do the monkey work and make the coffee's - (hey coffee is important! no coffee, no code!).
Goodluck and don't worry if you get a few knock-backs, I'm sure you will be fine.
Alright sounds good, I'll definately give this a try. I was just looking online and was getting pretty worried at the lack of options. Thanks for all the advice guys! Hopefully I'll find something for this summer. Another quick question though, do I even have enough coursework to have somebody want me in their hair? Do I know enough about coding to be an asset or would I just be detrimental to whatever they're doing? I feel like a know a decent amount of things but then I'll go look on stack overflow and basically every topic there is beyond my understanding.
TwistedAegis
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I'm not in programming, but I did find my current job using google maps. Type in the industry keyword you'd like to intern for, plus "near <your location" and call / visit every single one of them. Currently I work for a small credit union I never would have heard of in a thousand years just using the standard job boards / craigslist.
Whatsisname
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We don't know how good your skills are.
If you wanna find out, download an old ACM programming contest question set. If you can solve 3 or more questions from one those within 24 hours in any language, I'd say you are doing quite well.
If you wanna find out, download an old ACM programming contest question set. If you can solve 3 or more questions from one those within 24 hours in any language, I'd say you are doing quite well.
DocFaustus
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Sorry but that is bullshit, I live in a small town (<60k) and I could name a dozen places that develop software (yes proper software not web designs companies). If I hop a train for 30-45 minutes..hundreds!
I think the OP's problem is that he is going about it the wrong way, go visit these places in person tell them you're in college looking for work experience/ internship for the summer. If they say "sorry we're not looking for anyone" - don't worry the receptionist properly will. Say "please can I speak to one of the managers, it will only take a few minutes of their time and it will mean so much to me". Hopefully they will give you that opportunity, but if they don't polity hand them your cv and ask them to pass it on.
If that doesn't work, then I'm perplexed. Companies turning down free labour are crazy, even if it is to do the monkey work and make the coffee's - (hey coffee is important! no coffee, no code!).
Goodluck and don't worry if you get a few knock-backs, I'm sure you will be fine.
Wiseguy2001 said it best (both the Red Squirrel debunking and the rest), so I am going to piggy back on his post regarding walk-ins.
Receptionists are the gatekeepers of the company. It is their job to turn you away and to protect the higher-ups from wasting time with you. While it's nothing personal, it is still an obstacle you must overcome. You can't get around them without their permission, so be prepared to deal with them. Make them your ally and give them a reason to go to bat for you. Don't waste breath flattering them, but be likeable enough that they want to see you succeed. Never talk down to them, or say something like can I speak to your superior (bad word, it implies they are inferior). A better approach is to treat them like they are actually the decision maker. Be sincere, thankful, and straight forward with what you want. A receptionist cannot choose to hire you or not, but by putting the question to them, they will be more compelled to defer the decision to someone who can instead of turning you away. This is your foot in the door.
You are still going to be turned away quite often by the gatekeepers, but persistance pays off. Also, each receptionist you talk to is like mini-interview training. This will give you a better chance when you finally do get your chance at bat.
Now since you are going for intern, I imagine you are going to take the first offer you get. If that is the case, make a list of all the companies you WANT to work for, and start with your favorite.
Also, if you target larger companies, there is a good chance they have a HR dept or a hiring lady, if that is the case, the gatekeeper will not be as much of an obstacle. Just make sure you go to the right office and not some satellite office if the company has multiple locations
Hey thanks a lot for those questions, they're fun to figure out and seem like good practice, I found them here if anyone is interested. http://online-judge.uva.es/problemset/files.html
What city/area are you looking in? also remember that there are other ways to intern other than direct programming. Design, Quality Assurance, Customer Support etc. for a programing company is a great way to get a foot in the door and still be in your comfort zone programming wise(wont be doing as much programming, but you will be working with the programmers and learning the aspects of programming careers they don't teach very well in school)
chinesepiratefood
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Like Wiseguy said, there are plenty of opportunities out there. However, you should have been looking for an internship in September and October. I believe it or not had my best luck at the Career fairs that my school held twice a year (once in September was a all-university fair, and in February they have an engineering career fair). I never had much luck just going on company websites and filling out applications. On your resume, list the various languages/technologies you know, but DON'T feature them. Instead, most of the focus should be on interesting projects you have worked on. Having been tasked with hiring interns the last 2 summers I put a very small weight on whether the person knows a specific language or not. All of our interview questions range from moderate to extremely challenging but we let them write in pseudo code, because if they can solve our problems they can pickup C# and C++ fairly quickly.
Also, some professors might employ students to be on their research groups. I knew a couple people who did that in college and the fact that the research they helped on was so similar, they both landed jobs at Amazon.
Also, some professors might employ students to be on their research groups. I knew a couple people who did that in college and the fact that the research they helped on was so similar, they both landed jobs at Amazon.
From personal experience, I would suggest identifying couple of good companies you want to work for and just directly reach out to the hiring manager/and or the owner. If you can - go out and visit the company and ask for opportunities. Even if they don't have anything open at the moment they might hire you.
Make sure to do your research about the company (Google it, latest news, conferences/speaking engagements that someone from the management was involved in recently etc).
Make sure to do your research about the company (Google it, latest news, conferences/speaking engagements that someone from the management was involved in recently etc).
Ditto on talking to people in your program at school. Definitely make yourself well known, easy to do if you're good at your work, and mention that your looking for work/internships. You'll be on their mind next time they get an email or a phone call. Also one job site I like to use is Indeed. It's like a job search engine so it pulls up listings from company websites along with the job websites. I've been able to apply to a few that I hadn't seen on the regular places. (Dice and etc) I take it you've already looked at the IT resume thread as well?
I hear this a lot when it comes to getting work in programming.
I hear this a lot when it comes to getting work in programming.
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I didn't read all the posts here, but as a CS student I went to my schools co-op fair without looking for much, and there were representatives going out of their way to grab me out of the crowd. Almost all the students were engineers, and I had a big sticker on me that said CS so I think CS markets better than engineering. I had a few on campus interviews that day and a week later job offers for co-ops starting at $16/hour. I finished two semesters with that company, and now I have an interview for a co-op with another company.
I have friends who are communications, business, or some other bullshit major and they can't get internships for shit. Also, co-ops >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> internships. But iirc only CS and engineering can get co-ops.
I have friends who are communications, business, or some other bullshit major and they can't get internships for shit. Also, co-ops >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> internships. But iirc only CS and engineering can get co-ops.