Internships 101: How to get an amazing one?

This slide deck was used for sharing how to get amazing tech internships as an undergrad.

Transcript

1. Internship 101 Yashraj Kakkad Incoming Goldman Sachs Intern’21 Undergraduate Researcher, Ahmedabad University DSC Lead, Ahmedabad University Linkedin GitHub For CodeChef MITSOE Chapter
2. Students when they see an internship opening:
3. Who are you, bro? Competitive Programmer Backend Developer Undergraduate Researcher Community Builder • 5-stars CodeChef • Expert CodeForces • IEEEXtreme 14.0 Country Rank 5 • IEEEXtreme 13.0 Country Rank 14 • Backend Developer at CuratePad • Personal and freelancing projects in Django • Working on a research problem related to “Mathematical modelling of LTE-LAA and WiFi Coexistence” since one year. • DSC Lead • CodeChef Chapter President • Secretary, Programming Club
4. I’d like to cover…. • General hiring process for big companies and startups • Where to find opportunities? • Tuning your resume (some live examples) • LinkedIn profile preparation • Research internships • Free advice, other options
5. General Hiring Process for Multinational/Large Companies They mostly have standardized systems due to volume • May have resume shortlisting • May have college/gender/diversity bias • CGPA cutoffs • Competitive Programming / DSA questions • Core Computer Science Questions - Operating Systems, OOP, DBMS, Networks • Aptitude tests • Subjective questions Online Assessments Application Interviews • Coding questions • Puzzles • Project, Internship discussion • HR type questions • CS questions
6. General Hiring Process for Startups There’s a lot of variation here. • You might be given a project to do in a stipulated time. • More than competitive programming or DSA, they might test how versed you are with the stack they are using. • There may be less college bias because of limited applications. • Don’t receive a plethora of resumes so might be able to spend more time with candidates in general.
7. Big Companies vs Startups In the context of internships • Being associated with a brand often has huge positive effects. • Generally, it is said that learning curve is higher in “good” startups. • It is rather a debatable topic and it will depend on your organization, team and manager. • Multinational companies pay their interns exceptionally well. Most Startups generally don’t as much. • Your routine probably will be more balanced at big companies. • MNCs receive a pool of applications and are harder to get into in general.
8. General expectations • Ability to solve DSA/CP style problems under time constraints. • Good projects to talk about which demonstrate your skills. • Some previous internship experience. • Achievements. • Soft skills
9. Where to find opportunities? • Portals ◦ LinkedIn ▪ Posted jobs ▪ Posts in feed ◦ AngelList ◦ Cutshort ◦ Instahyre • Company websites • Lists curated by other people ◦ Example #1 ◦ Example #2 • Aggregators ◦ GeeksGod ◦ The Job Man ◦ Merge Intern ◦ Fresher Jobs • Network ◦ Seniors ◦ Classmates ◦ University Clubs
10. Your resume should have - • College name, degree, duration • CGPA (don’t write if its not good) • Internships / previous work ex • Projects (3-4 is a rule of thumb) • Skills and tech stack (Be careful here) • Achievements • Extra-curricular Some really good resumes in my opinion - • Aman Dave • Pratik Padalia • Raj Shah • Smit Mandavia I will explain all points in detail with examples.
11. General rules Do’s • One page • Clean • Quantification and metrics • GitHub links, demos • LinkedIn handle • Fancy themes. (ATS compliance) • Large paragraphs • Unnecessary information - School details, hobbies, photograph, “I certify that blah blah” • Incomplete information Dont’s
12. Leveraging LinkedIn / Personal branding Let me walk you through my profile.
13. Other ways of getting in • Hiring Challenges / Hackathons ◦ HackerEarth ◦ Competitive Programming Platforms ◦ CodeAgon • Women Specific Opportunities ◦ Google STEP ◦ AmazeWow • Cold emails • Outreach
14. Some free advice • Try to stand out. • Try to utilize your network. • Introspect and adapt. • Get feedback. • Be strategic. • Maintain an excel sheet.
15. What is not really a tech “internship” • Large scale programmes with typically low / no entry barrier. • Many unpaid programmes • Content writing and other such roles. Don’t do an internship for the sake of an internship.
16. Research Internships 101 Why? • Preparation for higher education • Curiosity • International experience (not always) • Profile building • Interest • Good CGPA • Letter of recommendation • Professor referral / connections • A good college tag • Good profile and skills • Previous research experience :P You need:
17. Research Internships How do I get started? • Unfortunately, most good opportunities either have college bias or require previous experience. • Talk to professors of your University and see if they offer projects. • University tie-ups. • Ask your seniors.
18. Research Internships Good opportunities at undergrad level - • IITs (Most IITs offer an internship) • Other top colleges like IIIT Delhi • Several Indian research institutes • MITACS • DAAD • USC-Viterbi • NTU India Connect
19. What if I still don’t get an internship? • Open Source ◦ Google Summer of Code ◦ Outreachy (only for women) ◦ GSSoC ◦ Explore on your own • Personal projects • Take mentorship from some programme or someone. • MLH Fellowship • GitHub Externship
20. That’s all from my side! Connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like to keep touch or ask me anything,