🎒CS Internships
Disclaimer - this guide was written by a student, remember that this might contain some inaccuracies / outdated information, so always look at official sources as well.
If you just want the summary for what do then jump to the bottom of the page.
Time Points for Internship Applications
A commonly asked question is:
When am I actually supposed to look for internships ?
So I hope this guide can maybe put your minds at ease, there are generally a bunch of different points, and you should not feel pressured. Focus on passing your studies, and seek out opportunities when you feel the time is right.
Y1: First Year Internships
Be careful with internships here, if you are not experienced, try and work on practicing your programming skills and work on building a portfolio, don't worry to much about internships yet
If you already have experience you can just apply to regular internships though note that the competition might be high here
If you don't have experience there are generally still some opportunities, certain companies like Uber offer both Internships to Y1/Y2s but also workshop programs which can lead to internships, so its worth looking around on LinkedIn if programs like these are being offered.
Start of Y2: Summer Internships
I would strongly recommend to apply to these, they are aimed at Y2s, often have little skill requirements ( aside from DSA AKA Leetcode/Hackerrank )
Primarily targeted at Year 2 students.
Competitive with low entry barriers ; usually require little specific skill ; do require good DSA knowledge though
Larger companies may offer these ( Amazon, Databricks, Booking, Optiver, etc. ) , though not widely available in smaller firms.
During Y2: (Enforced) Student Internships
Accessible to all students throughout the academic year.
Generally accept both Msc and Bsc students
Consider focusing on opportunities designed for BSc students; internships that also accept Msc will be more competitive if you don't have too much prior experience
(If you defer) Y3: Summer and (Enforced) Student Internships
Year 3 students, after deferring, can potentially apply for summer internships ( that sometimes want a specific graduation date ) alongside enforced student internships which are normally available
During Y3 minor: (Enforced) Student Internships
A common strategy is to choose easy courses from the Data Science minor and then doing an internship on the side.
Doing an internship during the minor is a good strategy if you want to have it done during your studies.
If you design your minor well it can potentially be best opportunity aside from summer internships because of the easy courses.
Y3: Thesis Internship or Business Track
Again this is another very good point for looking into internships, because it has essentially no overlap with your courses. The companies might not overlap with your interests but I would still highly recommend to explore options at this point.
Opportunities for a thesis internship or specialized business track for eligible candidates.
(If you defer) After Y3: Enforced Student Internship
If you defer you have to pay tuition, so this strat is not recommended for international students if you cannot afford to stay longer. The VU will pay you back a part of your tuition if you graduate halfway through your deferred year. But again YOU HAVE TO PAY TUITION IF YOU DEFER, ONLY DO THIS IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT
If you defer you retain your student status which should still allow you to apply for both enforced student and regular internships
Types of Internships
Summer Internships
Target Year: Mainly Year 2 students.
Nature: Competitive with limited entry barriers.
Availability: Predominantly in larger companies; less common in smaller enterprises.
Flexibility: Y3 students can probably apply if they defer to have the desired ( from the company ) graduation date
Enforced Student Internships
Accessibility: Open to all students, occurring year-round.
Candidate Acceptance: Welcomes both BSc and MSc students.
Strategy: Focus on opportunities tailored for BSc students for enhanced chances.
Student Internships
Prevalence: Widely available and commonly pursued.
Eligibility: Suitable for BSc, MSc, or recent graduates.
Specialization: Typically more specialized, resembling enforced student internships.
Application Strategies
Defer and Apply
Defer by a year to retain student status while having no courses, this means you can apply to all internships ; possibly do courses you want on the side
During Studies
Apply during the academic year, seriously consider the impact this could have on your courses, especially if you are struggling
( especially for Y3 ) remember that you have
choice of minor courses ( easier courses = easier time for internship )
3rd resit, use this card wisely
Additional Strategies
Honors
If you have a GPA of 7.5, even if you don't want to do Honors, just apply they do company get togethers which might be helpful for networking. A key thing to remember you do not have to do honors courses to be in honors, you of course will not get the actual title if you don't do the courses, but you can still leverage being in honors during your studies for networking.
STORM student association
STORM is a student association for CS, Math and AI students which also does networking events at times, their membership fee is like 15eur, its worth signing up and going to any events and also just for getting to know more people
Programming Competitions
There are a few that happen, generally around the beginning of the year, join the discord to get notified when these happen, they always look good on a CV and sound nice in behavioral interviews, also if you are really good you can advance to bigger competitions
Career Fairs
There are a few career fairs usually yearly, remember to check your VU mail every now and then.
You will probably find the most relevant job listings here, additionally if you have a good enough profile and some basic activity going recruiters will sometimes reach out to you, so its always good to have this.
Advent of Code
This a programming competition website which host daily programming problems for the month of December until Christmas morning ( 25th ) its a great way to connect with some people and practice your programming skills
Summary
To summarize, some recommendations for what to do in each year
Year 1
Make a LinkedIn and a GitHub account ( populate them just with basic information )
Sign up to STORM
Join the CS discord ( specifically checkout the internship grind thread )
Try out advent of code in December
Apply to Honors if you have a GPA >= 7.5
Look out for programming competitions late in the school year
Year 2
Try and populate your github or linkedin with anything you did ( its fine if nothing )
Again do AoC ( some more good practice )
Maybe over the year explore some things you find interesting in your personal time
personal projects
topics
competitions
Year 3
At this point try and have at least 1 project on your github, make sure your linkedin is clean
Have a resume, this template, is more than enough
Start just looking at some job listings to get an idea of the market
And of course at all these points see if you can find any good opportunities for an internship. And the one thing to remember
IMPORTANT -> YOU ARE PROBABLY MORE SKILLED THAN YOU THINK, IT NEVER HURTS TO APPLY, GOOD LUCK ❤️
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