Does your freshman CS major have an internship lined up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern mom here. Our DC is technically a sophomore due to number of credits he got, but this is his first year, but he has one for the first semester of next year. He found about it when the professor brought in 8 companies representatives to his co-op class, and applied to all 8. Pay isn't that great but that's okay with him.

That's why the Northeasten model works. The school is geared towards getting kids placed into interships from the moment they walk onto campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. . . DC should (1) put together a resume (resume should focus on specific STEM skills, such as: knows how to use Linux, Windows, MacOS; can program in Python, R, Perl, C, Java, or whatever; and list specific CS or ECE courses completed with a GPA; and explicitly say at the bottom of the resume either “US Citizen” or “US Permanent Resident; XYZ citizen” whichever is correct - and then (2) contact the various HR departments for the Federal STEm organizations within practical commute radius and submit a resume.

My rising junior has an internship this summer but is getting ready to apply for Summer 2025 internships. Should he list his specific CS courses with grades for each course, or instead list overall GPA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Federal Government will hire a bunch of C undergrads snd high school students this summer. Those opportunities are usually posted in October at “USAjobs.gov”. Different government components will have different timelines, some might have passed by now.

Locally, ARL in Adelphi and NIST in G’birg will hire a bunch. For Navy sites in the area, which also will hire many, first look here: “ https://navalstem.us/”. Most Federal internships in this area will *require* US Citizenship by law, but exceptions exist.

If your DC does not have a STEM internship, and if application deadlines have passed, then DC should (1) put together a resume (resume should focus on specific STEM skills, such as: knows how to use Linux, Windows, MacOS; can program in Python, R, Perl, C, Java, or whatever; and list specific CS or ECE courses completed with a GPA; and explicitly say at the bottom of the resume either “US Citizen” or “US Permanent Resident; XYZ citizen” whichever is correct - and then (2) contact the various HR departments for the Federal STEm organizations within practical commute radius and submit a resume. One never knows, something might open up.

Also, in some cases a government entity will bring on an interesting student as a contractor (e.g., if one missed the deadlines or their hiring process is too messy). Even in those cases, they usually get the resumes of candidates from their government HR office internally.

thank you.

-op

[Anonymous]

Outside of CS, is it really bad if your DC doesn't do an internship?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My engineering major was a boy scout camp counselor throughout college. That was a passion and he wanted to enjoy it while he could. If it came up in interviews that is what he said. He is a well paid engineer now.

I think that shows a LOT of emotional maturity, adaptability, and leadership -- especially leading people (i.e. children) who don't want to be led. Even better, it gives a potential employer something different to talk about during an interview, and it's a memorable discussion. If a person has the tech skills to back it up, this kind of job showcases a lot of unique skills.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about it. My company doesn't consider any intern before junior year.

DS actually did have a tech-related internship after freshman year but it was only because of a personal connection -- friend has a small business and created a role for him. But it was only about 15 hrs per week, minimum wage. He said he was the only one of his friends with an internship that summer. DS then applied to a ton of internships as a sophomore and nothing worked out. Did a retail job that summer (he could have gone back to friend's company but wanted more hours). Really focused on job hunting at the start of junior year and had a great internship lined up by winter break.

Agree with the recommendations that he spend some time on a personal project to add to his resume/portfolio. And, look for opportunities on campus to build his resume. DS ended up spending 2nd semester sophomore and 1st semester junior year working in an undergrad research program that really added to his tech skills and were helpful in getting his junior year internship.

My younger kid is a freshman now and likely to end up as a camp counselor, same as the last couple years. I'm not pushing her to do anything else, except she may take an online class to knock out one of her general ed requirements.

[Anonymous]

Get internships lined up early for the next few years! Several tech companies, including some of the biggest, are not hiring new grads outside of their intern pool, which also happened last year. With the tech layoffs, the CS job market for entry-level SWEs is nothing like a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My rising junior has an internship this summer but is getting ready to apply for Summer 2025 internships. Should he list his specific CS courses with grades for each course, or instead list overall GPA?

Either is ok, as would in-major GPA, so go with whichever one looks best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Outside of CS, is it really bad if your DC doesn't do an internship?

I have no idea outside STEM fields. In STEM fields, internships done well can lead to another internship (same place or elsewhere) and increases job offer chances. Many companies and government agencies will make FT job offers later to STEM interns who do a good job.

Diligence and hard work and following instructions matter a lot during any internship. Schools only teach information, but a person's work habits are critical in the real world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get internships lined up early for the next few years! Several tech companies, including some of the biggest, are not hiring new grads outside of their intern pool, which also happened last year. With the tech layoffs, the CS job market for entry-level SWEs is nothing like a few years ago.

Some big tech companies are not hiring even within their intern pool. The demand for entry-level/a few years experience is very low right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very rare for freshmen of any major to land internships on their own. Some do have good internships but it is usually through connections. Tell your kid to relax. They will be just fine. Enjoy the summer and make some money working as a camp counselor or retail or restaurant, etc

MY kid got a well-paying summer internship after the freshman year at Google although he was in Berkeley CS so YMMV.

[Anonymous]

For those not in the know internship fairs exist for the recruiters to feel good about getting their company name out. They report out to heads of HR how many college fairs they attended this year.

Very very few booth visitors get an internship outright by stopping by amongst 300-1000 other attendees.

So what you do is
Drop off a resume. Have a quick conversation. Learn one thing unique about the compnay. Collect the recruiters business cards. Even better Get the business card of a business person attending from the company. (We always bring someone from the business with us.)

Follow up all contacts with an email. Build a relationship. Get the timetable for the next internship recruiting cycle. (Hint for most companies it will be between august and December). Ping them regularly. Eventually, Get on the interview slate.

Rinse repeat for 30 other employers.

Now if you have an inside line on a company, thank your parents or whoever pulled strings for you, pass Go, to the penultimate sentence above.

But if you don’t, that’s the hustle it takes. Some of you need to be coaching your kids better for this job market.

[Anonymous]

Mine did although not a large recognizable company

[Anonymous]

Even the networking mentioned above isn’t enough. They need to begin preparing for tough data structures and algorithms focused interviews.

The best resources for this are a website called Leetcode.io(in the software industry leetcode is a verb now haha). a book called “Elements of Programming Interviews” is also essential. Mastering these materials well enough to consistently pass interviews can take months of hard work.

[Anonymous]

DS has one lined up but its private equity not CS.