First / Second-Year Internship Resources
Since we’re quickly approaching the beginning of autumn quarter, many internship program applications have already opened. I know, scary! Never fear — we’re here to demystify first / second-year internship programs and to provide you with information so that you feel confident about applying!
But first, here are some disclaimers:
- This resource is paired with ACM’s First / Second-Year Internship Panel event, where we interviewed Allen School students who participated in some of these internship programs. We recommend watching the panel recording if you couldn’t attend the event, as the students gave more personal accounts of their internship experiences.
- We are not recruiters for the companies mentioned and don’t have a ton of information besides what’s publicly available online, so keep this in mind while reading!
With that said, let’s get started! :)
What is a First / Second-Year Internship?
You’ve probably heard about general software engineering (SWE) internships that many companies have throughout the year, but what about first / second-year-specific internships?
These programs are hosted mostly by larger tech companies for first / second-year university students who have little to no industry experience. Many of the programs are targeted towards underrepresented minorities in tech as a way for students to gain exposure to the industry. While the actual internship projects at different companies vary a lot, some common experiences include:
- Having a full-time software engineer as your mentor
- Working with other first / second-year interns collaboratively on a project
- Exclusive panels and talks with senior leadership
- Intern events and outings
- Potentially receiving a return offer for a regular SWE internship at the company
- Many first / second-year internships are considered to be an “extended interview” for a regular internship role
First / second-year internships are held exclusively in the summer, while regular internships which may occur off-season. Most programs also require students to be available to work for the entire duration of the internship (usually 8–12 weeks). Keep this in mind as you’re applying, as this might impact your summer travel plans!
Company Application Information
Before you start applying, these are some general must-haves for most first/second year applications:
- A resume with experience, projects, skills, education, etc.
- If you don’t have much industry experience, go into detail about projects that you’ve completed outside of class, extracurricular activities, CS classes you’ve taken, etc.
- Your official or unofficial UW transcript
- Some applications may also ask for a high school transcript
- LinkedIn / Github / other personal websites
List of Internships
- Duration: 12 week internship
- Compensation: Salary + housing / housing stipend included
- Location: Mostly Redmond, WA; Also Bellevue, WA and SF, CA
- Timeline: The application is open! There’s no deadline on the site, so it’s likely filled on a rolling basis. Applying ASAP is recommended.
- Students must have completed an intro CS course and a quarter of calculus by the time they intern
- Duration: 12 week internship
- Compensation: Salary + housing / housing stipend provided
- Location: Mostly Mountain View, CA
- Timeline: The application is not yet open. It will likely open around mid-September and close around early November based on the timeline from previous years.
- First-years: must have completed > 1 college level CS course by end of first quarter / semester (AP CS and CSE 14x acceptable)
- Second-years: must have completed 2 college level CS courses
- Programming experience in either Java, C++, or Python
- Compensation: Monetary stipend provided
- Location: This program is remote, so no housing stipend is provided
- Timeline: The application is not open yet, but keep checking their website!
- Not limited to first / second-year students
- Work on various open-source software projects with mentor organizations
- Duration: 12 week internship
- Compensation: Salary
- Timeline: The application is not open yet, but keep checking their website!
- Students must have completed an intro CS course and a quarter of calculus by the time they intern
Facebook University for Engineering
- Duration: 8 week internship
- Compensation: Salary + housing / housing stipend provided
- Location: Menlo Park, CA or Seattle, WA
- Timeline: The application is open! Due by October 7th, 2020 at 11:59pm
- First-years: must have completed > 1 college level CS course by end of first year (AP CS and 14x acceptable)
- Second-years: must have completed 2 college level CS courses
- Duration: Summer week-long experience at the Twitter San Francisco office
- Timeline: The application will open later in the fall!
- First-year university students only
- Specifically designed for historically underrepresented groups (Black, Hispanic / Latinx and / or Native American)
- Twitter’s Internship FAQ
- Duration: 12 week internship
- Compensation: Salary + housing stipend
- Timeline: The application will open later in the fall!
- Second-year university students only
- Specifically designed for historically underrepresented groups (Black, Hispanic / Latinx and / or Native American)
- Twitter’s Internship FAQ
- Duration: 4 weeks
- Location: 100% online
- Beginner Track: CSE 142 experience level
- Advanced Track: Experience beyond CSE 142 / 143, or experience through personal projects
- Matched with an industry mentor to create a real-world project
FAQ
How did you search for internships?
- Most companies have a career / job listing page that will list any available internship positions they have. This can be a reliable way to search for internships, since the information is straight from the source. You can make a list of which companies you’re interested in and directly search for positions on their websites! The Allen School Affiliates List is a great comprehensive resource to start looking for companies that you’d be interested in interning at.
What is first / second-year based on — class standing or years in college? For example, can incoming second-year students that are graduating next school year (i.e. junior class standing) qualify for a second-year internship?
- This really depends on how you market yourself on your resume and how flexible the program is. For example, the FBU program requires that you’re graduating in certain years to qualify. Always check the internship application site for details about this and cater your resume accordingly!
If we don’t have much CS experience, how much do we need to elaborate on other activities we put on our resume that aren’t CS-related, but required relevant skills?
- You should definitely highlight activities that you’ve invested time in, even if they aren’t CSE-related. If you’re new to the Allen School, it’s totally okay to keep some of your high school extracurriculars and activities! Companies value soft skills such as communication and leadership.
What kinds of CSE resources are there to prepare for applications and interviews?
- Good resources for technical interviews include HackerRank and Leetcode, which are both free! The easy / medium questions are great for preparing for first / second-year internship interviews.
Help, I didn’t get an internship! Now what?
First, and most importantly, don’t panic! You’re still awesome and getting an internship (or not) doesn’t determine your worth as a CSE student, future tech employee, or human. It’s super uncommon for first / second-year students to get summer internships because the programs are quite small, and companies don’t usually consider first / second-year applicants for regular SWE roles.
Here are some things you can do instead of an internship:
Research
- Email professors in spring (your research doesn’t have to be in CSE, either!)
- Look out for formal research applications
- ACM Spring Research Night
TA
- Apply to be a TA for a UW CSE class (great for resume building)
- Look into CS Education Organizations
- Here are a few: The Coding School (TCS), Geeking Out Kids of Color (GOKiC), Girls Who Code, DawgBytes, Early Fall Start
Personal Project
- Hackathons
- Open-source projects
- Personal website
Summer Classes
- Taking CSE classes in the summer is super helpful for finishing required courses and taking higher-level classes sooner! Class sizes are usually smaller in the summer as well, which can make classes more enjoyable for some students.
Study Abroad (post-COVID)
Find a non-CSE related job
- Any kind of work experience is good!
Relax!
- Read a good book
- Travel
- Go hiking
- Take care of yourself :)
