Excelling in Software Engineer Internships: A Comprehensive Guide
Landing a software engineer internship is a pivotal step towards a thriving tech career. This article serves as a comprehensive guide, offering insights into the requirements, preparation strategies, and opportunities available to aspiring software engineering interns.
The Significance of Software Developer Internships
Software developer internships are critical programs for both college students and tech employers. Employers tend to seek candidates with real-world experience, and internships can dramatically boost employability. Internships provide great real-world expertise. As interns, students work on real projects, contributing to a company’s business goals while improving their own skills. Along with technical skill development, software developer internships let interns network. They meet many engineering professionals in their field, which may open doors to mentorships and connections that help in job searches.
Preparing for Your Software Developer Internship Search
Landing your first software developer internship needs thorough preparations. Understanding focus areas in this phase can improve your chances.
Early Preparation and Skill Assessment
The earlier you begin the process, the higher the chances you will succeed in landing your first software developer internship. Many students often don’t realize that the application funnel can be more challenging than you might initially expect. It’s not uncommon for students to apply to more than 100 different companies for summer software engineering internship positions, and only receive 8-10 phone interviews, and then 4-5 to advance to an on-site interview. You will not hear back from half the companies you apply to. The most important thing is to start early, apply to enough places, and continuously work on it to land your best options. First, self-assess your skills and interests. Identifying strengths and weaknesses can align your abilities with internship options. Reflect on the programming languages you use best and any interesting projects you have tackled. You can also start by listing all the companies whose products you used or enjoyed, and then search “software engineering intern” or “software developer intern” on the sites.
Programs for Early-Career Students
For students who are earlier in their CS journeys, use this to your advantage and apply to programs that are catered toward first and second-year students. Many major tech companies, offer programs such as Meta University, which are designed to provide students with technical skill development and professional work experience. Interns work on projects ranging from AI and product design to software development and data analytics. Salesforce’s Futureforce Tech Launch program offers rising juniors a work and learning program in full-stack web development. Students work out of the Salesforce Tower in San Francisco and are assigned a 1:1 mentor, who is a professional software engineer at Salesforce.
Read also: Cracking the Snapchat Internship
Mastering Technical Interviews
Technical interviews are one of the most daunting challenges for emerging and experienced software engineers. Designed to assess a candidate’s problem-solving ability and communication skills, technical interviews are usually one of the biggest barriers that keep students out of the industry (if not enough practice and preparation is done). Students who successfully learn to tackle challenging algorithmic problems often go on to land the most competitive software engineering roles. Be sure to prepare for technical interviews early in your CS journey.
Leetcode is the most useful prep tool for practicing technical questions. They have a big bank of questions that cover questions you’d get in a coding interview across data structures, algorithms, and more. It is free to use, but there is a premium version available that has more features such as company question search. Throughout preparing for my interviews, I mostly practiced with Leetcode Mediums and found that to be substantial. There is a resource called Blind 75 where available online which is a curated list of Leetcode questions to do to get a good idea of the main frameworks you’ll need to know to ace most coding interviews. I exclusively did problems off Blind 75 to practice and I felt that it did indeed prepared me well for most of my coding interviews. Although system design interviews are more rare at the internship level, I had a few technical interviews which consisted of system design. System design primer is an open sourced github page with a very comprehensive guide to system design. I found it to be very useful for learning a lot of the topics to know in system design interviews. When I was preparing for my first system design interview, I felt very lost because I had no idea what to expect. Unlike typical coding interviews, they are much less common in the undergraduate or internship level.
Building a Strong Portfolio Through Side Projects
Side projects outside of class work can be an excellent way to differentiate yourself from other candidates when searching for software developer internships. If your university supports this, getting involved with research projects, i.e. We recommend doing a side project that you’re passionate about. It will be a lot more enjoyable. Finally, be sure to create a GitHub profile to showcase your projects and keep clear documentation.
Networking and Building Connections
Meeting people and leveraging your connections is the fastest way to speed up your software developer internship search process. It is said that 70% of jobs come from networking, emphasizing its importance. Be sure to forge strong connections with fellow alumni, friends/classmates, friends of friends, and other professional engineers you come across throughout your CS journey. The larger your network, the easier it will be for you to land that dream software job. Joining communities and going to meetups can lead to personal connections. Getting a referral is a great way to stand out in the application process. It’s typically a great way to ensure that your application gets looked at and not lost in the sea of applications. This is another reason why it’s always important to build a good network of connections in general.
Key Skills and Qualifications
Software engineering internships require a solid foundation in programming languages like Java, C++, or Python. Problem-solving skills are crucial in software engineering, as you will encounter various challenges throughout development. Analytical thinking goes hand in hand with problem-solving. Effective communication is vital in a collaborative environment, as is teamwork.
Read also: Software for Syllabus Management
Technical Skills
Ideal applicants will have experience across the entire software development life cycle (SDLC) and exposure to agile methodologies, including continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD), application resiliency, and security. We value emerging knowledge of software applications and technical processes within specialized disciplines, like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and mobile technologies. We are looking for applicants who possess a foundational knowledge of programming languages, such as Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, or C#, along with expertise in databases, data structures, and algorithms.
Soft Skills
Collaboration is at the heart of our teams, so we are looking for candidates with excellent teamwork skills and demonstrated leadership abilities. We are seeking well-rounded, enthusiastic, and motivated individuals, particularly those majoring in Computer Science and/or Engineering, who are eager to make a direct impact on our business from day one.
Internship Opportunities and Programs
Atlassian Early Careers Program
The Atlassian Early Careers program offers exciting opportunities for students and recent graduates to kickstart their careers in the tech industry. With its Summer Internship Program and Graduate Program, Atlassian provides a pathway to gain invaluable experience, develop professional skills, and make a tangible impact.
The Graduate Program at Atlassian is tailored for students in their final year of study or recently graduated. This program immerses our graduates in Atlassian's innovative world of technology, where they tackle complex challenges that have a meaningful impact on the company’s teams and its 300,000 global customers. The Grad++ 12-month learning journey offers a blend of professional skills development, mentorship, and social programming, all designed to help graduates build strong connections within Atlassian and accelerate their career growth.
Designed for students in their penultimate year of undergraduate or postgraduate studies, Atlassian's Internship Program is a remarkable opportunity to explore a career with a leading technology company. This full-time, paid internship is crafted to provide a balanced experience, focusing on both learning and professional development. Interns will enhance their craft and technical expertise while working on real projects that contribute to the company's success.
Read also: Software Engineering Curriculum
At Atlassian, we believe in empowering you to own your career. Whether you’re a software engineer, aspiring product designer, or talented writer, we give you the support and resources for you to hone your craft and set you up for the career you want.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Summer Internship
As a summer intern, you’ll help build and optimize digital applications and systems that support millions of customers, clients, and employees worldwide. The internship will begin with an induction training covering our tech strategies, products, and systems, as well as an overview of our technology community. You will work in an agile team with peers and experienced software engineers to grow your skills, share ideas and innovate with our global technology community. This internship will give you the opportunity to learn about our technology business and develop your career. You will work on projects that deliver real solutions for our customers clients, and businesses. Dive headfirst into creating innovative solutions that make a difference for our customers, clients, and employees. Our program is designed to make sure you’re supported and learning new skills. You are encouraged to take time to explore, shadowing other teams and networking with various people. You’ll have access to continuous training to build your technical and business skills. We’ll cover topics ranging from cybersecurity to presentation skills to further your career development. Explore life at JPMorganChase with this free & self-paced virtual experience.
Stripe Internship Program
Our internship program will provide an opportunity to work on meaningful products that will grow the GDP of the internet. Through the internship, you will work with many systems and technologies, gain experience in systems design and testing, and have opportunities to present your work to your team and the wider org. Each intern has a dedicated intern manager, and every project is part of the team’s roadmap and will directly help Stripe’s mission.
Every internship at Stripe centers around a real, legitimate project that our customers urgently need, touching many parts of our operations and stack. We will support you in shipping it. Yes, you will actually ship it. As a Stripe intern, you'll be tackling important projects to increase global commerce, while working alongside exceptional people who insist on doing their best work. You’ll learn from people with high standards who are great at inspiring others to do more and go further. We value technical and personal growth, and see our internship program as a vehicle to foster both.
Responsibilities include writing software that will be used in production, and has meaningful impact to Stripe, giving and receiving technical feedback through code reviews or design discussions, collaborating with other engineers and cross-functional stakeholders to proactively seek and incorporate feedback, and learning quickly by asking great questions, by working with your intern manager and teammates effectively, and by communicating the status of your work clearly.
Crafting Your Application and Resume
Your CV should highlight your relevant skills, projects, and experiences. Tailor your search criteria to find internships that match your interests, location preferences, and required skills. Networking is a powerful tool for finding internship opportunities.
A CS resume is pretty no frills. Mine was pretty standard and professional looking with the following sections: education, professional experience, leadership experience, personal projects, and skills. It should be easy-to-read, one page, and devoid of typos. There are a few great resources to finding internships online. The computer science club at Pitt has an incredibly helpful public database of internship links that they always keep updated. It’s a great place to just go down the list and apply to opportunities. When I was a freshman, I applied to 70+ internships and only received 2 interviews. After my first internship, the numbers started to get way better. The first internship will always be the hardest to find since you have no other experiences on your resume. Once you have a good resume, you can apply to so many tech internships with a few clicks of a button.
The Interview Process
During your interview, be prepared for various technical and behavioral questions. Clearly articulate your thought processes, methodologies, and the impact of your contributions.
Behavioral Interviews
Behavioral interviews are relatively standard everywhere and consist of questions like “describe a time you overcame a challenge” and “why do you want to work here”. I just had a google doc with bulleted answers for all of the most common behavioral questions. At a certain point, I wouldn’t have to reference it anymore. Mock interviews are extremely helpful for all types of interviews. For technical interviews, it is always important to be able to voice your thought process as you are coding. Being able to work through problems is part of the challenge, but making sure that you are on the same page as your interviewer is critical as well. If you are just doing Leetcode questions back to back without speaking, it may be difficult to get used to talking while coding if you aren’t used to it.
Coding Challenges
The coding challenge is a timed test-like challenge where you have to code up solutions to technical questions. A lot of the times, it’ll be on a platform which records you solving the question and times you. The questions are just like in a typical a coding interview but there is not another person interviewing you. Typically, if you pass a certain score threshold, companies will reject or move you forward based on where their technical bar is. There are different ways to optimize your score depending on the platform. Some force you to answer questions linearly (one at a time before moving to the next one), others allow you to skip questions and come back. For some, speed matters and for others, accuracy is more important. Feel free to read up on what that platform is looking for and if there are ways to approach the test that can help optimize the score.
Scheduling Interviews
You passed a resume screen and perhaps a coding challenge! Congrats! To schedule an interview at a company is a very exciting thing. There are a few things to consider when you schedule your interview. You may want to push back your interview date as far as you can so you have more time to prepare. This is a good tactic. However, be aware that some companies my reach headcount and run out of internship spots by the time you interview if you wait too long. Another personal tactic that I used was that I would schedule interviews with my dream companies (companies I wanted to work at the most) last. This way, the other interviews I had acted like not only interviews for those companies but also as preparation for the last interviews that I cared about the most. I really liked how this worked out for me.
Company Research
There is only so much that reading the company’s mission statement can do in terms of being able to understand what it’s like to work there, but it’s still important to do that quick Google search so you seem like you know at least the bare minimum of what that company does and stands for. Many companies have videos about their culture, internships, and work as well so definitely watch that if you have the time.
Asking Clarifying Questions
To solve the wrong question is to not solve the question they asked. Make sure that you understand what they are asking you, ask clarifying questions, and always make sure you communicate the assumptions you are making (ie. In my experience, I’ve passed interviews where I didn’t finish coding a solution to a question or just didn’t know small details (ie syntax). It’s normal to not know everything as an intern candidate. Depending on how significant the question is to what they are looking for, it may be a deal breaker. But it may be insignificant.
Asking Questions at the End of the Interview
You always want to ask questions at the end of every interview. My favorite questions to ask were “what have previous interns worked on” and “what is the coolest thing you’ve done since you’ve been here”?
Handling Rejection
It’s important to recognize that rejection is normal. As my friend always reminded me, “rejection is redirection”. This helped to motivate me to apply to five more internships every time I received a rejection. Some of the internships I ended up signing were a result of me being rejected by companies I originally thought I really wanted to be at.
Maximizing Your Internship Experience
Take advantage of your internship to learn from experienced software engineers. Networking during your internship is essential for professional growth.
Offer Negotiation
Congrats on your offer! Here are some things to consider with your offer: pay, location, role, company, etc. It’s important to think about what is best for you when it comes down to choosing an offer. If you have offers from a few different companies, it never hurts to try negotiating for more pay, a sign-on bonus, a longer internship, or other things that could help you to choose that company. Another important offer detail to negotiate is deadline. Sometimes, a company gives you a decision deadline that is earlier than you may hear back from some other companies you interviewed at. In order to consider all of your options together, you’ll want to ask for a longer deadline.
tags: #software #engineer #internship #requirements
