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How to get an Internship

(or Full-time job)

By David Valleau

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About Me

  • Worked as a Software Engineer Intern at Google Montreal in Summer 2016

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  • Will be returning to work at Google full-time in Mountain View, California

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Disclaimers

  • A lot of the information I’m sharing is targeted towards finding positions at the “prestigious” West Coast tech companies�
  • This presentation mainly focuses on the application process for internships

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Why get an Internship?

  • Build up relevant work experience�
  • Learn more about the industry�
  • Money.�
  • Opportunity to travel to different places�
  • Easier route to get a full-time position at a company than applying directly

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How to Get One

  • Apply�
  • Get an interview�
  • Do well on the interview(s)

Obviously this isn’t as simple as it sounds...

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Step 1. Apply

  • All of the big tech companies offer Summer Internships (even some during Fall/Winter)
    • Additionally, some of these companies have internship programs specifically for 1st and 2nd year students (Google EP, Microsoft Explore, Facebook University)�
  • Browse listings on job boards:
    • indeed, linkedin, angellist, glassdoor, intern.supply�
  • Apply to local companies

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Step 2. Get an Interview

  • When you apply online, chances are a recruiter will only scan your resume for 15-30 seconds so it’s important that you have a good one�
  • A good way to improve your chances is to get a referral�
  • Sometimes you can even directly message a recruiter

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General Resume Advice

  • Keep it to single page
  • Find a good resume template online (nothing too fancy)
  • Use short bullets rather than large blocks of text
  • Talk about your accomplishments, and wherever possible try to quantify them using real numbers
  • Use action verbs (designed, developed, created, etc.)
  • List your personal projects
    • We are in an industry where we have the ability to create our own work experience. Take advantage of this! Work on whatever interests you and put it on Github and on your resume!

Learn more here: https://www.careercup.com/resume

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Step 3. Do well on the Interview

  • Most Software Engineering interviews are highly technical in nature, and require you to demonstrate your coding/problem-solving abilities.�
  • Typical Interview Process
    • 1-2 Phone Screen(s) (45 mins)
    • 4-5 Onsite Interviews (45 mins each)
      • Some companies only have phone screens for internship applications

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Interview Study Resources

Some good books:

  • Cracking the Coding Interview, and Elements of Programming Interviews

Places to practice:

�

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Mock Interviews

  • Get into groups of 2 or 3 with your friends
  • Interviewee
    • Ask clarifying questions to make sure you understand the problem
    • Verbalize your thought process as you write code�
  • Interviewer
    • Help push the interviewer in the right direction if they start to get lost�
  • I will also be providing mock interviews, so feel free to ask and I’d be happy to help!