How to get more internships, as a CS student
Have you ever opened a job board and looked over the requirements for any cs internship?
They ask for a lot, and that at times this can be very intimidating when you start applying for internships. Especially when applying for your first internship.
Picture this, you applied to over a hundred jobs, and finally, one responded.
They ask you to have an interview. WOOHOO.
On the day of the interview, you jump on zoom with your nice button-down shirt. The interview is going great, they ask you questions, and your answers are just right on. But, right when you think you got this in the bag, the interviewer asks you about your personal projects that you have done outside of school.
Oh snap, you think to yourself, you were so busy maintaining that pretty 4.0 GPA that you didn’t really have the time to work on any personal projects.
The interviewer is waiting patiently for your response, and you say — I haven’t really done any personal projects outside of school.
The remaining interview is going ok, but not as great as it was initially.
You never hear back.
Wanna guess why? Bingo, lack of personal projects.
You see, personal projects demonstrate to potential employers that you are passionate about the field as well as letting them know that you are a self-starter. And most importantly you don’t give up easily when things get difficult or boring.
Because the thing is, when you work on personal projects, they force you to find solutions to problems that can’t be easily simulated with a class assignment.
You think to yourself — Ok, that makes sense, but what should I build.
Here are three projects that will make you a better developer, a better job candidate, and a more curious individual.
Project Number 1
Build a social media platform similar to Facebook or Twitter that allows users to interact with one another.
This project is great because it shows that you can create something complex yet very useful.
You see, websites today have some social features in them, and if you have a project under your belt that can resonate with one of the companies features, they’ll want to have a conversation with you.
Project Number 2
Build an e-commerce platform similar to BestBuy or GameStop.
I don’t think I need to explain why this project is a catch to have on a resume, but here is a quick run-through.
E-commerce platforms are very complex since they deal with many different things. Also, most websites you visit today will try to sell you something so having a project that processes payments is critical for catching the eye of potential employers.
Project Number 3
This one is my favorite. Build a bug tracker!
The thing with a bug tracker is that in a sense it’s a glorified to-do list with a fancy name attached to it. I am sure most of you have built a to-do list at some point.
Build another one, just with a few extra features such as assigning bugs/tasks to co-workers, and call it a bug tracker!
This one will make employers go bunkers because every tech company relies on a bug tracker in one way or another, and you building one just shows off how tech savvy you are.
