Your second year of college marks a significant turning point in your academic career. The best part is that you can make as many mistakes as you want and no one will judge you. The more mistakes you make the better you become, implying that you are experimenting with new things.
The main reason for writing this article is that during my second year, I learned about all of these opportunities one week before the deadline. As a result, I was unprepared to make the most out of them. I want the current second-year students to have a realistic idea of what is in store for them so that they can begin working on the necessary skills from now.
Let me know what mistakes you did in your 2nd year in the comments below 👇🏻
I also hosted a webinar on the subject, which is available on YouTube. With over 200 registrations and a packed house until the very end, I thought it would be useful to jot down these points so that they could be shared with a larger audience.
1. Internships
There are only a few programs which fall under this category that could get you an interview with a product-based company, but they do exist. I would advise you to give your best effort and prepare as thoroughly as possible for them so that you can gain an understanding of the off-campus hiring process and also about your own shortcomings. Treat them as if they are mock trials, and work on improving your weaknesses based on the experience. It would come handy next year
Based on Resume shortlisting (no coding tests)
Example: Google STEP Internship (restricted to the underrepresented groups in tech)
There are many experiences on the internet that can give you an overview of the entire application process; what I want to highlight here is what you should know in order to have a good chance of being shortlisted.
Proficiency with Data Structures and Algorithms: How I mastered Data Structures and Algorithms from scratch by Rachit Jain, How To Learn Data Structures And Algorithms (An Ultimate Guide For Beginners).
Well curated Resume: The Programmer's Resume by Sanket Singh
Capability to request referrals: How to Ask for Referrals Non-awkwardly?, How to Ask for a Job Referral
- Know how to give a technical interview: Technical Interviewing 101: Ultimate Guide to Acing Your Tech Interview in 2021
Coding Competitions and Hackathons
Companies hold hackathons and coding competitions from time to time, and the winners are given interview opportunities for internships.
* for students who identify themselves as female
How to ace them?
- It goes without saying that you must be quick to code. I believe that competitive programming or giving contests on a regular basis on any platform can greatly assist with this. To get a general idea, try Striver's CP Sheet.
- For aptitude and all the topic specific questions you can search on GeeksForGeeks.
- For OOPs, DBMS, OS & Networking Interviewbit has a concise guide on it that you can refer to.
- For Hackathons and everything else, you can participate in a variety of other community hackathons that are held on a regular basis to get a hold of them. Read: First Hackathon? Here Are 6 Things You Need To Know
Mentorship Programs
Most mentorship programs conclude with an interview opportunity at their organization.
- for students who identify themselves as female
2. Scholarships
Some scholarships, such as the Google Generation Scholarship for Women in Technology, allow their recipients to interview for internships.
- for students who identify themselves as female
- Good CGPA is required.
- You should be able to express yourself clearly through essays: The Art of Essay Writing
Tips:
- Stalk previous scholars on LinkedIn, connect with them and ask them to review your essays.
- Do not ask them to share their essays!
- Attend the webinars organized by scholars on this topic.
- Read carefully what the organization expects from the scholars and mould your resume and essays according to that.
3. Coding Competitions
These competitions are open to the public and anyone can take part.
4. Open Source Programs
Open source has no branch restriction nor age restriction. Check out the list of open source programs here
5. Ambassador Programs
Numerous organizations have ambassador programs in which they train people about their technology and you get to conduct various workshops and events in exchange for company swag. It is an excellent way to demonstrate initiative and leadership abilities on your resume.
6. Research
How to find a research internship?
Check out these amazing GitHub repos:
To stay updated about all these opportunities you can subscribe to my free newsletter Hack The Opportunities to get notified by email.
Also check out my open source project List-of-Opportunities on GitHub
That is it! Comment down below if you have any doubts or connect with me