Ask HN: What should I focus on to get my first internship this summer?

3 points by Sekhmet 9 years ago | 8 comments

Hi, I'm Wiktor, I'm 20 years old and I'm from Poland.

Soon I'll have school leaving exams and then 4 months of summer break. I'd like to get the most out of it so I plan to get the internship as a developer. In my area, there are no companies looking for interns, so I think I'll have to work remotely or abroad.

I've been programming for around 8 years now and got some experience (personal projects, open source, and occasional freelance) in C++, C#, Java (on Android), PHP, RoR, Python, and Golang. I also know how to work with Git. I'm not a specialist in one specific language, but I'm acquainted with many of them and I learn quickly.

Recently I created my resume and refreshed my projects on GitHub (added screenshots, so interested people can see it right away). I will link to my resume and GitHub page below.

What do you think I should do now? Should I focus on one technology/language and try to get the internship in it or try with everything I'm familiar with. I don't have one favorite language (it often changes) so I don't see a problem with it. Should I change something in my resume or on my GitHub? Should I learn something new before applying? Just looking for tips to be prepared for it.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks for the help.

Resume: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88843294/resume.pdf GitHub: https://github.com/Sekhmet

tips-from-cosby 9 years ago |

Go outside and enjoy your youth. You'll have time to program once you're in a 9-5, but you won't be able to play a pickup basketball game with your friends. When you wake up on your 40th birthday, you're not going to wish you had spent more time programming computers 20 years ago.

Sekhmet 9 years ago | |

I really enjoy programming, so I don't think I will regret getting some experience. I got injured during workout recently as well and I'm not able to do physical work, play most games or workout, so just not to waste time I'd love to get the internship.

hluska 9 years ago | | |

Sorry to hear about your injury, bud!! I'm curious though, is there any chance sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day could hurt your recovery? If so, honestly, it's way better to waste time for a summer than risk developing a chronic injury.

bundze 9 years ago |

You could also try searching for jobs in some bigger Polish cities with a large IT job market. If you plan to move somewhere for college, you could try working there throughout the summer to get to know the city before the academic year.

Good luck with the search! (And with your finals in May!)

Sekhmet 9 years ago |

Just to make links clickable:

Resume: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/88843294/resume.pdf

GitHub: https://github.com/Sekhmet

hluska 9 years ago |

Have you considered Google Summer of Code?? They start accepting student applications on March 20th.

https://developers.google.com/open-source/gsoc/

Sekhmet 9 years ago | |

Thanks for this link.

I'm afraid I won't be able to attend GSOC this year. It requires you to be college student prior to 7th May. I finish secondary school this year, so I will officially become college student mid-July.