Internship Workshop Recap
On the 30th of October, Cupertino Robotics hosted an internship workshop with many speakers with internship experience from NASA, UCSB, UCSC, Stanford and many more. The speakers shared their past internship experiences, offering valuable insight into the application process and shedding light on some of the challenges in finding an internship and how they overcame them.
The speakers began by addressing the many processes of attaining an internship. The speakers had used a variety of methods to contact their employers or mentors. For example, the speakers who had interned at Stanford University had cold-called by emailing their professors directly. Jane Lee, one of the speakers, suggested that students get a head start into the process at around the month of January so that professors know what kind of research projects they are interested in undertaking, and they have a higher chance of being selected before the majority of college students begin to apply. In the email itself, Jane had emphasized her interests in Computer Science and policies, connecting it to her extracurricular activities in Cupertino Robotics and Speech and Debate, eventually landing a research position in the Stanford Computational Policy Lab. The overall takeaway for cold-calling professors is that you should outline your interests and how they would allow you to contribute to their projects and gain valuable experience from it.
After sending tens of emails, you might find that very few to no professors have replied. In that case, there are other resources online to connect companies with internship seekers, such as the one Janvi Shah had used. Janvi had uploaded her resume onto one such website and was contacted by a startup with an offer. Speaking of resumes, all the speakers suggest that students get a headstart into compiling a resume, which would also be of use when applying to colleges during senior year.
If you are interested in applying for a summer program instead of the traditional research or internships, speakers suggested that you research programs offered by various universities. The application process for each program may vary slightly, but most include essays, statements about your interest in specific research projects, transcripts, standardized testing scores and recommendation letters, similar to the traditional college application process. Summer internship programs offer more leeway in the topics that you pursue during the program itself. For example, speaker Venugopal Chillal was able to delve into neuroscience with little to no experience, using solely his background in Computer Science, showing how such opportunities can not only allow you to apply your current area of expertise but also gain exposure and learn about various seemingly unrelated tracks that you may be able to pursue.
If you were unable to attend the workshop itself, the overall takeaways are that to get an internship, you should do your research and find out whether you are interested in research or summer programs at colleges, or traditional internships at companies, and determine your process of applying. Start early, and compile the materials necessary, whether that is a resume, essay(s), or recommendation letters. When applying, keep in mind your interests and don’t be afraid of being inexperienced in that topic, because if you demonstrate an authentic passion to learn, you will be able to partake in a rewarding experience, and benefit the program while learning something new yourself.
Photo Courtesy by Shivani Sahni