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I hope all of you are staying well and safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. The impact of the outbreak is being felt throughout the world and some companies are unfortunately no longer able to bring on interns for the summer. For those of you who fall into this boat or for those who were unable to secure an internship for the summer, you can still make an effective use of this time!
We’re now going to cue the segment “No Internship? No Problem!” where I will be going over five different things you can do over the summer for those of you who won’t have a summer internship (this advice may also pertain to those of you with internships if you are looking to supplement your summer work). If this post is helpful, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel or following me on medium for more content like this!
Disclaimer: This post is primarily targeted at people going for roles in tech that involve a coding component (e.g. Software Engineers), but you may still find some value from it even if you aren’t going for a coding role. Many of the concepts are common ideas for things to do over the summer. Additionally, if you’re curious what modifications companies might be making to their internship programs, I found this unofficial GitHub repository is crowdsourcing that information.
1. Work on a Project
Projects are a good way to build experience and demonstrate passion for the field. Even at an internship, you would still be working on a project. While a personal project may not be at the same scale, it can teach you valuable lessons that will help you for future jobs and internships.
Being able to execute on an idea from start to finish is a skill companies look for, so having plenty of project experience is very useful. If you’re working on a coding project, I would recommend you put it up on GitHub so you can easily share it on your resume and as a reference link when applicable.
2. Learn Something New
Technology is continuously evolving; in this space, it is vital to not only be confident in your fundamentals, but continue to cultivate new skills. There are plenty of online classes and tutorials that can help you with this.
I’ve noticed that some universities have also made some online classes available for free, so check those out! This learning can also be part of your summer project which allows you to learn something new and have something to demonstrate your understanding of it.
3. Participate in Coding Events
Hackathons, coding competitions, and more! There are plenty of events out there for you to show your passion for coding. Many of these take place virtually, so they can still take place amid the coronavirus pandemic we are currently facing. Here’s one place where you can find out about some upcoming online hackathons.
Hackathons are great because similar to working on a project, they give you an opportunity to build something by the end. They force you to come up with an idea and execute on it. As for coding competitions, they are a way for you to keep your skills sharp and can be done online as well.
4. Brush up on Interview Skills & Clean up Resume
Whether you have an internship or not, you should be spending the summer improving on your interview skills and working on your resume. The next interview season is not very far away. You want to make sure you are prepared for it to be able to land the next job or internship.
As for your resume, take the time to clean it up, add new content based on what you did over the summer, and show it to as many people as you can for their feedback. If you are looking for tips on how to prepare for interviews, career fairs, and some resources to help you do it, I recommend you check out my other stories on Medium or YouTube videos where I’ve gone over these topics in depth! With these tips, you will hopefully be interview ready and have a solid resume for the next interview season!
5. Look Into Other Opportunities
Remember that you still have the opportunity to do things outside of an internship. One option is to take up a job tutoring others on computer science fundamentals (or anything related to your career path). This will give you experience with computer science concepts and teaching is one of the best ways to strengthen your understanding of a topic.
You could also volunteer at workshops for K-12 students and pass on your knowledge to other students. Finally, you could always pick up a job that is unrelated to your field of study. You will still learn skills that will carry over to your desired role and be able to make some money while doing it. Employers love to see past experience and this will help you achieve that.
I hope you found this story informative! Please share it with a friend you think might benefit from it as well! If you liked the post/video, feel free to leave a clap/like and follow/subscribe to my Medium and YouTube account for more content like this. Also, follow me on Twitter for updates on when I am posting new content. If you have any other suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments so readers can get the most out of this story!
Previously published at https://levelup.gitconnected.com/what-to-do-if-you-dont-have-a-summer-internship-a9cdcf1b9855