Context#

So, you don’t have an internship or job lined up. Or maybe you’re taking a light courseload and want to upgrade your resume in the meantime. Or maybe you’re just looking for something more fun than your regular 9-5.

Here are some options for you.

🌐 Contribute to open source#

The best thing you can do for your resume as a student is probably contributing to open source projects. This shows recruiters and hiring managers that you can work on a team of experienced developers, write quality code that will be used worldwide, and understand the software development lifecycle.

However, open source can be very daunting for first-timers, so there are several programs that help ease you in and offer structured guidance. Below are some excellent programs that pay good stipends and provide a structured learning environment.

• Google Summer of Code involves projects from 200+ organizations such as TensorFlow, Apache, etc.
• MLH Fellowship has you working on projects from Meta, Google, Amazon, and more
• Outreachy aims to support underrepresented groups (93% of participants are women)
• Julia Summer of Code involves projects in the Julia programming language
• Linux Kernel Mentorship Program involves projects in the Linux kernel
• …and more!

Two things you must do if you want to drastically improve your chances at getting into these programs:

1. Read the application guide for the program and follow it extremely carefully.
2. Reach out to the assigned mentors/maintainers before applying so you can build rapport.

You can work on projects like TensorFlow, Apache, and more through Google Summer of Code

Build a project#

⛑️ You can join a project-based program or club, like:

• AI4Good Lab is a 7-week AI/ML program for women+ individuals.
• Develop for Good has you working on a group project for a non-profit.
• Blueprint has a chapter at many universities, or you can start your own!

👾 Or, you can attend a hackathon, like:

• Hack the North is one of the largest hackathons in North America
• nwHacks is the largest hackathon in Western Canada
• TechNova is UWaterloo’s hackathon for women+
• … and more ↗!

🐙 Or, you can go it solo !

See Side Projects 101 ↗ for a step-by-step and some straightforward tips on how to make an impressive, polished side project. And who knows, you could even monetize it!

💼 Prep for interviews#

• Google STEP is a developmental internship program that focuses on mentorship
• Uber Career Prep is an unpaid, 6-month fellowship for undergrads
• CodePath TIP is a free 10-week Data Structures and Algorithms (aka LeetCode) virtual course
• …and more!

These might offer a slight advantage when applying for jobs at the company that hosted you, but the main appeal is to have a structured learning experience that focuses on technical and behavioural interview skills.

🏢 CodePath Emerging Engineers Summit
CodePath hosts a yearly virtual summit for anyone who has completed or is currently taking a CodePath course. This event had a reputation for yielding a lot of big tech offers, as students were matched with companies ahead of the event and would receive interviews during the summit. I couldn’t find any recent statistics on offer rates, but it might be worth looking into.

CodePath has really good industry connections and a popular career fair for their alumni

🪙 Fund your business#

• Thiel Fellowship offers $100,000 to drop out of school and work on your startup
• Kleiner Perkins Fellowship places you in one of their portfolio companies for a summer internship
• Contrary Fellowship offers a research fellowship as well as a venture partner program
• Neo Scholars offers mentorship and resources to build your own startup, as well as fast-tracked interviews with their portfolio companies
• YC Startup School is a free online class that teaches you how to launch your own startup

👑 Practice leadership#

Some companies like to see that you’re involved in your community and that you can show initiative. Some opportunities to build and demonstrate leadership skills include:

• CodePath Tech Fellowship is a paid part-time position where you act as a campus ambassador for CodePath courses
• Canada Learning Code has a lot of volunteer opportunities for teaching coding to various demographics
• Joining a hackathon organizing committee to show that you can lead a team, manage a project, and work under pressure. Find local hackathons on the MLH website.
• Joining or starting a school club such as a Blueprint chapter, WiCS, or the Computer Science club.

Get research experience#

🎓 You can get support or funding to do academic research through programs like:

• NSERC USRA is a paid Canadian academic research internship for undergrads working under a professor
• Mitacs offer several national and international funded research opportunities
• Borealis AI Let’s Solve It pairs you with a Borealis AI ML Researcher to build a group project for social good
• Google CSRMP places you in a pod paired with a Google researcher who can help you navigate things like how to apply for grad school, how to write a paper, etc.

🏀 Or, you can shoot your shot at an AI/ML residency program:

• Cohere Research Scholars is a 6-month research internship for people who have little to no experience in ML research
• OpenAI Residency is a similar 6-month program
• Meta AI Residency is 1-year long - seems defunct as of August 2024 but keep an eye out for future announcements
• Apple AIML Residency is also 1-year long
• Microsoft Cambridge Residency Program is run out of the UK in collaboration with the University of Cambridge

Cohere Research Scholars is a relatively new, paid program that aims to support emerging AI talent

The end#

Hopefully something piqued your interest in this list.

🧀 Gouda luck :-)