<p>Let me first start off by saying I am a freshman at Villanova. My major is Computer Engineering and I have decided that I will stick to that.</p>
<p>Lately, I have been looking at internship opportunities on the career services page, and I have seen many opportunities available from BIG companies like Google and Verizon.</p>
<p>While it's very enticing, I know I shouldn't even bother applying because I have no experience in the Computer science/engineering field. What makes it worse is that I have no experience with programming (I will be taking C++ sophomore year). This year I am taking a lot of general courses. It seems like sophomore year I will be taking courses related to my major.</p>
<p>Considering everything I just mentioned above, how could I get an internship during the summer after my freshman year? I really want one, but I just don't have anything to offer.</p>
<p>It’s a common misconception that you have to wait until you take a class to learn a programming language. You can always just go ahead and start right away. Learn the basics and find some project to work on (this isn’t very hard).
That being said, freshman summer internships are rare. You might be better off working on a useful project of some sort and focusing on a summer internship in your sophomore summer.</p>
<p>I agree with Neo. It’s not that its impossible but it can be very difficult for a freshman. Try to get involved with some projects at your university or even research, building up your resume. Also, if Nova has a career fair in the spring stop by and try to strike up a conversation with the recruiters. I know some folks at my school who landed summer internships after freshman year through simply going to the career fair and chatting with the companies that weren’t as well known.</p>
<p>Yeah; without programming experience, you probably won’t get an internship with a larger, more well-known company, but many smaller companies are just looking for a warm body. Barring that, do research. Just make sure to do something, though. Any sort of experience is much better than nothing.</p>
<p>If you can’t find any at a career fair at your school perhaps look at neighboring schools (Temple, Saint Joes, Drexel, UPenn etc.) These are all pretty large universities that may have heavy recruiting, although i’m not sure if they let non-students into their career fairs. You can also go to job sites and look for internship positions. I would say your best resource is your university career dept. I’m not sure where in Jersey you’re from but if you’re from South Jersey and you’re looking for Internships in that area or Philadelphia, as a CS major from Philly I will say the job outlook there is pretty bleak in my experience.</p>
<p>Since I am most likely not getting an internship with a big company like Google, would you recommend that I try finding an internship with a small company near my house?</p>
<p>Definitely, if you find one. The thing I noticed about the smaller companies is that they don’t offer quite as many perks, specifically relocation assistance. So, that may limit you in terms of location. But you don’t necessarily have to shy away from larger companies, its just that the more well known companies are going to be more competitive but you could go with a lesser known large company or look at companies that are not known for software/hardware. Examples: Local energy company, phone company, communications companies etc. Its definitely possible but you may have to look outside of the box.</p>
<p>Try looking at what’s available on this website - research experience for undergraduates:
[US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm]US”>Search for an REU Site | NSF - National Science Foundation)
There are some internships listed on there as well as research opportunities. It might make sense to secure a research experience for this summer to make yourself more marketable for an internship next summer.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that you are restricted to only the opportunities available at your school (which is none). Since you said you are from Central Jersey, you might want to look into the opportunities at Rutgers since they might be at a commuting distance from home or even the ones at Temple and UPenn (since they are relatively close to Villanova) if you have a place to stay in the Philly region through the summer.</p>
<p>Honestly not sure if there is a specific protocol you have to follow, but the career services department at your school should be able to advise you. While you are there, have them look over your resume. If you have an “activities” resume from high school (that you used for college apps), you will need to do some major revisions to make it more professional. </p>
<p>I believe some research opportunities have specific applications you need to fill out and submit whereas others may just want to see your resume before deciding whether or not to bring you in for an interview.</p>