Internship or Summer classes?

Hi all,
I am an incoming freshman this fall for EECS. I would like to apply for summer internships and jobs (paid or unpaid) Would it be too early to do so for the summer of 2019? what is the process? will the career services office help us find internships as a freshman or are they more focused on helping out Juniors? Could someone who has had successful internships please share your experience finding a good position? what worked and didn’t?

Is it better to take classes during the summer than trying to find a meaningful internships?

How easy or hard is it to get internships at Google, Amazon, Apple, FB, Twitter, Space-x etc as a junior without work experience as a freshman and a sophomore?

We hear of so many people from UCB working at these “dream companies” what is the formula for success? is it grades? work experiences or Both?

Any help is appreciated

@ucbalumnus, reaching out to you to see if have any input
@ProfessorPlum168 have you looked in to this at all?
anybody?

Keep this thread handy. I’ll probably find out more in the coming months. Don’t know anything now, but my kid or perhaps me will be reaching out to people at some of those places you mentioned soon.

It’s complicated.

Of course it won’t be easy as a junior to get an internship at Google, Amazon, Apple, FB, etc. without work experience as freshman or sophomore. But it’s hard to get work experience in the first place as freshman or sophomore.

You can schedule a mock interview at the career service office which helps a lot, but there won’t be any direct help in application whether you’re a junior or other.

Joining a research or a club that’s relevant for you is probably the best way to spend the freshman summer while taking a class or two. If you are interested in joining the automotive industry, then joining one of the vehicle teams gives you an undeniable advantage for a chance for a interview later.

So it comes down to getting an interview offer, and standing out from the interviews with relevant experience to share and expressing your enthusiasm for the position.

But in the end, most of us end up with a job even if these internship plans don’t quite work out - the least thing one can do is constantly assess if these “dream companies” happen to be your dream company too. I see too many of my peers who are realizing late that they made a mistake with their career and got a tough choice to make whether to start completely over in a new field or stick with what you don’t quite love. In addition to the mock interviews, ask a bit about what industries are out there at the career center.

Thank you @UpMagic. Well look into research for the summer.