Why would fall career fairs have more recruiters if most internships happen in the summer? Also are winter internships offered during fall career fairs for sophomores in cs?
A lot of hiring has been pushed earlier. For internships (in CS and stem), many places have their summer interns picked/in interview processing by February, so a fall career fair is where you would find most of these opportunities. This is especially true with government and government contractor companies where you need a security clearance; many of these have application deadlines in October for summer because of the time needed for processing. A winter internship would be an unlikely find at a fall career fair because that’s too fast of a turn around for many places. You might have luck with startups, but startups are unlikely to be at a career fair.
Where do I find those start-ups?
Some may recruit at career fairs, but places like linkedin and other career sites are good sources. Your career center on campus may be able to also hook up with alumni from your school that work at start-ups.
It is extremely difficult to find winter internships (externships) due to the short duration. It makes very little sense for companies to train someone who will be there for a month or less. Typically at DD’s school Fall career fair will have large well known companies, then there’s another career fair after the winter break with midsize companies and mostly startups will recruit who is left during spring career fair.
As a sophomore in cs at UMD, what are my chances with a large well known company? Should I just focus on small companies?
@DDOuser Put yourself out there for all company sizes. You never know your chances, and companies usually see return applicants as a positive, so there’s not really any harm done. Your chances shouldn’t be terrible, but usually those hired as sophomores by big companies have additional experience already on their resume.