How to get a tech internship

Field-tested job-hunting tips for computer science students.

Also check out my post on getting started with computer science for college students.

Google headquarters

I probably don’t need to convince you that working at tech companies is really attractive. You can work with startups on meteoric rises and world-famous tech giants, all while surrounded by ping-pong tables and unlimited snacks. You can build apps that your friends use and products that make the world a better place.

There’s just one problem: how do you get a tech internship in the first place?

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CS50: What Next?

Anmärkning: this post is aimed mostly at Harvard students.

CS50 logo

So you took Harvard’s introductory computer science class, CS50. (Maybe you were a regular at my section or met me at office hours.) You learned a lot, you enjoyed it, and you want to continue exploring computer science. Maybe you want to concentrate in CS, get a minor, get an internship at a tech company, or better understand how computers are going to take over the world.

But CS is a huge field, and with just one course under your belt, it’s difficult to really break into it.

So what next?

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Min Khan Academy Praktik, Sommar '15

Den här sommaren, Jag lämnade den vänliga gränserna för Cambridge och reste ut väst till slår det rika praktikant som en programvara ingenjör på Khan Academy. Och som inte är riktigt gör det rättvisa: det var en helt omvandlande upplevelse.

Salman Khan of Khan Academy
Med awesome Sal Khan, grundaren av Khan Academy

Enorma projekt

Jag växte en ton som en programvara ingenjör genom att arbeta med min mentor på sådana coola projekt som:
– Skapa SEO'd landningssidor för våra filmer
– Att bygga en funktion för att skicka användarnas e-postmeddelanden när deras frågor om våra filmer blir besvarade, ett nära samarbete med en designer
– Spåra och rätta fel i vår nya videospelare

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Publish, som, och hitta: bygga ett öppet och curated ekosystemet

De flesta ekosystem som app butiker är antingen öppen eller curerad. Men varför kan vi inte ha både? Tja, vi kan — allt du behöver är tre verb: publicera, hitta, och som. Det gäller teknik och allt annat.

Vanligtvis finns det två alternativ när du vill publicera en app: publicera den på något liknande iOS App Store (där människor kommer att hitta din app, men Apple recensenter kan förneka din ansökan) eller bara lägga den på din webbplats (där det är lätt att publicera, men det finns ingen garanti någon kommer att se det.) Not the greatest set of options.

Isn’t there a way to combine the strengths of both of these to make for the best possible experience for both publishers and consumers? I think there is. It’s called an open and curated ecosystem. Let’s take a look at:

  • What open och curated ecosystems are
  • Examples of open and curated ecosystems
  • What you need to make an open and curated ecosystem
  • Examples of these ecosystems beyond just technology

and see if we can discover something about the power of crowdsourcing, innovation, and the three verbs publicera, hitta, och som.

Curated vs. open ecosystems

The iOS App Store and open internet, among others, are app ecosystems — places where apps can be published and found. And I think the big factors that differentiate one ecosystem from another are whether the ecosystem is open, where anyone can publish apps and whether it is curated, where the best apps rise to the top and users are assured quality apps. That’s the major difference between the iOS store and the internet at large, which I mentioned earlier.

Let’s look at examples of curated and open ecosystems and what differentiates them.

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5 ovärderliga gratis nyttoprogram för college

För några år sedan skrev jag om användbara appar för gymnasiet — men nu college är här, och det ger en helt ny uppsättning av krav. Eftersom Jag kom på Harvard, Jag har haft att göra mer, och mina appar har varit tvungna att göra mer för.

Dessa nya appar behöver köras på alla plattformar (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS), synkronisera sömlöst mellan dem, och hjälp mig hålla min uppgifter organiseras. De måste vara mångsidig, robusta, och LÄTTANVÄND. Och de måste vara fri.

With that in mind, here are the five apps that I’ve relied on most at Harvard and that I recommend to anyone in college or anywhere else in life. They’re ranked in order of usefulness.

Evernote, Wunderlist, Mailbox, Sunrise, Pocket
5 fri, essential apps for college: Evernote, Wunderlist, Mailbox, Sunrise, and Pocket.
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Personligt uttryck på internet: en hybrid strategi?

The internet should help you express yourself easily and ensure you have control over the content and quality of your writings. But is that possible?

The internet has always been called the great platform for self-expression. The claim goes that you no longer need to be talented and lucky enough to get your work into a book or newspaper or magazine; anyone can publish anything to the internet, and if it’s good enough, it can get found.

It’s definitely true that the cost of self-expression has gone down with the internet, so people are much more likely and able to use it to publish their ideas. (The idea of economic cost, or amount of effort it takes to do something, is a very powerful one, förresten. When it gets easier to do something, that thing explodes in popularity. It’s pretty self-evident, but it’s a powerful way of looking at things like the rise of self-expression with the internet.)

Det finns two main ways of publishing content online:

  • Publishing independently (making your own platform)
  • Using someone else’s platform (hosted publishing)

Both of these fall short of the goal of allowing for easy self-publishing. Jag tror, though, att there’s room for a hybrid that would bring the best of both.

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På “social” medier, svaga band, och Snapchat berättelser

How social media is designed to help you build relationships with acquaintances, and why Snapchat (ja, that Snapchat) is the most effective social media platform

It was late enough that I’d stopped thinking for the night, so I proudly proclaimed to my nearby friends that I was getting a Snapchat account. It had always struck me as a bit vapid and narcissistic – you’re swapping carefully-chosen selfies with others to try and win favor – but I figured I’d give it a go.

But I quickly learned that Snapchat, like any other social media platform, gives rise to a number of use cases that the creators probably never intended. (Till exempel, Twitter probably never foresaw that it would contribute to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.) What I saw was this: Snapchat and other social media platforms are surprisingly effective ways to grow and maintain your network of weak ties (acquaintances) by reducing the costs of communication and increasing the number of “hooks,” or chances to strike up conversation, you have. All social media can do this, but Snapchat, by its very nature, is the king of this.

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