Some options for summer work in CS

Author: Samuel A. Rebelsky
Version: 2023-10-12

This document summarizes selected summer opportunities for students interested in doing projects related to computer science and computing. I do not intend for it to be comprehensive; it is not. Rather, I intend it so serve as a starting point to help you think about opportunities. In addition, although I strive for accuracy, I do not guarantee that any information in this document is accurate.

This document may be found on the Web at http://rebelsky.cs.grinnell.edu/cs-summer.html. There is a small, but non-zero, chance that it will eventually migrate to the CS department's home page.

Here are a few places to look for opportunities. Many won't show the opportunities until early spring.

• The Science Division's summer opportunities site at: https://grinco.sharepoint.com/sites/Science_Division/SitePages/Research.aspx.
• Conquer seems to have some opportunities: http://conquer.cra.org/.
• CRA Distribured Research Experiences for Undergraduates (Women only): https://cra.org/cra-wp/dreu/.
• Grinnell Handshake, at https://grinnell.joinhandshake.com/login.
• Philip Kiely's Writing for Software Developers, available at https://philipkiely.gumroad.com/l/uZPZU has some good tips. If you contact Philip at his Grinnell address, he'll likely send you a free copy (at least if you're a Grinnell student).
• We send many opportunities to the csstudents email list. If you're not on it, you should be. (Send me email!)

I would also recommend that you talk to the Center for Careers, Life, and Service. You should also explore their online information about internships. I recommend that even if you don't get an internship (or don't get an internship through CLS), you take advantage of the tools they provide for reflecting on internships, since they can help you reflect on any summer opportunity.

You may also find it useful to fill out our simple form for analyzing summer opportunities](cs-summer-analysis.pdf), available at http://rebelsky.cs.grinnell.edu/cs-summer-analysis.pdf.

Some preliminaries

I hear from alums who have gone to industry and academe and from potential employers that it is increasingly difficult to get good CS-related jobs after you graduate without significant extracurricular experiences. Summer provides one such opportunity, but you should also consider working on an open-source project or other significant project, such as what the former AppDev team did. I hear from some alums that it's important to have at least one off-campus experience.

Getting a good opportunity requires work. You'll need to spend time identifying potential opportunities (talking to people, calling, emailing, searching on Google, etc.). You'll need to spend time developing a strong application. You'll need to spend some time networking.

Warning! Deadlines for many programs are typically in early February, if not before. An increasing number of internships now fill by mid-fall, if not before. But you're okay, lots still have deadlines in February. You should plan to apply to research programs and start building your application portfolio during Fall break and Winter break.

Warning! While many deadlines are in early February, some places don't post opportunities until early January. You will need to check sites a few times and may have to follow up with electronic mail.

Note! You don't have to do something CS related every summer; it's fine if one or two summers are for exploring other interests or being home to be with friends/family.

International students: Some choices for summer work have visa implications. You should talk to Karen Edwards asap about your plans so that she can help you navigate the paperwork and meet deadlines.

Set your goals

As you investigate summer opportunities, you should consider your goals (both short term and long term). In particular, you should consider what you hope to get from the summer. Do you want to learn more about the discipline? Do you want to exercise your skills? Do you want to investigate a possible career? Do you just want to make money? Do you want to escape from Grinnell? Do you want to experience how Grinnell is different in the summer? Do you want to program or do you want to explore a different side of computing? Do you want to build up your resume to get a particular opportunity the following summer?

To help you meet your goals, I've tried to note some particular advantages and disadvantages of each kind of program.

Use your breaks well

Many of the best opportunities have deadlines very early in spring semester. You should try to get your applications done, or at least started, over winter break. You might also use fall and winter breaks to help make yourself a more attractive candidate.

• Identify your goals for your summer.
• Identify possible locations and deadlines. At times, this may involve emailing people who have offered opportunities in the past or who might recommend opportunities.
• Figure out what makes you stand out from other people who may be applying. What are your strengths and skills? (You may have to ask a friend to tell you.) What strengths and skills can you further develop (either before you apply or in the summer activity)? Alums tell me that you also have to remember that you aren't competing against other Grinnellians, so you should make sure to think about the strengths you and other Grinnellians have that much of the world does not (e.g., you are likely to be a better communicator than most people).
• Draft a common application letter. Two questions to address in most letters are why you are interested in the position and what you'll bring to the position. You will certainly need to customize both halves for each position, but having a starting point is really useful.
• Maybe: Do some things to build your résumé, your skillset, or your network. For example,
  • Work on an open-source project
  • Learn a new programming language.
  • Write a piece of software for something you're passionate about.
  • Start a tech 'blog.
  • Extend a project you've worked on in class.
  • Play on HackerRank.
• Network! Contact alums and friends to get suggestions. Most alums would be happy to comment on your application materials or to give you tips. (However, you should not ask alums directly for jobs.) Talk to CLS about informational interviews (or search on the CLS site for information).
  • https://alumni.grinnell.edu
  • https://grinnellplans.com (Grinnell's pre-Facebook social network)
  • https://grinnellconnect.com (I think this is going away)
  • https://linkedin.com

Additional notes

• Use the CLS! These folks specialize in helping students think about opportunities and prepare themselves for those opportunities. Our STEM learning community is a good place to start.
• Consider multi-year planning. Many students who get the best internships often start with a less-competitive internship the previous summer and leverage successes in that internship.
• Know your strengths. You can't convince someone else that you're worth hiring unless you know why you're worth hiring. So figure out what makes you special. (Note that friends are a good resource for helping you figure out what makes you special.)
• Use alumni resources. Many of our alums are happy to help students think about internships and other opportunities. While you can't necessarily ask them to hire you for internships, you'll find that many can help you think about what you might want to do or how to develop the background that will allow you to achieve your goals. Alums can also suggest ways in which Grinnellians are generically special (as strange as that may sound).
• Demonstrate your passion for CS. Almost every alum I've heard from has talked about the importance of a passion for CS, which is often demonstrated through side projects and a knowledge of interesting things that are happening. Take the time to work on a side project and to learn about some technologies (e.g., by attending CS table). Work in public (e.g., through a GitHub account).

On networking

You may have noted that I emphasized networking in the prior sections. I regularly hear from alums that it's increasingly hard to get internships and other opportunities if you just submit through the normal portal; you do much better if you work through connections. Why? Because most companies get so many applications through the normal portal that they cannot readily process them all, so they make broad cuts. A connection helps ensure that your application gets considered.

For many of you, it will likely feel weird to take advantage of your network or even to try to form a network. In part, it's that networks are inequitable. In part, it's that it feels like you are taking advantage of someone else. We can't do much about the inequity except to look for ways to ensure that everyone can form networks. As I talk to Grinnell alums, most are happy to help current Grinnellians as best they can. It feels good to do so. At some companies, identifing good candidates even geets you a bonus.

The best networks also form naturally. You find people interested in similar things. You cooperate. Once you have connections, you are likely to want to help each other.

You can also network through "cold email". The legendary Philip Kiely has something on that, too. Check out his Cold Email for Interesting People_, available at https://philipkiely.com/cefip/. Philip will likely share a copy if you ask him nicely.

Some beliefs that seem to drive companies

The best candidates are those who love programming so much that they do it for fun. Because of this belief, companies look for people who do "personal projects", coding for the sake of coding/learning, or who contribute to open-source projects. The belief ignores the ways in which privilege (in particular, the privilege of free time) affects what people can do. But it also confuses passion with skill.

The best candidates are those who love programming so much they learn new things on their own. Again, this ignores issues of privilege. I sometimes see this assessed in interviews by "do you understand this minor point about a language you use?"

The best candidates are those who are good at problems in algorithms and data structures. I'll admit that I love algorithms and data structures. But the ability to solve algorithm and data structures problems "on the fly" seems to be more a reflection on how much time you spend studying those problems than on your actual skill and knowledge.

All of these beliefs assume that you have lots of free time to do these things. As Grinnell students, you generally don't have free time during the semester. That means you should try turn your regular work (e.g., your homework) into things that match these expectations or spend some of your breaks on these things (assuming you have any time on your breaks).

On-campus opportunities

Research with Grinnell CS faculty

Advantages

• Convenient/familiar
• For students entering their third or fourth year, can serve as a mentored advanced project (MAP)
• For students entering their second year, can serve as a mentored introductory project (299/MIP)
• Reasonable compensation ($4000 or so, but you may be taxed on it)
• Interesting projects
• 4 credits
• Potential for continuing work (sometimes with compensation)
• Often collaborative
• Stay in Grinnell
• May not count against international students' CPT/OPT.

Disadvantages

• Limited availability
• High expectations: The College wants publishable work (for MAPs)
• Continuing work (often w/o compensation)
• May require travel in the fall or the spring

Potential contacts: CS Faculty. Keep your eyes out for announcements in the spring.

Research with Grinnell Mathematics and Statistics faculty

Advantages

• Convenient/familiar
• Can serve as a mentored advanced project (MAP)
• Reasonable compensation ($4000 or so, but you may be taxed on it)
• Interesting projects
• 4 credits
• Potential for continuing work
• Stay in Grinnell

Disadvantages

• Limited availability
• High expectations
• Not always relevant to CS

Contact: Stay tuned for announcements in the spring.

Work or research with other Grinnell faculty

Increasingly, disciplines outside of computer science make such use of computing and algorithmic approaches that it behooves faculty to hire research assistants who are competent programmers. There have been some interesting projects in digital humanities that might involve a computer science student who also has strong interest in the humanities, and some projects related to the Data Analysis and Social Inquiry Lab (DASIL) might be able to involve students. In some years, there is funding through the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA) for students to contribute to projects relating to technology in education.

Advantages

• Convenient/familiar
• Can serve as a mentored advanced project (MAP)
• Reasonable compensation ($4000 or so, but you may be taxed on it)
• Interesting projects
• Learn about new and different applications of CS
• 4 credits
• Potential for continuing work
• Stay in Grinnell

Disadvantages

• Limited availability
• High expectations
• You will probably need to seek these out; you may even have to be the primary author of the original proposal

Contact: Ask around.

Information Technology Services

ITS typically hires a few students to work on a variety of projects over the summer, including help desk. We don't know how many students they plan to hire this summer.

Advantages

• Somewhat low-key
• Stay on campus
• A different approach to technology
• Help people with technology

Disadvantages

• Likely to be normal student wages
• Typically limited to students already working for ITS

Contact: ITS

Communications

In some summers, Communications has hired students to work on the Web site.

Advantages

• Somewhat low-key
• Stay on campus
• Make a positive difference to your campus
• A different kind of computing

Disadvantages

• Not likely to require or use deep technical knowledge

Contact:

Unknown.

Other campus jobs

There are, of course, a variety of other jobs available on campus students who are really interested in staying at Grinnell. Some of these jobs may have a computing component. You will need to spend some effort finding these jobs and convincing appropriate folks to hire you. I have been told that the library, admissions, and the security department often have the most opportunities.

If you do stay on campus, you may also want to try to volunteer in one of the faculty research groups, or to gather a group of students to work on a side project, or ....

Off-campus opportunities

Research experiences for undergraduates (REUs)

The National Science Foundation sponsors a number of REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) projects nationwide. The NSF site can provide you with some pointers, including some that are nearby. The CS faculty know folks at DePauw, Harvey Mudd, and Hope, among others. Students have also had good luck with Iowa State and Washington University, St. Louis.

Advantages

• Looks great on resume/CV
• Work with other computer scientists
• Often pays better than Grinnell
• Escape from Grinnell
• Helps you think about graduate school

Disadvantages

• Often limited to U.S. Citizens
• Highly competitive (but Grinnell students have done well)
• Applications due in early January
• Notifications can be late
• Some students have had mixed experiences

Contact: Individual institutions. See the list at NSF, http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm, for more details.

Corporate internships

You should talk to CLS about potential internships. You should also search on the Web and using other resources. Grinnell students have done internships with a wide variety of companies.

Some students have also had good luck contacting alumni for ideas. The CLS is likely to be able to provide some leads.

Advantages

• Get a taste of the real world
• Escape from Grinnell
• Get your foot in the door
• Likely to have good compensation

Disadvantages

• May use up "work time" on international student visas
• Many of the best ones have already done their hiring

International Students: The Center for Careers, Life, and Service has a special form for obtaining curricular practical training for the summer.

For more information and ideas, visit CLS.

Other research internships

You might also consider applying for internships at research laboratories (such as the national laboratories) or other academic institutions.

Advantages

• Looks good on résumé
• Likely to be interesting work
• Potentially good compensation

Disadvantages

• You'll need to identify potential research sites
• Likely to be highly competitive
• Status for international students varies

Contact: Individual researchers. Oak Ridge is one starting point http://www.orau.org/ornl/.

Internships at non-profits.

Grinnell has internship funds for non-commercial entitites. Check out the Web page at https://career.grinnell.edu/resources/internship-funding/ for more information.

Google Summer of Code

In many years, Google sponsors opportunities for students to volunteer on open source projects (and receive compensation for volunteering) through a program that they call Google Summer of Code (GSoC). It looks like GSoC will be offered again in 2024.

• https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com
• Advice for students: https://google.github.io/gsocguides/student/
• There also used to be advice for studens at http://code.google.com/p/google-summer-of-code/wiki/AdviceforStudents. Unfortunately, that Wiki seems to be gone. You should be able to find an old version on archive.org. I found one from 2013-07-29, but there may be a newer one.
• If you want to do summer of code, get involved with an open source project now!

Advantages

• Interesting projects
• Benefits society
• Looks good on CV
• Possibility for telecommuting
• Dedicated mentors
• Relatively late notifications

Disadvantages

• Competitive
• Will not provide a physical community
• Often a much later deadline and decision date