How to Land a Technical Internship as a College Freshman

Melissa Lin, Previous Software Engineer Intern at Fidelity Investments and Email Outreach Lead at TechTogether Boston, Gives Advice on How to Score a Technical Internship as a College Freshman

With recruiting season in full swing, the team at TechTogether Boston is launching a new social media and Medium series called #techtogetherworks aimed at providing a platform for our team to provide job application & interview tips, an inside look on the team’s career experiences, and real talk about the triumphs and challenges of working in the tech industry. This article is the first in this series and with that being said, we hope you learn from it and we wish you happy job hunting!

Hello! My name is Melissa and I am a sophomore at Boston University majoring in Computer Science. This past summer, I was an intern at Fidelity investments at their offices at Merrimack, NH. I was part of a team that was developing a test reporting engine for the Quality Assurance department seeking to have a modernized look, as well as new features. My role mainly focused on the backend of the application, creating the REST API’s for the new web services as well as configuring their SQL servers. I was also doing a little bit of the front end with Angular.

I knew that as a freshman, I wouldn’t have a huge chance of getting an internship, but I figured to just apply anyways to gain the experience. I applied to several companies and posted my resume on several websites that my school offered access to like Handshake and Piazza (yes, Piazza can be used to find internships). A couple of months after I first posted my resume, a recruiter from Fidelity reached out after finding my resume on Piazza and said I would be a good match for Fidelity’s internship program. I went through the interview process, and lo and behold, I did it!

My interview consisted of two rounds, one behavioral interview, and one technical interview. The behavioral interview was conducted via pre-recorded video, consisting of five questions with a timed response, allowing for responses up to three minutes long. The technical interview was a phone interview with a hiring manager who asked about my side projects and previous experience as well as coding questions regarding Object Oriented programming and array/string concepts.

For behavioral interviews, brush up responses to questions such as:

For technical questions, it can really depend on the company. There are sites such as Leetcode and HackerRank that provides a lot of technical problems that companies could ask that covers a variety of different topics. Practicing on those sites and going through concepts from previous programming classes will really help.

For the coding portion, practice makes perfect! To practice my coding before interviews, I used leetcode.com and the book, Cracking the Coding Interview. It is also helpful to do a sample interview and go over common interview questions with your friends prior to the interview. For the behavioral interview, prepare at least two side projects, club involvements, or relevant experiences to talk about. Also, be sure to know the answer to why you want to work at this company (this comes up more often than you think). Lastly, be confident and don’t be afraid to show off who you are! A little personality can definitely help along the way.

Now that you know about the application and interview process, let’s dive into Melissa’s internship experience at Fidelity, specifically the company culture and how you can find a company that best fits you for your next internship!

If I could describe Fidelity’s culture in three words, it would be supportive, dedicated, and fun! All the associates here are very positive and a great resource for help. It’s easy to turn for a neighbor or send a message to other associates whenever help is needed. They are super respectful and are eager to help everybody help. Also, Fidelity is really dedicated to the well-being and growth of their associates, giving all of us the same opportunities to grow and develop through activities such as instructional webinars or volunteer outings. Finally, although the culture is very much work-based, there is still fun involved as well. For example, on Fridays, there are Mario Kart tournaments that can get pretty heated. Fidelity’s office also has open seating and a lounge area which makes it easy for teams to both work and joke around with each other.

In my opinion, a company is right for you if their values match up or are similar to your values. When looking for an internship, ask yourself, what do you look for in a company? Are there any other values not listed that you would also want in a potential employer? How do your specific work ethic and style match up? Salary and work hours may be important, but it can only do so much. Your overall happiness and fulfillment are what will truly determine your success as an intern.

When finding internships, I wanted a company that sees its customers as human beings rather than numbers on a sheet. I am a firm believer that businesses who recognize that customers are people will have a much bigger impact on them and make the work more worthwhile. Fidelity’s mission statement is just that, dedicating their time and efforts as an opportunity to improve their customers’ lives and help them live the lives they want.

There are many companies, such as Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon, that offer freshman internships that have really great programs to help freshmen break into the tech field, but I honestly think any place can be a good place to find a freshman internship, just as long as you apply yourself and get involved with things such as clubs and side projects. To find internships, I primarily used Linkedin, Handshake, and Piazza (the last two are via my school so I don’t know if every school has this). I also went to career fairs and hackathons and talked to different recruiters at their company’s booths. Just try! Anything could happen.

Get involved! Whether it be through club involvement or participating in several hackathon projects, getting involvement in these areas is not only a way to boost your resume, but it also shows your passion for programming. Also, make use of all the resources that you have. Resources such as connections from classmates and family, along with school forums in which you can post your resume can be a really beneficial way to catch a recruiter’s eye as opposed to applying online.

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