Ask HN: Recommendations for tech internship programs for high schoolers

[closetCS]

I am a high school freshman, and I have experience with Machine Learning (Keras, Tensorflow) and Distrbuted Systems (Apache projects) and web development. I was wondering if anybody here had any good internships that I could apply for, ideally in Southeast United States. I have looked into the big companies such as Google, Apple, and the likes, but found little to no information about any internships for my age level. All help is greatly appreciated :) .

[zachlatta]

I run https://hackclub.com and have worked with a bunch of people in your situation (and used to be in it myself, I left high school after my freshman year to work in Silicon Valley). I know how painful it can be to be on a non-traditional path, but you should also recognize that it is your greatest asset.

The honest reality of the situation is that internship “programs” for high schoolers do not exist. Occasionally you’ll see large employers like GE, Whirlpool, and defense contractors running high school internship programs, but they’re universally terrible. Their incentive for running the programs is to say that they “give back” to their community, not to foster talent – and the quality reflects that.

When a path does not exist, create it. If you talk to people that work in technology, you’ll find that nearly everyone gets their jobs through referral. You should cold-email founders, hiring managers, and engineers at companies that you’re interested in. Get on a phone call with them, meet them in-person, and create the internship that you want to participate in.

I can help you write cold-emails and form a strategy to make sure you have an internship this summer. I know that every situation is different, but I’d highly encourage you to consider internships in a city like San Francisco or New York. You’ll meet a ton of people way smarter than you and be exposed to a million different viewpoints.

My email is [e-mail]. I’m also happy to put you in touch with a bunch of people from Hack Club that have gone down this route and can share their experiences.

[closetCS]

Thanks so much for your help, I will definitely contact some people in the industry and try to find some options for this summer. I am currently looking at Apple summer camp, and I will look around your website and try to find an internship.

[zachlatta]

Want to schedule a call so we can get into specifics? If interested, just shoot me an email.

[kotrunga]

I'm guessing there are no answers yet just because the right people haven't seen it, so don't lose hope! (Unfortunately, I don't have an exact answer either...) However, hopefully this response may be helpful in some way :)

First thing- what's your goal? I'm guessing it's to get experience... but what kind are you looking for? Here are some basic things you could do, if you haven't done them already:

- Check to see if your high school CS teacher knows of any internships or other good sources to gain experience. If your school doesn't have a CS teacher, or the teacher doesn't know of any (or they're not great sources, etc.), try contacting department heads / professors at local universities or community colleges.

- Google cs high school internships (I saw some on glassdoor and other sites, not sure how legit that is though). If you haven't done this, you should have done this already.

- Go to local meetups, and get experience there. Your age or experience should never matter; no one knows 100% what they're doing, and if they claim they do, avoid them. Network with people. Build things with people. And, ask them if they know of any internships, or even if their companies would be willing to host an internship! My first CS internship was the summer after my senior year, before I went to college, which became invaluable.

- This may be a stretch, but if there's a special high school for CS, and it's good, go. During junior and senior year, half my day was spent at a special high school in the same city. Instead of tons of pointless AP classes, I was learning how to become a software engineer. It was supported and connected with the city school system, so the class was worth 3 hs credits each year, and connected directly with students' hs degrees. I was surrounded by people who had applied specifically for programming, and I made a lot of connections and basically had college equivalent education in cs before going to college.

- Go to CS competitions. The special school I went to (mentioned above) sent us to different colleges for hs cs competitions. There were different kinds, but think ACM stuff. For example, there's the High School Programming Competion at the University of Virginia (http://acm.cs.virginia.edu/hspc.php). If you go, work hard, but don't forget to have fun and enjoy the experience. Multiple colleges offer this type of thing.

I know this isn't exactly an answer to your question, but hopefully it helps in some ways! Even if you don't find internships or sources of good experience, pick a project and build it. Even better, make a product or app or something that makes some money- that'll look good on a college app or resume. Ex: built iPhone / Android app, made $5,000 or had a 10,000 count user base, etc. And, have fun! Don't worry too much about the future, if that's what this is about. Don't forget to do what you love, and learn cool stuff. You're only in hs once! (hopefully...)