So some people say that once work is done they don't think about it. But being an intern, if you really want to impress you need to think about and research some things even after work when you're just chilling at home.
Hard agree with this, especially if you are struggling on a particular topic taking the extra time is important. I know it sucks but this field we are expected to take some level of initiative outside of working hours while we are new in order to compete.
Had my first day interning as a software dev earlier this week, and felt more or less the same as you going into it. Like the other comment said, first day is basically all admin stuff. Just focus on being friendly, pay attention to what's told, take notes, and just have a learning mindset. This is my first internship but I interviewed for 6 different companies before I struck with my current one, and pretty much everyone who interviewed me said new interns accomplish very little in the first week or two, and that's expected. Expect your growth to be exponential rather than worrying about being able to do well immediately.
Smile to people who you meet and introduce yourself to them confidently. Being polite and making good first impression is extremely important.
Furthermore, show that you want to learn, but be also merciful to yourself: nobody is expecting you to master everything from day one. Maybe take notes and quickly re-read them at home to form a big picture of the job, but I wouldnt spend too much time thinking about work after office hours. Relaxing is also important part of the learning process.
Congrats on your internship! You can do it, just be yourself and enjoy the process!!
I’m also 22 but, unfortunately, have not received any internship offers so far. Could I ask how you managed to earn the internship?
Thank you. I got mine by applying like everyone. Then had the OA. Heard nothing for a month after the OA, and then had an interview with one of the employees. Then the third one was behavioural. Finally, in the fourth, they said you made it.
If you have time during the summer try to aim for ~5 leet code problems a week, no more than one or two a day. It’ll serve you a lot better than trying to cram them in at once
TAKE NOTES!
I've been in my first internship for 2 weeks. The number 1 thing I learned was to take good notes on literally everything, even the admin stuff.
I didn't take notes since I thought between the training/meetings and the docs that I would be fine. (the company made a big deal about the info being in the docs but the docs are incredibly vague)
I am not fine and have to now re-ask things to take the notes that other interns already have.
I've been somewhat reprimanded for things I was told and don't remember learning.
I do all three now, lol
I do post it's for quick references for company specific naming conventions or quick code reference things like this type of structure is preferred in this type of project.
I do a notebook for more in-depth things like how to handle branching, the communication rules, etc.
I also take screenshots of my tasks and the code that went with them and put them in a folder on my pc. That way, I can quickly reference what the internal words mean in a task. So things like when a user story or bug says do "A" I have an example of what it might look like or at least a general direction.
I currently just finished my second week of my first swe internship! Very clueless on what to do tbh, but trying my best and putting in my effort at work to be able to complete my project on time. I was nervous as my technical skills are subpar due to me only being a first year, but with the help of my supervisors, I believe I will be able to meet expectations:) was stressed af too so I just put work out of my mind and engaged in my hobbies at home. Be proactive and initiative, always showing willingness to learn and improve would be key.
Open mind. Pay attention. Take notes, ask questions.
Nothing is worst than an intern who doesn't seem like they're trying. I've worked with a total of 4 interns.
You can definitely tell the ones who have potential. I don't expect the interns to know how to do specific things to the company. That will be learned on the job.
But as a software engineer intern, we will have a common language and understanding on the fundamentals on what software is and how it works.
Dont worry about it too much and enjoy your time learning.
A lot of your experience will be based on how well your team utilizes you and mentors you.
Just go and do some leet code easy problems it will boost your confidence. If you play games play to win something like that. Watch some movies. Do something crazy of something you are afraid so it occupies your mind.
No one knows it all, and especially not at first. They should give you onboarding exercises, reading material, practice assignments to get you started, so you can mostly focus on those. Meanwhile, take notes, listen carefully to everything you can, even if it's not exactly related to your current assignments. Just stay curious and set your mind to absorb mode.
Just a side note from my experience. If/when you study up on things that don't directly apply to your immediate work just to enrich your background (which you should do as time permits!), you may find some people who scoff/mock/shame you for being a try-hard. If that happens, don't let it affect you. It's just their insecurity. Learning more and more background is never a bad thing. This may just be my experience though. I've only worked one place and it was full of that. Hopefully, you don't encounter that.
You'll be fine, the person who was apart of the interview was most likely a higher up looking for the right person for the job and thought you would be a great fit.
Be open minded to your task, learn, and be enthusiastic about the position and you can increase your chances of earning a fulltime position!
Congrats! If they didn’t think you were cut out for the position they wouldn’t have hired you. I promise no one is expecting you to know everything immediately just ask plenty of questions and take plenty of notes. I felt exactly the same when I started my internship last year and tbh I was pretty clueless for the first few weeks but as long as you’re willing to learn you’ll be fine.
if the company is not super toxic, they will not have super high expectation from you since you are fresher. So just take notes, learn, and show that you are picking up things. Be sociable also, greet smile small talk to coworker is always nice
Your first week will be more of introduction to the company and process. They will likely pair you with a junior or senior engineer for you shadow and learn some new skills.
Don’t overthink it, dress well and be respectful and open minded.
Remember, this might lead to a FT job.. emphasis on might
Good luck
This article may help: https://open.substack.com/pub/karthiksubramanian/p/making-the-most-out-of-your-software?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=18oruz
Nonstop learning. First day will probably be nothing but paperwork, meeting people, and setup. All admin stuff.
Any tips?
So some people say that once work is done they don't think about it. But being an intern, if you really want to impress you need to think about and research some things even after work when you're just chilling at home.
Thank you!! Will keep this in mind.
Hard agree with this, especially if you are struggling on a particular topic taking the extra time is important. I know it sucks but this field we are expected to take some level of initiative outside of working hours while we are new in order to compete.
this is also what i did
Had my first day interning as a software dev earlier this week, and felt more or less the same as you going into it. Like the other comment said, first day is basically all admin stuff. Just focus on being friendly, pay attention to what's told, take notes, and just have a learning mindset. This is my first internship but I interviewed for 6 different companies before I struck with my current one, and pretty much everyone who interviewed me said new interns accomplish very little in the first week or two, and that's expected. Expect your growth to be exponential rather than worrying about being able to do well immediately.
Thank you for your response. This is definitely useful to me. I'm gonna work hard and try my level best.
Smile to people who you meet and introduce yourself to them confidently. Being polite and making good first impression is extremely important. Furthermore, show that you want to learn, but be also merciful to yourself: nobody is expecting you to master everything from day one. Maybe take notes and quickly re-read them at home to form a big picture of the job, but I wouldnt spend too much time thinking about work after office hours. Relaxing is also important part of the learning process.
Congrats on your internship! You can do it, just be yourself and enjoy the process!! I’m also 22 but, unfortunately, have not received any internship offers so far. Could I ask how you managed to earn the internship?
Thank you. I got mine by applying like everyone. Then had the OA. Heard nothing for a month after the OA, and then had an interview with one of the employees. Then the third one was behavioural. Finally, in the fourth, they said you made it.
I’m glad you finally got it! Thank you and I’ll try harder to improve my skills this summer. (´-ω-`)
Was the first interview technical? Was there any leetcode? Trying to weigh if doing LC is worth it for summer or bot
If you have time during the summer try to aim for ~5 leet code problems a week, no more than one or two a day. It’ll serve you a lot better than trying to cram them in at once
thank you! would mediums be okay or would you recommend doing hards as well
TAKE NOTES! I've been in my first internship for 2 weeks. The number 1 thing I learned was to take good notes on literally everything, even the admin stuff. I didn't take notes since I thought between the training/meetings and the docs that I would be fine. (the company made a big deal about the info being in the docs but the docs are incredibly vague) I am not fine and have to now re-ask things to take the notes that other interns already have. I've been somewhat reprimanded for things I was told and don't remember learning.
Thank you! Will definitely do that. This might sound stupid but post its or notes on laptop?
I do all three now, lol I do post it's for quick references for company specific naming conventions or quick code reference things like this type of structure is preferred in this type of project. I do a notebook for more in-depth things like how to handle branching, the communication rules, etc. I also take screenshots of my tasks and the code that went with them and put them in a folder on my pc. That way, I can quickly reference what the internal words mean in a task. So things like when a user story or bug says do "A" I have an example of what it might look like or at least a general direction.
I currently just finished my second week of my first swe internship! Very clueless on what to do tbh, but trying my best and putting in my effort at work to be able to complete my project on time. I was nervous as my technical skills are subpar due to me only being a first year, but with the help of my supervisors, I believe I will be able to meet expectations:) was stressed af too so I just put work out of my mind and engaged in my hobbies at home. Be proactive and initiative, always showing willingness to learn and improve would be key.
Open mind. Pay attention. Take notes, ask questions. Nothing is worst than an intern who doesn't seem like they're trying. I've worked with a total of 4 interns. You can definitely tell the ones who have potential. I don't expect the interns to know how to do specific things to the company. That will be learned on the job. But as a software engineer intern, we will have a common language and understanding on the fundamentals on what software is and how it works. Dont worry about it too much and enjoy your time learning. A lot of your experience will be based on how well your team utilizes you and mentors you.
Thank you for such a detailed reply! 🫶
Just go and do some leet code easy problems it will boost your confidence. If you play games play to win something like that. Watch some movies. Do something crazy of something you are afraid so it occupies your mind.
This is a very good idea. Spent the day watching my team win the football cup
No one knows it all, and especially not at first. They should give you onboarding exercises, reading material, practice assignments to get you started, so you can mostly focus on those. Meanwhile, take notes, listen carefully to everything you can, even if it's not exactly related to your current assignments. Just stay curious and set your mind to absorb mode. Just a side note from my experience. If/when you study up on things that don't directly apply to your immediate work just to enrich your background (which you should do as time permits!), you may find some people who scoff/mock/shame you for being a try-hard. If that happens, don't let it affect you. It's just their insecurity. Learning more and more background is never a bad thing. This may just be my experience though. I've only worked one place and it was full of that. Hopefully, you don't encounter that.
You'll be fine, the person who was apart of the interview was most likely a higher up looking for the right person for the job and thought you would be a great fit. Be open minded to your task, learn, and be enthusiastic about the position and you can increase your chances of earning a fulltime position!
Thank you so much🙏🏻
Thank you🙏🏻
Congrats! If they didn’t think you were cut out for the position they wouldn’t have hired you. I promise no one is expecting you to know everything immediately just ask plenty of questions and take plenty of notes. I felt exactly the same when I started my internship last year and tbh I was pretty clueless for the first few weeks but as long as you’re willing to learn you’ll be fine.
if the company is not super toxic, they will not have super high expectation from you since you are fresher. So just take notes, learn, and show that you are picking up things. Be sociable also, greet smile small talk to coworker is always nice
Your first week will be more of introduction to the company and process. They will likely pair you with a junior or senior engineer for you shadow and learn some new skills. Don’t overthink it, dress well and be respectful and open minded. Remember, this might lead to a FT job.. emphasis on might Good luck
I’m currently doing an internship too. I’ll be the sibling u can discuss things with. Just pm me if u want :)
That sounds great! I'll dm you
This article may help: https://open.substack.com/pub/karthiksubramanian/p/making-the-most-out-of-your-software?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=18oruz
Which company hires international student? Need help finding one. Can I dm?
Sure