Starting Explore at the end of the month with E+D! Thanks so much for the video, it’s super helpful. Just curious, do they have you send the hardware back after the internship?
thank you! and yes, in most cases they do but sometimes they may let you keep a monitor or peripherals, depending on your admin :) best of luck in your internship!
What kind of non technical questions things did you have on your resume? (Clubs, extracurriculares etc). I’m a current sophomore and I’m wondering what I should add onto my resume
I really enjoyed you video!! I'm a rising sophomore in fall on leave of absence and I decided to change my major to cs after studying for an intro cs course at my college on my own. From studying this course on my own, I learned recursion, oop, intro to trees, etc(cs 61a at berkeley if you know it). I haven't learned any data structures. I really would like to apply for microsoft explore in my sophomore year, but I'm not sure if I'll have a chance. Firstly, I will actually be taking my first cs course in the fall while applying to the internship. Secondly, I feel really behind compared to others as I'm a sophomore taking an intro course. Do you think microsoft explore will still consider me and what do you think I should do until applying season to boost my chances at this internship program? Also, do you think is it possible to get internships in the year you started to learn cs?
hi there! to start at the end, it's definitely possible. a lot of first year students get accepted into the microsoft explore program, and i also had my first internship as a first year student as well. don't worry about feeling behind - everyone starts somewhere and take your time! if you can, start looking into data structures because it'll help for leetcoding but it's not necessary unless you want to do that. apply anyways - the worst that can happen is that you get rejected and you can just move on and apply elsewhere. if it doesn't work out, there are a lot of first year/second year internships in addition to explore as well, and of course regular software engineering internships for any student! wishing you the best :)
Do contacts from Microsoft help? I've worked with a couple of PMs and developers @ Microsoft... Also, does it help if you've worked on Microsoft open-source projects (Roslyn and the dotnet runtime API)?
it depends on who's hiring and which teams are looking for interns or new grads. if you have relevant experience or experience that helps you stand out, then by all means you may have a higher chance of your resume catching a recruiter's eye - but this is all just speculation on my end!
hi! you can certainly apply whenever but i would recommend applying as early as possible since that is when all the slots are still open and they are actively hiring - i don't think it matters exactly when you apply, but the longer you wait the fewer spots recruiters will be hiring for and they may or may not be more selective (just a guess here though).
I’m an incoming cs freshman that has just started learning programming about a week ago. Could I still get an internship starting this late? What would your advice be?
yes! although i was not a freshman in the explore program, they definitely do recruit freshmen and i also had an internship freshman year after just learning programming that year. best of luck!
@@jennyg283 it will be difficult but i highly encourage you to still try and apply! especially to freshman and sophomore specific internships :) let me know if you have any specific questions
@@LauraJiang I have applied Explore Microsoft, STEP, and FU program, but I don’t think I will get in😅Do you have any suggestion that how a freshman spend their first summer holiday to improve their coding skills and make preparations for program, internship and research in the future? Thx sooo much!
@@jennyg283 anything that you can do to learn and feel more prepared for interviewing is great! most internships have you creating a separate intern project, so if you can spend your summer creating a larger project that you're proud of and learned a lot from, that'll also be awesome on your resume! also look for related job opportunities through school like research, TAing or teaching, etc. another good work option - have you looked at being a camp instructor at a tech camp either online or in person?
hi Michael! this is totally speculation on my part and I think I mentioned this in the video but since I'm not a recruiter, I can't speak to how they evaluate referrals. I have heard in the past though that referrals matter less at incredibly large companies because they have enough qualified candidates regularly, without referrals in the first place. good luck with the application process!
typically applications open late summer and close by the mid sept - october time frame if i recall correctly! it all depends on how many applicants they have as they do rolling applications!
the explore program is focused around freshmen and sophomores, so they're not expecting any revolutionary experience. mostly that you have an interest in technology and SWE or PM roles! any relevant experience is good experience
