Copyright© 2007 Avaya Inc. All rights reserved Avaya – Proprietary & Confidential. For Internal Use Only.
Internship Strategies and Resources
Joann Ordille
Avaya Labs Research
Julie S. Weber
University of Michigan
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About Joann Ordille
• Education– BA, Applied Mathematics and Philosophy, The George Washington University
• Learned about computer science as an application of mathematics– MA, History and Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh– MS and PhD, Computer Science, University of Wisconsin
• Key: Computer Science – is infinitely interesting– provides unparalleled opportunities
• PhD Employment– AT&T Bell Labs Lucent Bell Labs Avaya Labs Research
• Life– Travel: Europe, Asia, Australia, North and South America– Sport: long distance road cycling, scuba diving, downhill and cross-country
skiing, figure skating, open wheel auto racing (see and hear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNuy8-ZT2zk)
– Restore antique houses
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About Julie Weber:
• BA in Math & CS, Wellesley College, 2003
• MS in CS from Tufts University, 2004
• PhD Candidate @ Univ. of Michigan, 4th Year
• Internships:
– MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Summer 2003 - Spring 2004
– Google NYC, Summer 2006
– SRI International, Summer 2007 • Why a PhD?
– Inspiring professors, teaching• Hobbies:
– Soccer, ultimate frisbee, bowling
– Travel
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Outline
• Internship goals
• Internships, step by step
• Strategies for succeeding in your internship
• Resources for finding an internship
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Internship goals
• Master Students and PhD students have overlapping but different goals in pursuing internships affecting:
– Where you apply
– The place with the best fit
– What you accomplish
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Establishing goals in seeking an internship for a Masters student• Possible goals
– Obtaining marketable experience
– Expanding knowledge and contacts
– Having fun
– Making money
• Things to target
– Preferred subfield, e.g. communications, web applications, database applications
– Preferred programming environment, e.g. java
– Areas forming an experience base for later full-time applications
• Wider scope of possibilities than PhD internships
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Establishing goals in seeking an internship for a PhD student• Possible goals
– Working with an expert in your area– Rounding out experts advising you on your dissertation– Experiencing different research environments– Expanding knowledge and contacts– Having fun and making money
• Things to target– Preferred research subfield, e.g. networking, testing, programming
languages– Preferred working environment, e.g. government lab,
communications company, software company– Preferred internship outcome: program, paper– Areas providing credentials for later research positions
• Consult with your research advisor• Could be a Masters internship early in your academic work
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Elevator Talk
• Three sentence description of your research/interests
– the problem you are solving
– why the problem is important
– why your solution separates you from the rest of the pack
• Must get right to the point, the elevator ride is short.
• Additional tips
– Put a tag line on it: GE brings good things to light.
– Be tangible and passionate
– Can be adapted to speed dating
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Internships, Step by Step
• Preparing for the internship experience
• Finding the right internship opportunity
• Making contacts
• Applying
• Interviewing
• Choosing the best internship for you
• Interning!
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Preparing for the Internship Experience
• Think about your resume/CV
– How best to present yourself
• Gain good rapport with potential references
• Practice answering technical questions
– Review algorithms & data structures
– Talking it out, asking informed questions
• Sign up for mock interviews
• Practice your elevator talk
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Finding the Right Internship Experience
• Where are the best jobs?
• Solicit recommendations and suggestions from advisor(s), cohort, alumni
• Departmental postings
• Career fair
• Other events
• Online resources
• People you know
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Making contacts
• Potential contacts
– Group leader for desired project
– University alumni
– Other acquaintances
• How to move forward with a contact
– Express interest in his/her project
– Ask about internship opportunities and potential projects
– Ask for tips for applying
– Discuss your research
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Applying for an Internship
• Deadline: usually in early February
• Procure good references, tell them why you’re pursuing an internship
• Have resume/CV critiqued by:
– Career center
– Advisor/peers
• Updated website
– Publications/projects
• Prepare materials for on-site visit
– Presentation/demo
– Questions to ask current interns and/or employees
• Be sure to follow up!*
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Optional Practical Training (OPT)
• For international students with H1 status, internships count toward OPT time (12 months of practical training)
• Student may be expected to know Visa status when applying
• There may be a workaround…
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Interviewing
• Types of Questions:– Character
• Ex: What is your greatest strength/weakness
– Research• Ex: Tell me about your work
– Creativity• Ex: How would you design a spice rack for a blind cook?
– Algorithmic/exam questions ;)• Ex: Given a single coin, generate a function that returns a
number between 1 and 3 with equal probability
• Role Play by Joann & Julie
• Role Play by everyone else
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Interviewing
• Relax!
• Talk it out
– Logical thinking/problem solving
– Coding
• Ask informed and clarifying questions
• Relax!
• Be yourself
– Show motivation and interest
– General personality fit
• Interview them
– Ask about a current project & potential intern projects
• Follow up!
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Choosing the Right Internship for You
• Type of work
• Atmosphere
• People
– Resources
– Cohort
• Project prospects
• Location
• Negotiation
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On the Job!
• “Think of your internship as an extended job interview”
• Be professional
• Procure good contacts
• Make sure you’re doing the work you hoped to do
– What are you learning?
• Distinguish yourself
• Ask for feedback after the internship
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On the Job!
• SRI International vs. Google
– The feel of a research lab
– The feel of Google
– Mentoring
– Projects
– People
• Diversity (gender, age, activity level)
• Proximity
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Takeaway Message
• Prepare early
• Practice for interviews
– Talking through problems is key
– Ask clarifying questions
• Relax during interviews and be yourself
• Follow up
• Treat the internship as an extended job interview
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Strategies for success at your internship
• Work independently
• Show initiative
• Discuss your ideas
• Ask for help
• Interact with the entire team
• Find out (or agree with your mentor/supervisor) early on what the final requirements are:
– Working program?
– Talk?
– Paper?
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Strategies for success (continued)
• Time is short! You typically have only 10-12 weeks.
– Plan your project in phases with intermediate checkpoints• Each checkpoint should have some deliverable such as a survey of
the area, an analysis, a design, a program
• Remember that if you have to give a final talk that will take up your last week
– If you fall behind on an intermediate checkpoint, you need to reevaluate your plan with your supervisor/mentor
• Can something be shortened or left out?
– If you run out of time for an aggressive timeline, the result of your project will be your intermediate deliverable (but you will have a result to show!)
• Especially important to have your mentor agree to your plan if your mentor is “busy.”
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Strategies for success (continued)
• Meet as many people as you can
– Ask to speak with other researchers/staff in your area of interest (1 person for 1 hour each week?)
– Attend talks, meetings and other opportunities to network
• Continue your relationship with your mentor/supervisor after completing your internship
– External mentor to help you with concerns in graduate school
– Talk at conferences
– Help with eventual job search and references
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Meeting people (networking) at your internship• Meeting, lunch, social events, talks, hallway conversations
• Identify people of interest in the organization and ask to spend an hour discussing their work and career options
– Prepare a set of questions such as:• What’s your current project? How did it start? How is it organized
(how many people, how they work together, who leads, etc.)?
• If this is researcher, use your knowledge of the area or read one of her/his papers as background and plan to discuss the area in general.
• If you are looking for a targeting a particular kind of job in the future that this person knows about, you might ask:
– What education and experience are needed?
– What do the jobs normally include?
– What is the typical entry level job for a masters student (or PhD student)?
– What is the career development path?
• I think any full-time person would take time for student if at all possible, so take advantage of that to learn more about the field and make contacts.
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Resources
• ACM Internship Listings– http://www.acm.org/crossroads/resources/internships.html
• Research Labs with Participants at this Cohort (additional options for Masters Internships are noted)
– AT&T – personal contact best for PhD Internships• http://research.att.com/ (select Join Us)
– Avaya Labs – personal contact only application route for PhD Internships• http://avaya.com/ (select Avaya Lab on bottom bar, then Locations and Careers)• Masters: http://avaya.com/ (select Careers on bottom bar)
– Google• http://www.google.com/jobs/intern.html
– IBM – personal contact best for PhD Internships• http://www.research.ibm.com/about/career.shtml (Co-op and summer on right)• Masters: http://www.ibm.com/ (select Jobs at IBM, then Country, then University)
– Microsoft• http://research.microsoft.com/ (select Careers, then Internships)• See also http://labs.live.com/• Masters: http://members.microsoft.com/careers/default.mspx (select Internships)
– Sandia National Labs• http://education.ca.sandia.gov/ (select Internship tab, for California positions)• http://www.sandia.gov/ (select Students, then Student Internship Programs, for New
Mexico)
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Additional Research Labs (Industry)
• Additional options for Masters internships at the companies are also provided after “Masters:”
• Accenture
– http://www.accenture.com/Global/Services/Accenture_Technology_Labs/default.htm
– Not sure if they have research oriented internships. Use the contact on the above link to ask.
– Masters: http://www.accenture.com/ (Click on Careers, Locations, United States, Students)• Alcatel-Lucent (home of Bell Labs)
– http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/ (select Careers at the bottom, then Opportunities for Students)– PhD opportunities are under Research Partner– Masters: additional opportunities listed in same location
• D. E. Shaw http://www.deshaw.com/JobOpportunities.html
• eBay (new research lab: http://innovation.ebay.com/research.cfm)
– http://www.ebaycareers.com/university/internship.html (“research” in the keyword and find R&D listing)
– Masters: search all internships
• France Telcom (the Orange Group)
– http://www.francetelecom.com/en/group/recruitment/student_section/links/
– (See also http://www.francetelecom.com/en/group/rd/activities/vision/implantations/boston.html, http://www.francetelecom.com/en/group/rd/activities/vision/implantations/san_francisco.html )
• Fuji Xerox
– http://fxpal.com/ (Select About Us, then Employment, then Internships)
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Additional Research Labs (Industry)• Fujitsu Labs
– http://www.fujitsu.com/us/ (select R&D, then link under Work for Us, can also browse by country)
– Masters: http://www.fujitsu.com/ (browse the country of interest)
• GE Labs
– http://ge.com/research/ (select Careers, then Campus Connection, then Student Opportunities)
– Masters: http://ge.com/ (select For Students, then Internships and Co-ops)
• Genentech
– http://www.gene.com/gene/careers/index.jsp (select Internships)
• HP
– http://www.hpl.hp.com/ (select Careers@HP Labs)
– Masters: http://hp.com/ (select Jobs, then Students and Graduates, currently link is bad)• Intel
– http://intel.com/ (select Technology and Research but no explicit internship application info)
– http://intel.com/ (select Jobs on the bottom bar, then Student Center)• Mitsubishi
– http://www.merl.com/ (select Employment)
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Additional Research Labs (Industry)
• NEC– http://www.nec-labs.com/careers/internship.shtml– Masters: http://nec.com/ (select Jobs)
• Nvidia– http://www.nvidia.com/page/university_relations.html– Not clear that they have a research lab, but they do sponsor fellowships and fund faculty.
• Nokia– http://research.nokia.com/ (Follow the link for Careers)– Masters: http://www.nokia.com/careers
• Siemens– http://www.siemens.com/ (Search for Research and Development, search for Internships)
• Sun– http://research.sun.com/ (select Internships)– Masters: http://www.sun.com/corp_emp/zone/internships.html
• Xerox– http://www.parc.xerox.com/ (Select Contact Us, Employment, Interships)– Masters: http://xerox.com/ (Select Careers on bottom bar, then University)
• Yahoo– http://research.yahoo.com/data_and_code (select Summer Interns)– http://careers.yahoo.com/university.html (select Interns)
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Additional Research Labs (Government)
• Argonne National Lab (ARL)– http://www.anl.gov/ (select Careers, then Educational Programs)
• Brookhaven National Lab– http://www.bnl.gov/education/ (select Education on the left, then Students)
• Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBL)– http://www.lbl.gov/ (select Education Outreach, then Student Opportunities)
• Lawrence Livermore National Lab– http://www.llnl.gov/llnl/education/ (select Undergraduate/Graduate Opportunities)
• Oakridge National Lab (ORNL)– http://www.ornl.gov/ (select Jobs, browse under Student/Faculty Opportunities)
• Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNL)– http://www.pnl.gov/ (select Jobs, then Science and Engineering Education Programs)
• US Army Research Lab (ARL)– http://www.arl.army.mil/ (select Outreach Programs, then Internship Co-ops)
• US Naval Research Lab (NRL)– http://www.nrl.navy.mil/ (select Contact NRL, then Human Resources)– Unclear how to find an internship. Call HR and ask.
• National Institutes of Health– http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/
• Institute for Defense Analyses– http://www.ida.org/ (select Careers, then Graduate Students, then Interns)– Inquire early (before deadline), because you will need to obtain a security clearance– Also inquire about any opportunities in related organizations
• Note: Fermi National Lab, Los Alamos National Lab, and National Renewable Energy Lab emphasize physical sciences but may take interns in some specialized subfields of computer science.
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Additional Research Labs (Non-profits)
• MIT Lincoln Lab
– http://www.ll.mit.edu/ (Select Careers, then Summer Programs)
• Mitre
– http://www.mitre.org/work/ird.html (select Employment, then Student Opportunities)
– Masters: http://www.mitre.org/ (select Employment, then Student Opportunities – same as the above)
• SRI
– http://www.sri.com/ (select Careers, then Students)
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Other Resources
• Graduate School Information brochure and other information:
http://www.cra.org/highlights/student.html
• How to succeed in graduate school: http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-2/advice1.html
http://www.acm.org/crossroads/xrds1-3/advice2.html
• Fellowships (dated but provides useful leads)
http://cag.csail.mit.edu/~amy/fellowships.html
• Sample Interview Questions
http://www.softwareinterview.com/
http://www.acetheinterview.com/questions/cats/index.php/microsoft_google
http://www.drizzle.com/~jpaint/google.html
and much much more…
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