What should you consider when interviewing with companies? How do you prepare for tech interviews? What can you do over the summer with a computer science major? How can you prepare for a tech internship?
These are some of the questions that were addressed at the Bi-Co Tech Intern Panel which I was on. From left to right, it featured Katherine Lee (JP Morgan Chase Tech Analyst), myself (Twilio developer evangelist intern), Kevin Liao (Facebook intern), Rachel Xu (Groupon intern), Ann Tran (PricewaterhouseCoopers consultant intern), Sam Partee (Cray Supercomputers intern), and Kellie Dinh (Bentley Systems Product Design intern.)
One takeaway I (and attendees had, I gather) is that a computer science degree can lead you down many different paths. Some of us on the panel wrote code everyday, some worked in industries other than technology, some used skills they picked up in classes, some traveled for work every few days or weeks, some were located all over the country, and more.
Listening to the other panelists reinforced my belief that there is no better place than Bryn Mawr to study computer science, or any STEM field. Panelists talked about problems they encountered and solved in the interview process and at their internships, and about the stereotypical awkward engineer. Surrounded by these strong women and men, I realized that our Bi-Co classes (computer science and other ones) teach you how to consider edge cases, how to break down problems, and how to view things logically and critically.
The liberal arts curriculum differs from typical engineering ones in that we learn how to write and communicate. Though engineers don’t do these often, both are important skills that help differentiate us from other engineers.
As a women’s college, Bryn Mawr also teaches us to aim high, contribute to discussions, and to be outside of our comfort zones. Looking around, the interns on the panel certainly had more confidence than other tech interns I’ve met from other colleges, and could hold their own in a room full of men. That is in part to Bryn Mawr’s atmosphere.
As a developer evangelist intern, I had to write blog posts about apps I coded and also gave talks at conferences and meetups like the one below.
The Computer Science departments at both Bryn Mawr and Haverford have grown over my years here, and more and more companies are recruiting here. Facebook and Google now come every year to talk about job opportunities and provide interview preparation. Something I’m excited for is AppliedCS @ Bryn Mawr, a weeklong Google developed and led program on-campus over winter break where participants will develop several apps with Android AppEngine.
I’m excited to see what’s next for these Bi-Co tech interns as well as the tech community on-campus.