Get an internship in America
February 2, 2007 6:59 AM Subscribe
How do I find an internship in the U.S in hardware design (or low level software), without being able to actually go to the U.S (from Germany) for each job interview?
My university requires everybody to do a 6 month internship program, and having never been to the U.S, and having a generally positive opinion of American tech companies, I'd like to do my internship there.
However, I obviously cannot constantly hop over there for each interview. Would an employer find a phone interview enough to hire one for an internship position?
Furthermore, assuming I do get a place, how do I do it with finding a place to stay at? Can one do this on short notice in the larger U.S cities? I'm thinking of the cities in California, Texas or New York.
How easy is it to find such an internship position? I've got lots of practical experience with software development, and half a years experience with hardware design (in VHDL). I think I'm above average in my skill level, but it's always difficult to judge of course.
Visa and all that will not be a problem, I assume, for German citizens. Money is not an issue for me either.
My university requires everybody to do a 6 month internship program, and having never been to the U.S, and having a generally positive opinion of American tech companies, I'd like to do my internship there.
However, I obviously cannot constantly hop over there for each interview. Would an employer find a phone interview enough to hire one for an internship position?
Furthermore, assuming I do get a place, how do I do it with finding a place to stay at? Can one do this on short notice in the larger U.S cities? I'm thinking of the cities in California, Texas or New York.
How easy is it to find such an internship position? I've got lots of practical experience with software development, and half a years experience with hardware design (in VHDL). I think I'm above average in my skill level, but it's always difficult to judge of course.
Visa and all that will not be a problem, I assume, for German citizens. Money is not an issue for me either.
I got my first full time job at Cray Research based on only a phone interview, so it is possible but I don't know anybody else who was only hired based on a phone interview. I don't know if it will be as easy as you think to get a work visa though, I would look into that situation first. I know from experience that work authorization isn't generally a process you can compare to falling off a log.
posted by substrate at 7:14 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by substrate at 7:14 AM on February 2, 2007
At a large company, say IBM, AMD, Motorola, Intel.. a phone screen would probably suffice. If you're just there for the summer and you don't work out, no one really minds/cares. They will probably expect you to pay for all moving expenses, though.
Finding a summer sublet (say, in a place like Austin, TX where there is a large university nearby) should be very easy through Craigslist or the university itself. Sometimes, if the company is very large, they can point you in the right direction.
However, I wouldn't make the assumption that you can get a visa for granted. You aren't a US citizen, nor do you have an H-1B visa that would let you work in the US full time. I think the rules for internships are different, but if I recall correctly, you need to be on student visa (studying at a US school) in order to work.
posted by j at 7:15 AM on February 2, 2007
Finding a summer sublet (say, in a place like Austin, TX where there is a large university nearby) should be very easy through Craigslist or the university itself. Sometimes, if the company is very large, they can point you in the right direction.
However, I wouldn't make the assumption that you can get a visa for granted. You aren't a US citizen, nor do you have an H-1B visa that would let you work in the US full time. I think the rules for internships are different, but if I recall correctly, you need to be on student visa (studying at a US school) in order to work.
posted by j at 7:15 AM on February 2, 2007
Response by poster: There are lots of people from German universities who do internships in the U.S, and I never heard of it being problematic. I see no reason why I should be singled out to be rejected. I also don't plan to stay on and work, so there is no danger of that...
posted by markesh at 7:20 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by markesh at 7:20 AM on February 2, 2007
I would check with your university and ask if they have a program or have connections with some of the larger companies.
If you can learn Verilog between now and when you want to intern, that will be a big asset (most companies in the US use verilog, not VHDL).
posted by j at 7:28 AM on February 2, 2007
If you can learn Verilog between now and when you want to intern, that will be a big asset (most companies in the US use verilog, not VHDL).
posted by j at 7:28 AM on February 2, 2007
Look into J-1s for the actual visa. I spent my first 18 months in the US on one of these.
Can the university hook you up with anything through past pupils, career advice office, etc? Do they have any exchange programs you can look for contacts through?
posted by jamesonandwater at 7:39 AM on February 2, 2007
Can the university hook you up with anything through past pupils, career advice office, etc? Do they have any exchange programs you can look for contacts through?
posted by jamesonandwater at 7:39 AM on February 2, 2007
Response by poster: I'm going to look into the university programs. However, I'd like to expand my possibilities by actually finding a company I like in an area I like. There would be little worse than being a strange country and not liking what you're doing.
posted by markesh at 7:54 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by markesh at 7:54 AM on February 2, 2007
MSFT has international recruiters. Contact Priya for details. You might also want to try one of the college recruiters, like Matthew. You can call Redmond +14258828080 to ask for a person by name.
You would need a J-1 visa and they have been making the rules for visa acquisition more onerous lately. The company you work for handles the paperwork, not you.
posted by crazycanuck at 7:57 AM on February 2, 2007
You would need a J-1 visa and they have been making the rules for visa acquisition more onerous lately. The company you work for handles the paperwork, not you.
posted by crazycanuck at 7:57 AM on February 2, 2007
I talked with someone at Apple about an internship once while at college, but it fell apart once they realised I wasn’t a US citizen. Maybe that person in particular was not over-competent in that area.
They have been making the rules for visa acquisition more onerous lately, sure, but J-1s are not H-1Bs. H-1Bs are problematic for the employers—as in, ‘the yearly quota for them runs out in the first two months, starting in may’—otherwise a good friend of mine would be working in Portland, Oregon doing functional programming for a living right now. J-1s are also used for au-pairs and seasonal workers.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 8:21 AM on February 2, 2007
They have been making the rules for visa acquisition more onerous lately, sure, but J-1s are not H-1Bs. H-1Bs are problematic for the employers—as in, ‘the yearly quota for them runs out in the first two months, starting in may’—otherwise a good friend of mine would be working in Portland, Oregon doing functional programming for a living right now. J-1s are also used for au-pairs and seasonal workers.
posted by Aidan Kehoe at 8:21 AM on February 2, 2007
CDS International has several different internship/training/fellowship programs for US students in Germany and they also have programs in the other direction. One of these might fit your situation.
posted by srah at 9:31 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by srah at 9:31 AM on February 2, 2007
If you are interested in smaller companies, just contact them and ask them. My small software company, for instance, has hired two European interns who contacted us via our web site with well-written letters of inquiry. I believe they had phone interviews and their references were checked. We've also turned down a lot of internships requests by people who wrote letters that didn't make them sound worth considering. Point is, a well-written letter explaining your qualifications and why you'd like to be an intern should get you noticed - especially if it also explains that you don't need sponsorship. Don't know how this works at the big companies, though.
posted by hsoltz at 10:46 AM on February 2, 2007
posted by hsoltz at 10:46 AM on February 2, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mkb at 7:13 AM on February 2, 2007