I am currently in college and planing on applying for internships at different companies for the summer as a software engineer intern. How should I make my Resume look? Should I just put on it the different languages that I took as well as class projects? Or should I work on personal projects and include them in that as well? For my personal projects should I just do some simple applications, i.e. Xcode, iOS, OSX.
Sorry about all the questions, I'm just really nervous on finding an internship and can't really figure out where to start on achieving one.
I'm in my third year of college with a second internship set up for next summer, so let me share with you how I got them:
I first made a GitHub and hosted all my code there. Employers want to see that you can actually code - they'll want to see samples of your work. You can provide your GitHub on your resume. You may want to pick a professional-sounding GitHub, unlike mine.
On my resume, I focused on my skills. I might have taken a class on functional programming, but it doesn't mean that I should advertise that I know functional programming well unless I actually do. Make sure the code on your GitHub reflects that.
Make your resume as concise as possible - your potential employer may only have a minute to glance at your resume. If it is impossible to read and understand, it may just get thrown away.
I then reached out at my university's career fair and applied to multiple companies. I made sure that I stayed and talked to the recruiters from companies that I really wanted to work for. They WILL remember you if you make a good impression. A good impression isn't always a snappy suit. It's your personality. Were you kind? Were you relate-able? Were you professional? I wore a polo to my career fair and got the internship, so I can attest that they really do pay attention to your personality. That doesn't mean you can show up in jeans, but you don't need a $400 suit either.
In my applications, I focused on why I really wanted to be a software engineer. I talked about why THEY want ME, not why I want them. Don't only talk about your applications - they can see that in your resume and GitHub. Of course, talk about it some, but make sure you talk about YOU. You aren't just some employee with a number - you're their potential intern, an investment the company is making in you.
Have a sense of humor with them. Don't be afraid to laugh and relate to your interviewers. During all of my interviews, the interviewer and I were laughing and having a good time. That can show that you are a good employee to be around. Don't be a rigid plank, but be professional. Know the boundaries there.
I interned at IBM last summer, and I'll be interning at Cerner next summer. You can get a great internship as long as you put forth the effort.
As far as personal projects - do something that interests you, as you will generally do a much better job with the project if you're actually interested in it.
That being said, mobile is huge - Android and iOS development is popular and never hurts your resume.
Thank you sooo much for that response! It helped a lot. I'm on my third year as well and recently scored an interview for an internship this summer. But that was the only interview I got. The rest of the companies rejected me. So I'm trying to figure out a way to fix my resume so other companies will consider me besides this one, just in case I don't get this job.
I'm just really stressed about getting an internship because I'm almost out of college and if I don't get one soon then it will be nearly impossible to find a job once I graduate..