Summer 2022 Internships

By Scarlet Data Studio

February 9, 2022

Want to be a software engineer? Join us!

Applications are now closed. Sign up for our email list for updates on future opportunities.

Join Our Email List

Overview

Scarlet Data Studio is a paid opportunity for underrepresented Illinois Tech students to work on a six-week software engineering internship with professional alumni mentors.

Last summer we hosted ten students, you can read more about their projects here. This summer will be our third cohort.

The program is designed for students with little or no experience outside of coursework. Any student who feels comfortable coding in Python is eligible.

Job Search Resources

We want to help you succeed in your job or internship search! That is why Scarlet Data Studio has a special model: we do not select interns until the end of the semester. Instead, we provide resources to help you find a role that fits your interests.

If your search is successful, you can get an offer from another organization even before the semester ends! And if despite all your efforts you are not able to get another internship, you will still have a chance to join Scarlet Data Studio.

Application Timeline

  • Feb 9: Application opens
  • Apr 4: Application closes
  • May 9: Decisions sent to applicants
  • May 27: Final status for waitlisted applicants
  • Jun 27: Internship starts
  • Aug 5: Internship ends

If you are not accepted, you will be placed on the waitlist. Acceptances cannot be transferred. If you decide not to participate in Scarlet Data Studio (hopefully because you found another opportunity!), please let us know so we can open the spot up to someone on the waitlist. We will finalize all spots by May 27th.

Internship Details

Program Goals

Scarlet Data Studio helps underrepresented Illinois Tech students advance in their software engineering careers by:

  • Offering a project that will help students succeed in their job search
  • Paying students to do work in their field of study
  • Connecting students with alumni who can advocate for them

About You

The program is for current Illinois Tech students, in any major. Experience outside of coursework is not required, as we will meet students where they are.

You will be well-prepared for this program if you:

  • Are interested in software engineering, coding, and/or computer science
  • Feel comfortable coding in Python

If you have any of these optional additional skills that will help us pick a project for you:

  • Some exposure to data structures and algorithms
  • Some exposure to coding in SQL
  • Some exposure to coding in JavaScript

Mentors

All the mentors are Illinois Tech alumni who work professionally in software engineering. We will introduce you to the project, pair program with you, answer your questions, and support you in your career development. We are excited to work with you and help you get to the next level!

Compensation

Each intern be paid $1,800, for a rate of $30 per hour for 60 hours total.

Learning Outcomes

  • You will read and understand code in a large codebase
  • You will use Python to implement new features in a digital product
  • You will learn to write unit tests, conduct code reviews, and do pair programming
  • You will start your next job/internship search with a resume review, mock interview, career chat, and personal blog post describing your contributions

Projects

Our team will be building a digital product that is yet to be announced. Each mentor will serve as the tech lead for a part of the codebase and each intern will take ownership of an important feature.

Each intern will complete three projects during the internship, the first two are assigned to you:

  1. Starter Project: a small code change that can be completed in one pull request
  2. Core Project: a new feature you will launch that has already been scoped out
  3. Stretch Project: a new idea you scope out with your mentor to grow in an area of interest

Schedule

The internship will run from Monday, June 27th to Friday, August 5th.

Interns work ten hours per week on a flexible schedule. We match mentors with interns who have similar availability to make it easier to schedule 1:1 meetings.

Here are the general milestones for interns:

  • Week 1: Complete onboarding, merge first pull request, understand core project
  • Week 2: Make progress on core project
  • Week 3: Launch core project, get feedback from a real user
  • Week 4: Improve core project based on feedback
  • Week 5: Scope a stretch project and start working on it
  • Week 6: Complete stretch project and present your contributions

Thanks for reading.