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Start a startup every year? How is that remotely feasible? Where are they getting this money and time from?

My advice to you would be to study hard and try to get decent grades. Work hard, network, go to all the Comp Sci professional organization meetings you possibly can (I think ACM) and ask every presenter from industry for help getting your first internship. Don't join any clubs or fraternities that will suck away your time and cause your grades to drop, but if ACM sponsors a competition, give it a go if you have the time as it will give you something to talk about with recruiters. Upperclassmen can help to get you internships too if you're serious (sometimes previous employers will reach out to them for new interns). It doesn't hurt to have something unique on your resume that all your classmates don't also have. If you can get some free certifications online or even experience with things other freshman/sophomore don't know about, but are crucial to modern businesses (SQL is everywhere) than that helps.

It's really hard to get an internship without any previous internships, but once you get one and can talk about it (provide references), you become less risky to potential employers, and it is much easier to get the second one. It's kind of the chicken and the egg problem. I once tried to get an internship at a company that I was uniquely suited to for a lot of reasons and it just so happened to have a headquarters 1/2 mile from my parents house. I sent lots of emails, knew all about their company, and was waiting to speak to them at career day and at professional organization meetings, but they kept hiring this one very questionable student in his 6th year still taking sophomore classes (weird situation). I was really interested in a certain industry though and an older girl (junior) gave my name to a company that asked her last minute for anybody interested in this niche field. The rest is history and it's been great since then, so keep your head up.

When dealing with employers, dress nicely, be humble and friendly, but confident. Persistent, but not annoying :).




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