Ask HN: How do I get through to startups for a summer position?

[windsurfer]

I am a second year student at a university in Ottawa, Canada. I have a fairly broad range of technical skills (graphic design, programming, networking) but none are particularly developed. For instance, I can create an AJAX web application, but lack the experience to know how to scale it or structure it for future maintenance.

I think that I could learn a lot from working in a local startup, but not quite sure the best way to approach one. Who should I contact? And how?

Also, which startups would even be interested in hiring generalized students like me?

[DanHulton]

Join this meetup group: http://www.meetup.com/The-Ottawa-LAMP-Perl-and-PHP-Meetup-Gr... and try networking there. There's a lot of smart local folk, and many of them are hiring.

[windsurfer → DanHulton]

Wow, thanks! This sounds great!

[jncraton]

I would definitely recommend trying to get on the inside of the startup somehow. A huge part of business is networking. Do anyone of your friends know someone who works at or owns a startup? See if they can put in a word for you and maybe get a face to face interview set up.

Make sure that you are clear that you are doing it for the educational experience and not for the money. I wouldn't necessarily offer to work for free, because I think that makes you sound a little desperate, but be clear that you aren't expecting to get paid a whole lot.

This is basically what I have done to get jobs the last two summers, and it has worked really well for me. Last summer, I worked for a guy who spoke in one of my comp sci classes and who I had a few connections with. The summer before that, I worked for an international nonprofit that I had several connections with. The pay was not great (basically just covered living expenses), but the experience was well worth it.

[paulgb]

Networking at local tech events would be a good start. If you code outside of class (which it sounds like you do), you are already ahead of 90% of people in most CS programs in Canada. In my experience, if you meet someone in person or are referred by a friend you have MUCH better odds of getting a reply than just sending an email with a resume.

Being able to demonstrate some working code is always good, whether it's a live site or some open-source contributions or some other code you can show. Assuming you have no work experience as a developer, it's pretty important that you demonstrate your abilities somehow.

Are you looking to stay within Ottawa? Ontario? Canada? There seems to be a lot going on in the GTA these days, if you're willing to live there.

[mrtron]

Carleton or UofO? Are you in the co-op program or looking for a general summer position?

Startups tend not to hire co-ops, because they cannot afford the risk of getting a dud. I worked for a term at a startup and it actually was very difficult to dive into, it was a very niche technology and nobody had time to guide me.

This early in your career, maybe working for a large company doing a small project would be ideal. You would probably get paid better and have a boss that has time for you.

If you want to volunteer at a startup and find the right team it would probably be the best opportunity for skill growth.

[wehriam]

I was in a similar situation years ago and found some great internships with small organizations.

Determine what type of company you'd like to work for and the region you'd like to work in. Put together your resume and a cover letter explaining your situation - student with skills seeks internship. Enthusiasm, personalization, and academic credentials will likely go a long way.

Breadth is important. Contact a lot of companies. You may not be able to work with your first choice, but there may be opportunities you're not aware of.

This worked well for me. I met enough people during my second internship in NYC that I had a bonus and a great job when I graduated.

In hindsight, I'd also recommend contacting non-HR employees of companies you're applying to. Don't be afraid to track down the CEO's Skype or AIM account. If you send a personal email, I see no problem in following up with a phone call.

I want to emphasize that it's unlikely something interesting will fall in your lap, so you need to be proactive. That said, I think you'll be surprised by the response and happy with the results.

[apalmblad]

I've both been hired at startups through the coop program and have hired employees through the coop program for my startup.

Give that a try.

In Canada, if your marks are high enough (B average), you can also qualify for an NSERC undergrad student research award, which basically lets a startup recoup half of a reasonable salary if they were to pay you.

[thinkcomp]

I'd be interested in talking with you about an internship.

jobs@thinkcomputer.com

[carlosrr]

When I was looking for internships I would just look for startup lists on cities I was interested in. I saw their open positions and sent a mail with my resume and a well crafted cover letter based on what I was interested on. Most companies were very accessible and would at least reply back.

[vaksel]

email and offer to work for free

[kolya3 → vaksel]

Even if you're anxious to get a job in the industry, I would argue that you should never offer to do so for free. Employers don't value "free" because they assume it's sub-standard even if you kick ass. You may be great, but if you offer to do something for free, your time likely won't be valued much and you'll end up working the useless projects. It's not fair, it doesn't make sense, but I notice that's just how people treat "free" and the highest paid opinion usually wins even if it's not always right. Respect yourself, ask for at least token pay.

[jacquesm → kolya3]

I used to offer myself for 'free' as a youngster, then after a week I'd ask how much they'd pay me if I stayed. Never had a company not make a half decent offer after that week.

You risk a week, if they know what they've got they'll keep you, if you're not worth keeping then the problem might be on your end.

[sachinag → jacquesm]

Here's the problem: he wants to work at a startup. A startup, if successful, that's at ramen profitability - meaning, there isn't any cash for you even if they wanted to pay.

If you've got a VC-backed startup with cash, they're recruiting interns through the traditional processes anyway, where this guy is going to have trouble standing out.

[jacquesm → sachinag]

So, the pay could be in something other than cash, if the startup is anywhere near successful bragging rights would be one thing that would be valuable, a really good reference would be another.

I remember that when I was 15 I worked for free in a computer store, the deal was simple: I could play with the computer as much as I wanted, but if a customer showed up I had to explain how it worked as good as I could (Radio Shack in Amsterdam). So, even if I didn't get 'paid' in money I got to play with a computer that I could not have afforded for several years.

Maybe something like that is feasible in this case.

[sachinag → jacquesm]

I completely agree. The resume boost/reference can be worth more than $9/hour.

[vaksel → kolya3]

the problem is that "hiring" someone where they get paid is a HUUUUUUUGE pain in the ass because of all those state/federal forms you need to fill out for employees.

Which is why the really early stage startups don't really hire. Since they want to avoid that hassle.

Also when startups are squeezing every penny trying to get profitable/launch, they can't take a chance and start paying someone, even the few grand a month a "paid" intern would earn.

[fizx → vaksel]

An email is noise. Meeting in person (in the context of a relevant event, conference, meetup, etc.) or submitting patches to the startup's pet OSS projects is signal.

[paulgb → vaksel]

I wouldn't offer to work for free. An employee is never free to a company anyway. They cost the company in office space, electricity, liability, and most importantly their time.

[cvinson]

We'll actually be posting an opening for an intern at Carleton; we can definitely use a generalist like yourself. Our company, bandzoogle.com is based in Montreal, but we have employees in the UK and US. We're not really a "startup" anymore, but we can give you some experience in scaling a web app (we use S3/EC2). If you're interested, hit me up at chris[at]bandzoogle.com

[simonk]

Check with your a university advisor. In Vancouver we have someone from the local university that helps places students at startups.

[spencerfry]

It's as simple as emailing and asking. It's good to be specific about what you're good at and what you'd like to work on. It helps if you're in the area and can commute as well. We had a few people email us and have picked one Computer Science student at Michigan (who lives in NYC) to work with us this summer in New York.

[shafqat]

We're always looking for good interns at NewsCred, although summer is a long ways away for us. Drop me a line and we'll keep in touch (shafqat at newscred dot com). We're launching a lot of new products in the next few months, so should be an exciting time.

[lepacha]

You should also consider putting a link here to your blog/portfolio or just a way to contact you. I am the founder of a Montreal-based startup and always love to talk to smart students who are eager to learn.

[windsurfer → lepacha]

Thanks, I've added my email.

[lepacha → windsurfer]

Where? Don't see it on your profile.

[windsurfer → lepacha]

Oh I'm sorry. I didn't notice that the "Email" field isn't public. You can contact me at windsurfer619@gmail.com

[psyklic]

Go to entrepreneurship or tech networking events. At least in LA, I'm always surprised that no students show up!