It can be difficult to know where to start. Here are a few first steps that you can take on your journey to finding an internship.

Find a Mentor

Mentors can come from anywhere! They can be older students, parents, career advisors, or just random people you meet along the way.

An easy way to gain 10 mentors in 5 minutes is to follow all of the people on our list of LinkedIn creators. These people’s posts will keep you updated and give you valuable insights into internships and tech careers.

Set Goals and Expectations

The rest of the Getting Started chapter will help you figure out what you want to get out of the internship process. It will also help you manage your expectations and understand the time and effort that goes into becoming a successful candidate.

Get to Work

After you feel comfortable, get to work! That could mean networking, preparing your resume, applying, studying for coding tests, etc. Use our Timelines to help guide your progression, but start ASAP. We recommend your first task is to reach out to a friend, family member, or older student from your school to ask for advice as you are starting the process. You don’t have to have any skills or past experience to start learning – and you might gain a mentor along the way. We know it’s difficult to take that first action. But, just do it! As they say, “the best time to get started was yesterday. The next best time is right now.”