Finding SWE Internships

How can undocumented immigrants do software engineering internships?

If you are an undocumented students who has DACA (lawful status + work authorization), you can apply for paid internships just like U.S. citizens and permanent residents. You can skip the rest of this section and move on to the content below.

If you do NOT have DACA, things are a bit more tricky. The only legal option for you is to do unpaid internships. One option for finding unpaid internships is to use Wellfound (formerly called AngelList) to find startups that need help with building out their products. Typically, back-end, front-end, and full-stack software engineers are in high demand for new, early-stage startups. You can also use LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, and other similar platforms to find unpaid internships or “volunteer” roles. Use Google to search for “unpaid” or “volunteer” software engineering internships.

Once you’ve found an unpaid job you’re interested in, you can go ahead and apply! Just be sure to not indicate that you are a U.S. citizen or permanent resident or someone who has work authorization (you do NOT want to risk getting in trouble by submitting false information). Usually they shouldn’t ask for this information for unpaid roles, but some organizations may still do.

Feel free to take some of my tips below on improving your resume and getting an interview!