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Internships & co-ops

Internship or co-op?

Internship

  • Runs 10–14 weeks, most often over the summer
  • You stay a full-time student in the fall and spring
  • Great for a first real experience with a team and a codebase
  • Often converts to a return offer for the next summer or full-time

Co-op

  • Runs a full semester or two, sometimes alternating with school
  • You pause coursework and work full-time, then come back
  • Deeper involvement and more responsibility on real projects
  • Strongest signal for a full-time offer at the same company

Ask your academic advisor or the CS department how a co-op would affect your graduation timeline.

Timeline

1First year

Build the basics

Get comfortable with a language, version control, and finishing small projects. Aim for two or three you can talk about by spring.

2Second year

Apply for your first internship

Applications for summer roles open in the fall. Be applying by September or October, because the biggest employers close early. Go to the Career Fair and apply widely.

3Third year

Level up, or start a co-op

Aim for bigger teams and harder problems. This is also the time for a co-op if a longer experience fits your schedule. Keep in touch with anyone who interviewed you last year.

4Final year

Turn it into a full-time offer

The most common route to a job at graduation is a return offer from where you interned. Without one, your internship still strengthens full-time applications. Start the full-time search in the fall.

Where to look

Handshake

The university’s job platform and the first place to check. Employers post internships aimed at Kent State students, and recruiters can see your profile. Start from Career Services.

The CS Career Fair

Every fall, employers come to campus to meet students face to face, and most are hiring interns. More on the Career Fair site.

The Industry Seminar Series

Industry partners visit throughout the year to talk about their work. It’s a low-pressure way to meet people who hire. More on the seminar series page.

Faculty & the department

Professors and the department office hear about openings and research positions that are never posted publicly. Start with the CS department.

Company sites & national boards

Big employers run their own early-career pipelines, so apply on their careers pages. National boards such as LinkedIn Jobs list postings that never reach campus.

People you already know

Classmates who interned last summer, alumni, and student org connections are a reliable way in, and referrals move your application up the pile. For more help, see Career Services.

Get ready

Get your resume to one clean pageProjects, coursework, and any experience, with numbers where you have them. Have Career Services review it before you send it.
Build a GitHub worth looking atTwo or three finished projects with a readable README beat a dozen half-started ones.
Practice the interviewMost CS internships have a technical screen. Work through data-structures and algorithm problems out loud, and do a few mock interviews with classmates.
Set up a clean LinkedInKeep it current and match it to your resume. Recruiters check it, and many first conversations start there.
Track your applicationsKeep a spreadsheet of where you applied, when, and any follow-ups, and follow up on the ones that go quiet.

FAQ

They can. The CS department offers an internship course you can enroll in for credit, but credit isn’t required to intern. Check the current requirements with your advisor before the semester the internship starts.

The department doesn’t set a universal GPA cutoff, but individual employers often do, commonly around 3.0. A lower GPA isn’t disqualifying if your projects and experience are strong.

Yes, but work authorization (such as CPT) has to be in place before your first day. Talk to Kent State’s Office of Global Education early, since the paperwork takes time.

It’s common, especially the first time. Build a bigger project, contribute to open source, or take on undergraduate research with a professor. Research counts as real experience, and all of it strengthens next year’s applications.