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Students · Internships & co-ops

Get the internship.
Then the offer.

An internship is the clearest path from CS coursework to a full-time offer. Most Kent State CS students do at least one before they graduate, and a lot of them get hired where they interned. Here’s how to line one up, whatever year you’re in.

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Internships Co-ops Summer & semester Credit optional
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Intern before they graduate
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Co-op to full-time conversion
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Typical CS intern pay

First, the basics

Internship or co-op?

Internship

Shorter, usually a summer

  • 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

Longer, you step out of classes

  • 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

Not sure which fits your plan? Talk to your academic advisor or the CS department about how a co-op affects your graduation timeline.

The four-year path

What to do, and when.

1First year

Build the basics and a habit of shipping

Get comfortable with a language, version control, and finishing small projects. Start a GitHub. You probably won’t land a big internship yet, and that’s fine. Aim to have two or three projects you can talk about by spring.

2Second year

Apply for your first internship

This is the year it becomes realistic. Applications for summer roles open in the fall, so start early. Go to the Career Fair, get your resume reviewed, and apply widely. A first internship is the hardest one to get, so cast a wide net.

3Third year

Level up, or start a co-op

With one internship behind you, aim higher: bigger teams, harder problems, better pay. This is also the sweet spot for a co-op if a longer, deeper experience fits your schedule. Keep in touch with anyone who interviewed you last year.

4Final year

Convert an internship into a full-time offer

The most common way to have a job at graduation is a return offer from where you interned. If you don’t have one, your internship experience makes full-time applications far stronger. Start the full-time search in the fall.

Where the roles are

Where to actually look.

Handshake

The university’s job platform, and the first place to check. Employers post internships aimed specifically at Kent State students, and your profile is visible to recruiters.

Search Handshake

The CS Career Fair

Every fall, employers come to campus to meet students face to face. Most are hiring interns. It’s the highest-leverage afternoon of the semester for finding a role.

See the fair

The Industry Seminar Series

Industry partners visit throughout the year to talk about their work and their teams. It’s a low-pressure way to meet people who hire, and to hear what they look for.

View the series

Faculty & the department

Professors and the department office hear about openings and research positions that never get posted publicly. Ask the faculty who know your work.

CS at Kent State

Company sites & national boards

Big employers run their own early-career pipelines. Apply directly on their careers pages, and use national boards to find postings that never reach campus.

Browse listings

People you already know

Classmates who interned last summer, alumni, and student org connections are one of the most reliable ways in. Referrals move your application to the top of the pile.

Career Services

Before you apply

Get yourself ready.

Get your resume to one clean pageProjects, coursework, and any experience, with numbers where you have them. Get it reviewed at Career Services before you send it anywhere.
Build a GitHub worth looking atTwo or three finished projects with a readable README beat a dozen half-started ones. It gives a recruiter something concrete to react to.
Apply early, and apply widelySummer internship applications open in the fall and fill fast. Volume matters, especially for your first one. Don’t wait until spring.
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 it’s how a lot of first conversations start.
Track your applicationsA simple spreadsheet of where you applied, when, and any follow-ups keeps you from losing track once things pick up. Follow up on the ones that go quiet.

Common questions

The things students ask.

They can. The CS department offers an internship course you can enroll in for credit, but you don’t have to take an internship for credit to do one. Check the current requirements with your advisor before the semester the internship starts.

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

Earlier than you’d expect. Summer internship recruiting largely happens the fall and winter before, and the biggest employers close applications early. If you’re aiming for a summer role, be applying by September or October.

Yes, but there are work-authorization steps (such as CPT) you need to handle before you start. Talk to Kent State’s Office of Global Education early, since the paperwork takes time and has to be in place before your first day.

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

Start now

The best time to
start was last fall.

The next best time is today. Open Handshake, see what’s posted, and get one application out this week. Momentum is the whole game.

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