How do I get an engineering internship?

To get an engineering internship, you must have a good GPA, complete some upper-level courses toward your degree in engineering, and have a polished resume and cover letter. The first step is to do your research. The best place to start your internship search is with companies that are actively looking for interns. Engineering firms will typically advertise this information on their career page, job-seeking sites like indeed, or even craigslist. There are also specialized engineering internships websites.

How do I succeed in a software engineering internship?

The way you succeed in a software engineering internship is to take advantage of the networking and learning opportunities presented to you. If you want your software engineering internship to lead to a job offer or help you build a strong resume, you will need to showcase and develop your skills.

How much are software engineer interns paid?

Software engineer interns are paid $28 to $30 an hour, on average. However, the bigger the company, the more an intern can get paid. Companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook, earning up to $10,000 a month.

How To Become A Software Engineering Internship: What It Is and Career Path

What is a software engineering internship and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

Whether you're a recent high school graduate or looking to transition into a tech career, becoming a software engineering intern may help your professional growth. Getting an internship in software development offers the incredible opportunity to gain hands-on work experience you won't get in a classroom setting. Transitioning to a career in software development has great benefits, such as full-time employment at large tech companies, a lucrative income, and job security. Experience as a software engineer, even as an intern, can also gives you an advantage over other job seekers.

Being an intern puts you in an excellent position to learn from others. Generally, you may work under a team of skilled senior software engineers, allowing you to meet people in the industry and build new connections. Along with networking and receiving mentorship, you'll gain significant skills useful later in your career journey. Working alongside experienced engineers, you may do coding, debug software applications, plan and execute technical production, communicate your vision, and collaborate with the team on a shared goal.

To become an engineering intern, you may require education in computer science, engineering, or a related field. You may apply for various internship programs with a company or a boot camp program. Generally summer internships or full-time internships are available. However, as a student, you may be limited to part-time or flexible schedules. To be successful, you'll need have an aptitude for technology and programming, adaptability, and the ability to work in a team. Software interns, may earn an average annual wage of $43,726, along with an the excellent opportunity to transition into a full-time industry job.

What general advice would you give to a Software Engineering Internship?

Frank McCown Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Harding University

The market is stable for software developers, despite the economic challenges created by the pandemic. Before accepting a job offer, talk to the company's employees through online meetings or email, and see what they think of the company. Do they enjoy their work? Are there opportunities to learn new technologies? How does the company treat their employees? There's a good chance you will be working remotely in your first job, so you will need to exercise a lot of self-discipline, be punctual for online meetings, do the work you've been assigned, and know when to ask questions when you get stuck. Expect a steeper-than-normal learning curve if you are working remotely instead of in an office.

ScoreSoftware Engineering InternshipUS Average

Salary

3.7

Avg. Salary $47,164

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.0

Growth Rate 21%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 42.64%

Black or African American 4.05%

Hispanic or Latino 7.74%

Unknown 4.69%

White 40.71%

Gender

female 24.03%

male 75.97%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress Level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.9

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

6.6

Work Life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Newest jobs for Software Engineering Internship in Ashburn, VA

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Key steps to become a software engineering internship

Explore software engineering internship education requirements

Most common software engineering internship degrees

Bachelor's

71.1 %

Master's

22.2 %

Associate

3.4 %

Start to develop specific software engineering internship skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	16.21%
Python	11.65%
Object Oriented Programming	5.14%
Software Development	5.01%
Cloud	4.03%

Complete relevant software engineering internship training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New software engineering interns learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a software engineering internship based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real software engineering internship resumes.

Research software engineering internship duties and responsibilities

Manage and coordinate a team of Asp.net developers to deploy and deliver successful applications.
Establish and achieve goals using sprint scrum methodologies and contribute to the retrospective meetings
Manage various 3D-modeling, visualization and animation projects to create a comprehensive and efficient software package for large-scale 3D animation projects.
Develop a full web application in MySQL, PHP, and JavaScript, and deploy it using RightScale and AWS.

Prepare your software engineering internship resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your software engineering internship resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a software engineering internship resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Software Engineering Internship Resume templates

Build a professional Software Engineering Internship resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Software Engineering Internship resume.

Apply for software engineering internship jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a software engineering internship job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average software engineering internship salary

The average Software Engineering Internship salary in the United States is $47,164 per year or $23 per hour. Software engineering internship salaries range between $30,000 and $73,000 per year.

Average Software Engineering Internship Salary

$47,164 Yearly

$22.68 hourly

How do software engineering interns rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Software Engineering Internship reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

Problem solving and cutting edge technology - always learning and evolving my skill set

Cons

Still have to deal with people :)

A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020

Pros

Learn much about different systems. Project management and worthy salary.

Cons

Stop and hold in regular degree of salary and responsibilities. I am so eager to learn much and so effective

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

I enjoyed working on creative problems that dealt with the user interface

Cons

I didn't like how technical it could become

What is a software engineering internship and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a Software Engineering Internship?

Newest jobs for Software Engineering Internship in Ashburn, VA

Software Engineering Internship career paths

Key steps to become a software engineering internship

Explore software engineering internship education requirements

Most common software engineering internship degrees

Start to develop specific software engineering internship skills

Complete relevant software engineering internship training and internships

Research software engineering internship duties and responsibilities

Prepare your software engineering internship resume

Choose From 10+ Customizable Software Engineering Internship Resume templates

Apply for software engineering internship jobs

How Did You Land Your First Software Engineering Internship Job

Average software engineering internship salary

How do software engineering interns rate their job?

Software Engineering Internship reviews

Software Engineering Internship FAQs

How do I get an engineering internship?

How do I succeed in a software engineering internship?

How much are software engineer interns paid?

Search for software engineering internship jobs

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