My name is Zoë Klapman and I am currently a third-year/junior student at Monmouth University majoring in computer science and expecting to graduate in May 2023. I balance my time in the classroom with playing on Monmouth University’s Division I Women’s Tennis Team.
One of my goals for the year was to secure a summer internship. Setting out to find an internship was quite demanding and required that I invest numerous hours. This process entailed multiple steps that began prior to my third year. Early-on, I had been advised on the importance of building a portfolio of projects to include on my resume to attract potential employers. By the end of the summer following my second year, I developed a python application to do facial recognition, and uploaded the project to my GitHub account. Throughout the summer, I also began studying and preparing for the technical interviews required during the interviewing process. I used multiple websites to review and apply my knowledge of data structures. As well as studying technical skills, I regularly attended virtual events hosted by prospective companies to learn about the interviewing process and watched countless YouTube videos to best prepare for standard interviewing questions. I managed all of this prep work while completing two summer school classes and training for tennis.
In the fall of my junior year, per my professor’s suggestion, I took the CS/SE-337 Enterprise Mobile Apps class to learn how to develop apps in iOS and build on my list of projects to bolster my resume. The class enhanced my qualifications during job search. During winter break, I focused on sending out resumes, filling out applications, studying for technical interviews, while continuing to train on a tennis court. For me, the process continued into the first half of the spring semester. I averaged three interviews/tests per week. Some companies began with phone call interviews, whereas other companies started off with technical interviews/tests and cognitive exams. Many of the initial interviews were spent discussing my background, where I had the opportunity to go into detail about my previous projects. My semester project from the iOS Apps class was a main topic of conversation – interviewers asking about applying computer science concepts in developing software. After several interviews and tests, I finally landed the right opportunity. I am very much looking forward to working at The Climate Corporation as a Software Engineer Intern in an iOS app development role for summer 2022 in San Francisco, California.