CSCareerQuestions

As a manager who hires developers:

• A candidate's publicly readable source code makes a big difference.
• Most candidates have no public readable source code, but the ones that do, typically have 3-5 projects, with 1 or 2 showing activity within the last week.
• Some candidates game the 'recent activity', by making commits in the week before an interview. I notice, but I'm still impressed with the effort.
• The number one thing a rookie coding candidate can do in an interview is convince me that they know how and when to ask questions. Rookies who don't stop to ask questions can waste a lot of time and do a lot of damage.
• Do use a recruiter, if you're able. I have a few I trust, and if you can impress yours, they can get you an interview with me when I'm otherwise too busy. You'll also get more money, because they get paid based on what you get paid.

Spitballing ideas:

• Have you contacted your school's career services department about internships?
• Have you talked to your professors about internships?
• Have you attended career faires on campus?
• Have you attended any meetups or conferences (in person or on-line)?
• Have you contacted the alumni department of your school?

FAANG manager here.

First, I’d advise to manage expectations when it comes to remote internships. There might be some companies offering them, but there’s possibly going to be a lot of tradeoffs. Larger companies that hire summer interns will often offer relocation, housing, and salary. We do it because we use the internship program to find new hires. Interns get an onboarding experience into corporate culture and a chance to work with mentors on a deliverable product that will be presented to a corporate audience. Not all interns get an offer, but the point of the program is to find candidates.

With that out of the way and assuming you’re a US citizen with a good GPA, also consider looking into things like the National labs programs. They also offer competitive salaries, relo, and housing (iirc). Other government agencies probably have similar programs in place. If you have a research interest you’re interested in pursuing at the graduate level, make sure to mention that as well as any relevant work.

Neither the top tier companies nor government programs generally work with recruiters, and especially not with interns, and most especially not with undergraduates. Like someone else said, you’re probably a bit late off the mark for intern programs for this year (but it doesn’t hurt to look). On the other hand, you might have enough knowledge and experience to take on a junior programmer position at a smaller firm, which might be open to remote work. The pay won’t be much, I suspect, but it’d be resume fodder and a real job, which also looks good on a resume. You can still do an internship if you decide to do grad school, but this time with real world experience as well.

Good luck!

One of the main things going against you right now is timing. A lot of companies try to line up their summer interns by January at the very latest. I had mine confirmed last November.

Other than that, it's good to try to tailor your projects to the kind of industry you want as best as possible. Like if you're looking for a job in aerospace or the medical industry, do something where your software is talking to hardware. It doesn't really matter what kind of hardware - do something that controls a cheap SBC or something, just to show interfacing with something realtime. That's just an example; think of the skills your target job would need, and then figure out how to demonstrate those skills on a smaller scale.

I also look at hobbies for kinds of interest. The company I work for makes major rocket engines, so I'll perk up when I see people who list their school's rocketry club, for instance.