Internship: Google High School Internships

As high school seniors inch closer to graduation, they may be interested in exploring future careers through internships. For students who want to work in the tech industry, landing a summer internship at Google can serve as a career-defining opportunity. If you’re interested in applying for an internship at one of the world’s most powerful tech companies, you’ll want to check out opportunities at the Google Computer Science Summer Institute.

The Basics of a Google High School Internship

Google offers several different types of internships for graduating high school seniors through its Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI). This is an immersive and intensive three-week session for high school seniors who are planning to attend a four-year college or university after graduation.

CSSI is divided into three categories:

• CSSI-HBCU: For those who plan on attending Historically Black Colleges.
• CSSI-Extension: You will study with other students on campus at a college that partners with Google.
• CSSI-Google: You will work directly with Google engineers in one of the Google offices.

To apply for any of these internships, you must be enrolled in a computer science, computer engineering, software engineering or related department for the upcoming school year.

Food, Lodging and Pay

Google keeps information about how much it pays interns private. It only shares that information with applicants once they’re accepted. It does pay for the students’ round-trip flight from the U.S. or Canada and also covers housing and meal expenses. For the HBCU program, students are housed in dorms, and daily transportation is provided to and from the Google offices.

For those attending CSSI-Extension, housing and meal stipends vary depending on the particular college they’re attending. Students who participate in CCSI-Google either receive a travel stipend if they live near a Google office or are housed in onsite dorms during the program. For those staying in the dorms, most meals are provided, while commuter students receive lunch at no cost every day.

What Are the Requirements?

Students who apply for a Google high school internship don’t need to have a background in technology. They only need to have a passion for it. The goal of the program is to expose students to potential careers in computer science, software engineering and other related subjects.

As long as you’re a high school senior who is planning to enroll at a four-year university in the U.S. or Canada to study a field related to computer science, you’re eligible to apply. Finally, you must ensure that you're able to attend every day of the high school summer internships. If you have any scheduling conflicts or require days off during the duration of the internship, you will not be eligible.

How Do You Apply?

To apply, you’ll need to upload your resume, high school transcripts (official or unofficial) and responses to a series of short-answer questions, all in PDF format, to Google's online application. As a bonus, once you apply for a CCSI internship, you’ll also have the opportunity to apply for a $10,000 Generation Google Scholarship ($5,000 in Canada).

Google indicates that it's committed to addressing diversity in tech fields, and therefore encourages students who are “historically underrepresented in the technology industry” to apply. If you’re planning on taking a gap year after high school, or if you’re planning on attending a two-year community college, you won’t be eligible for the program. Make sure you’re committed to enrolling in a four-year university or college before you apply.

What Else Do You Need to Know?

As you can expect, snagging an internship at Google is a highly competitive process. Therefore, when you apply, you’ll want to make sure that your resume and written responses are in top-notch shape and error-free.

While you don’t need to have any technical experience to apply, questions on the application ask about your level of familiarity with coding in certain programming languages, such as Objective C, Python and JavaScript. Moreover, the application itself is quite lengthy, so make sure you allow yourself enough time to fully and accurately answer the required questions.