Are you someone looking to build a career in open source and open science?

If yes, then Outreachy is a great program to kickstart your journey.

Hey everyone, I am Janvi. I am a past Outreachy intern selected for the May 2022 cohort who worked with Firefox on their project "Firefox Picture-in-Picture Improvements". You can read about my outreachy experience in this series. After getting so many DMs, I have tried to write the process of Outreachy in this article in a simplified way. Initial applications are open for the May 2023 cohort, so make sure to apply.

What is Outreachy?

Outreachy is one of the most prestigious open-source programs that seek to promote the participation of people who are under-represented in technology or have faced discrimination of any kind in the tech industry. It provides three-month internships where interns work on a project under the guidance of experienced mentors. Interns get to network with amazing communities, alumni, organizers, and various people in the tech industry and are paid a stipend of a whopping $7,000. The program is conducted twice a year during the summer and winter.

What are the eligibility criteria and who can apply?

Outreachy is open to applicants around the world. Outreachy expressly invites applicants of all backgrounds, especially those who face systemic bias or discrimination in the technology industry of their country, irrespective of their gender, country of origin, age, and overall identity.

Some requirements you need -

• You are 18 years of age or older.

• You were not an intern with Outreachy, the Outreach Program for Women, or a Google Summer of Code mentee previously.

• If you are a university student, you must have 42 consecutive days free from school and exams in your academic calendar during the internship period.

  For more info, do visit https://www.outreachy.org/docs/applicant/#eligibility

Application Process

The application process is split into three steps.

Initial Application

Initial applications for the summer round open around late January or February. And for the winter round, applications open around August. Check out the outreachy yearly schedule here.

The initial application checks your eligibility criteria and asks you to fill out certain essay questions. This form contains questions asking for your availability, country of residence, country of work, time zone, and other commitments during the internship period.

This is followed by essay-type questions where you have to write about your story or challenges that you faced in the tech industry. An individual can completely express their successes and failures which made them who they are. This is a crucial part of the application and needs to be filled out carefully. You can take a couple of days or more, write your answers neatly in a separate doc, and then fill out your application all at once, for you cannot save your answers and resume again later on. You may ask for reviews/feedback from experienced folks or past interns/alumni. Check out the essay questions asked here. You can expect the result of your initial application in a month or so.

Contribution Period

If your initial application is approved, you will move on to the contribution period, which usually lasts a month.

The approved applicants can view the full list of projects and organizations participating. Each project lists the tech stack that is primarily needed. Study the project list to determine which interests you. You do not need to know everything about the project, but you should have something, to begin with. Solve a good first issue and be sure to record the contributions you make on the Outreachy's dashboard.

Join the organization's mailing list and their IRC, introduce yourself, interact with other fellows, and try to contact your mentors.

Tips for the Contributions -

• Choose your project wisely.

• Try to stick to at most 1-3 organizations that match your skill. (Joining more organizations doesn't increase your chances of selection). The organization looks for applicants with quality contributions. (remember quality>>>>quantity)

• Start contributing and exploring past projects early. Early contributors get an edge since they are already familiar with the code structure and inner workings. Mentors notice applicants who start contributing early.

• Maintain regular communication with the mentors and other members of the community. This ensures that you understand the working style of the organization and adapt to it well when the internship period starts.

Final Application

You have to create a final application and submit it before the deadline.

Once you have contributed, record it on the Outreachy website. You will be asked to fill out questions based on your experiences working with open-source organizations, and your relevant projects that demonstrate your skills. Make sure to add points that mention some positive aspects, including what you like about the current organization and its projects, and how you could be an ideal fit. You will be asked to provide a general timeline that broadly defines how you are going to tackle and complete the project during the time period. At last, submit your final application. And again, you may take feedback/reviews from experienced folks for assurance. Check out the final application questions here.

Woohoo, the process is completed. 🚀

Does that mean you are selected as an intern?

No. Keep contributing after the contribution period ends, as results are announced after a month. It is found that potentially selected applicants continually submit PRs and their works to stand out among others.

If you have made it as an outreachy intern, congratulations 🥳 and throw a huge party. Just kidding 😅

What if your application doesn't get approved or you cannot make it?

No worries, at least you have got some experience to get started. Outreachy encourages applicants to keep applying again and give their best.

For more information, please go through the Outreachy website thoroughly. It explains everything in great detail.

For those of you who have not yet ventured into the open-source world, start exploring now. Open source contribution provides ample opportunity to progress one’s coding skills. It also helps software engineers gain exposure to new programming languages. Your main target should be learning and networking, not just getting selected for this program. All your hard work will pay off eventually.

Thanks for reading! I hope you find this blog post useful. Please check out my other blog posts. Do not forget to check out my Outreachy series articles.

Feel free to connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Drop in any doubts in the DMs :)