How did I land my Outreachy internship with Mozilla
Tags: opensource, outreachy, codenewbie, webdev
Published: 2021-08-16 09:35:58

## Introduction about myself and what project I am working on

Hello fellow readers! I'm [Yogita Bhatia](https://twitter.com/YogitaBhatia20), a Software Engineer based in Mumbai, hacking on one of the opensource projects with Mozilla Firefox. As part of this project, I'm working on revamping the emails system used by Firefox Accounts under the mentorship of [Lauren](https://github.com/LZoog) and [Jody](https://github.com/jodyheavener) (probably the best mentors one can ever have). Since the initial applications are due and a lot of applicants are reaching out to me, thought it'd be to nice to have a quick summary of all the things related to Outreachy in a single place. In the next few sections, I'll be discussing what Outreachy is, the application procedure and some tips that really helped me land this internship. So without further ado, let's get started!

## What is Outreachy?

If you're not aware about Outreachy already, then you've come to the right place. Outreachy is an initiative which provides paid remote internships with opensource software projects to the underrepresented groups in Tech. Their aim is to bring diversity and inclusivity in tech. This was a very brief introduction about what Outreachy is and I'd strongly recommend checking out their extensive guide available on the [website](https://www.outreachy.org/) for further details related to the program, eligibility, rules, etc. 

## Why apply to Outreachy?

I cannot see why not? I'd still list down a few factors which can serve you enough motivation to apply for Outreachy.

- Outreachy internships are one of the best ways to start your journey in Tech.
- You really like the idea of free and opensource software and want to further make it better
- You get a mentor assigned (with a experience of 2 years or more on the project) who will guide you throughout those three months
- It is a paid remote internship program and the interns receive 6000$ for three months. I mean isn't it enough incentive to start applying already?
- And the best part about this internship is that even if your internship ends, you'll still be a part of the organization. Fascinating right?

## How to apply for Outreachy?

Okay now that you resonate with the above factors and would like to advance your career in tech, let's see how you can do it. Outreachy internships run twice a year (summer and fall) and anyone and everyone across the globe (matching the eligibility rules) is welcome to apply but they do have some clause related to what hemisphere you belong to. Students from Northern hemisphere are eligible to apply for the summer cohort whereas students from southern hemisphere need to apply for the winter cohort so if you're an Indian, you need to apply for the summer cohort. But again, if you're a working professional and ready to switch careers then feel free to apply in any of the cohorts. Now let's delve into the application process

The application procedure comprises of two phases:

1. Initial application phase
2. Contribution phase

### Initial application phase:

During this period, applicants are required to fill a form which helps the Outreachy organizers confirm your eligibility. The form basically contains a few one line questions and 3-4 essay questions. Be sure to check their [eligibility rules](https://www.outreachy.org/docs/applicant/#eligibility) before applying. The one line questions gather your personal information and your time commitments for three months of the internship while the essay questions need you to describe what kind of bias you have faced in your career and how you're a part of an underrepresented group. Remember the essay questions are an important part of your application and honestly describing your experiences is key. While I was drafting my application, I had networked with a lot of past Outreachy interns and documented a list of things to keep in mind while writing the essays [in this doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EW78jL9CZSBfZxAAqt0irk3vtGTshWtH2cbebFJy1MQ/edit?usp=sharing). I highly believe that these tips worked for me and would like to pass down to the future applicants to make their life easy. 

### Contribution phase

Well if you have made it to the contribution phase then pat your back as it was not a easy process. Now comes the contribution phase. This is a month long period of getting your hands dirty with the codebase of the project you selected. Participants need to make atleast one contribution to the project of their choice to make the final proposal. Also do make sure that you don't wait until the deadline to submit your proposal as you have the option to make edits to your proposal even after you submit it. The organizations participating in the cohort start posting their projects on the website from the day initial application phase opens up but typically the list gets finalized on the day contribution phase starts. So while it is highly recommended to start making your contributions early, it is equally risky since there are chances the organization changes the project at the very last minute or they might not have enough slots in the current cohort. So if you're starting early, it is highly recommended that you atleast pick 2 projects and contribute to them. In my case, I did not wait for the list to be finalized and picked one project under [Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org) and another under [CNCF](https://www.cncf.io/), though my preference was more towards Firefox because of my familiarity with the tech stack. Luckily both the projects got selected to participate in the cohort. There are also some other things to keep in mind while contributing during this phase which I have mentioned [in the doc](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EW78jL9CZSBfZxAAqt0irk3vtGTshWtH2cbebFJy1MQ/edit?usp=sharing).

## What did I do right to land this internship

Well, now that I think of it, the above information is pretty generic but I want you to know what things did I do right that helped me land such an amazing opportunity to work with Mozilla.

1. Start early
I followed this pointer shared with me by one of the past interns very seriously and as I mentioned above, I did not wait until the last minute and started contributing early. There was no one who had started contributing before and literally everyone joined the public channel after they got notified of the results. So if you start early and you get selected for the contribution phase you're already one step ahead of others and that is a big plus since the mentors do keep a note of that
2. Keep in touch with your mentors 
A lot of times participants stop contributing after making 2-3 contributions. This leaves a very bad impression on the mentors since they're looking for participants who genuinely want to be a part of the organization and are not just there for the internship. I was regularly asking doubts about the project on open issues or on the community channel but please be patient and wait for atleast 2-3 days for the mentors to respond since they've a lot on their plate apart from mentoring the project.
3. Post your doubts on community channels so that it's helpful for others as well
It's considered a good practice to post your doubts, or any errors you faced on the community channels instead of DMing the mentor as it becomes helpful for other participants too if they're going through the same difficulty as you as well as the response comes quicker since it is being read by a broader audience.
4. Help others during their journey
I was ahead of others and had already contributed to one issue even before the inital application phase results were out. I took this opportunity and helped others facing issues while setting up the project. Remember opensource is not about competition, it is rather about collaboration. So keep up your collaborative spirit and help others in their journey.
5. Read the docs
Many times, participants often forget to look at the docs and keep asking about trivial things clearly mentioned in the docs. This is considered to be a bad practice and the very first step to start contributing is to go through the docs.
6. SHOW UP
The most important thing and yet very frequently overlooked is to show up and start contributing. I know a couple of interns who took 2-3 weeks to record a contribution to the project and got selected because they consistently showed up and did what was required of them. Outreachy [stats](https://twitter.com/outreachy/status/1394322369817178117?s=20) suggest that only 329 applicants made a contribution out of 719 selected for the second phase.

As part of my final thoughts, I can only say one thing that it is one of the best things that has happened to me in my tech career and would really be up for any kind of help and support needed by anyone. Feel free to ping me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/YogitaBhatia20). Happy coding 🙂