Ask HN: How to get a non-tech internship at a startup? - quotz
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ugochiowo
1\. Write down what you're hoping to gain from interning at a startup. Are you
looking for paid or unpaid internships? Industry specific or agnostic? Early
stage or later stage startups? Many early stage startups are tight with
budget.

2\. Hop on AngelList (angel.co) and scour through startups in your area.
Identify 10 that you're interested in and why.

3\. Reach out to the team via LinkedIn or AngelList with your request + what
you're hoping to learn from the internship and why them. Invite a team member
for coffee or an intro call

4\. Goodluck :)

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a-saleh
I wouldn't aim for startups. I would aim for larger, established corporations,
that have good track-record with internships.

I am biased, but speaking from my experience at RedHat in Czech republic, from
time-to-time I would see interns doing university outreach, in our finance
department and some taking care of our facilities. Technical-writing might fit
your bill as well.

I would look for open-house-days, or local conferences where employees of your
chosen corp would present. This might give you a better leg into their doors
than just spamming their generic CV inbox .

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mtmail
Look at job ads? Contact the company? Write a CV? How is non-tech different
than tech position in that regard?

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quotz
well I am just moving to the US and literally theres like 5 software dev
positions for 1 non-tech position. I find it difficult to see how startups
would benefit from an intern who is not a software dev

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cimmanom
Most of the startups and small companies I’ve worked for hired many more
interns for non-tech positions than for technical ones. Non-technical
departments are at least as under-resourced as technical ones and just as
desperate to have more hands on deck.

Most interns end up doing a lot of time consuming stuff that requires some
basic understanding of the business but not much skill or experience - like
researching sales or PR leads and filling out spreadsheets with that info.

Some startups have interns run their social media campaigns or fill in when
customer service load is heavy. I’ve also seen an intern tasked with writing
first drafts of blog posts and white papers that a founder had been meaning to
get to for months but couldn’t find the time.

