What is Outreachy?

According to the official website of Outreachy:

Outreachy provides internships in open source and open science. Outreachy provides internships to people subject to systemic bias and impacted by underrepresentation in the technical industry where they are living.

Outreachy internships are:

💵 Paid - $7,000 USD total internship stipend

🌍 Remote - both interns and mentors work remotely

🕰 3 months - internships run May to August, or December to March

You can check if you're eligible to apply for Outreachy internships by clicking here.

I did my Outreachy internship with the Wikimedia Foundation in 2020. Here are some tips based on my experience that will help you with your application process:

1. Choose your project wisely

This is an important step, so take your time to figure out the project you are most comfortable with and then start contributing to it. Most projects are listed before the application procedure actually opens.

2. Contact your mentors

If you are stuck somewhere, don’t hesitate to seek help from your mentors or other people in the project community through the mentioned communication channel.

3. Contribute. Contribute. Contribute.

This is the most important part of your application as only applicants that make at least one contribution are eligible to be accepted as an intern. The strongest applicants make multiple contributions throughout the application process, including after the application deadline.

4. Take time to draft your proposal

Have a look at previously accepted proposals and draft your proposal accordingly. Update it as you make contributions. Ask for feedback on your proposal draft from your mentors. Sometimes, an organization requires you to submit a proposal to them apart from the one you are already submitting through the Outreachy dashboard. Make sure you submit at both the places.

5. Start early

Don’t wait until the last week to start your application. You can save your application and update it along the way. Apart from the project, you should know about your fellow applicants. If you feel that there are already a lot of strong applicants in that project, I’ll advise to move to another project. That’s why I will suggest to start contributing early and have a better understanding of the codebase of the project you wish to apply to.

6. Don’t lose hope

If you don’t get selected, don’t give up. If someone doesn’t respond to your query, don’t give up. Outreachy takes place twice a year! You can always reapply in the next round!

Thank you for reading and all the best! You can read more about applying to Outreachy on the Outreachy Application Guide.