What is Outreachy Internship Program?

Outreachy is a three-month-long internship program which is organized by the Software Freedom Conservancy for the people who are underrepresented in this specific field. It is a paid and remote internship, and it is conducted twice a year that is from May to August and December to March. In the Outreachy program, you will get to contribute to open source so if you are familiar to open source then this will increase your chances of getting shortlisted for the program. The amount paid as a stipend is around 7000 USD and the internship completely works from home but if you need to attend any event related to this program then the travel stipend of 500 USD is also available. The Outreachy Internship program is not only for programmers or developers, there are lots of opportunities in the Outreachy program for non-technical people too. This article will cover everything you need to know about the Outreachy program.

Eligibility

Let’s just start with the eligibility, Outreachy program is open for all, but they do follow some protocols. There are different eligibility criteria for different people which is discussed in depth in the following points. So following are the eligibility criteria for the Outreachy program :

• The minimum age of the applicant must be 18 at the time of applying for the program.
• The candidate must be available to spend 40 hours or more per week throughout the program.
• Candidates who were GSoC interns earlier are not eligible for Outreachy even if they have not completed their GSoC program successfully.
• Candidates who applied for a previous Outreachy program but got rejected can also apply.
• Candidates who have part-time jobs or contract-based jobs are eligible for the program but candidates having full-time jobs are not eligible.
• If the candidate is a university student then he or she can only apply for the first round if their university lies in Northern Hemisphere and if their university lies in Southern Hemisphere then they can only apply for the second round.
• If the university lie near the equator or the candidate is a final year student then he or she can apply for either of the two rounds.

The program is mainly for women, transgender, genderqueer, non-binary people, people of color, and people who faced discrimination because of caste or tribe. Men who faced discrimination in the industry can also apply for the program.

Application Process

The complete application process of the Outreachy program is divided into three parts :

1. Initial Application Period: In the initial application period, there is mainly essay-type questions where they generally ask about your thoughts about diversity in work and present challenges. Apart from these essay questions, you will have to answer questions that will aim to test your dedication to the program, so you should answer in order to show that you are eager to learn and completely committed to the program.
2. Contribution Period: The shortlisted candidates of the initial application enter the contribution period, as you can understand by its name this application period is mainly about making open source contributions. The final selection of candidates depends upon the quality of contribution they make during the contribution period. The candidates will get to interact with the mentors during the contribution period.
3. Intern Selection Period: After the contribution period, the mentors analyze the work of the applicants and verify their project timeline according to their contributions and commitment and then the mentors give reports to Outreachy organizers that they want to select that specific candidate – the names of all the selected candidates are announced together.

Timeline for 2022 Edition

The timeline for the 2022 edition of the Outreachy internship program is mentioned below, go through it to understand the flow of the program, and then plan your strategy accordingly.

• 4th February 2022 – 4 PM UTC: Initial Applications Open for Interns
• 14th February 2022 – 4 PM UTC: #OutreachyChat on Twitter
• 2nd March 2022 – 4 PM UTC: Initial Application Deadline
• 30th March 2022: Project list Finalized
• 25th March – 22nd April 2022: Contribute to the projects
• 22nd April 2022 – 4 PM UTC: Deadline for the Final Application
• 20th May 2022 – 4 PM UTC: Names of selected interns will be announced
• 30th May 2022 – 26th August 2022: Internship Period

Advantages of Outreachy

1. Boost Learning: The Outreachy program will boost your learning curve as you contribute and make changes to the Free and Open Source Software. You will learn more about new technologies and tools, and you will get to learn from your mentor too.
2. Industry Experience: You will complete a project under a given deadline then you will get a taste of how things work in the industry and how a task is divided into small parts so that it could be achieved in a specific amount of time.
3. Stipend: The program not only provides you knowledge and experience, but it also rewards you for your hard work, dedication, and commitment with a stipend of 7000 USD.
4. Exposure & Practical Experience: If you are a college student then this program will give you great exposure and some practical experience which will later help you in placements or career endeavors.

Outreachy is an amazing internship program to go for as it has enormous benefits and if you want to know more about the Outreachy program’s flow – then you can refer to their official website.