Internship Spotlight: State Farm

Evan Chen

BSIS student Evan Chen discusses his summer internship at State Farm, where he developed an interest in computer vision.

Where did you intern, and what was your role?

This past summer, I worked as a software engineering intern on the State Farm Labs: Computer Vision team. My primary responsibility was to develop an internal application to showcase cutting-edge computer vision models developed by the team.

How did you find out about the internship?

When I was applying for summer internships in fall 2022, I submitted a standard application for State Farm's enterprise technology software engineering internship. Instead of receiving an interview for that role, I was contacted by a recruiter and given a separate interview with the Computer Vision team because of my resume. Thankfully, that interview went well, and I accepted their offer soon after!

What new skills did you acquire?

I developed interpersonal and technical skills through my internship. Working alongside experienced developers and scientists at State Farm Labs improved my ability to collaborate and communicate. From a technical perspective, I learned how to develop an application with React. I also gained a lot of experience working with various cloud services like AWS Lambda and API Gateway.

What did you like best about working at the company?

The culture at State Farm was especially welcoming. I remember the first week, when all interns were brought into the Bloomington office to spend time with other interns and their teams. I immediately understood the culture of State Farm and their emphasis on seamless collaboration.

What would you advise current students who are interested in an internship opportunity?

I would give two pieces of advice to current students: First, find your passion(s) and use them in your search. I grew to love programming and the takeaways from my minor in computer science, making it particularly useful in contextualizing my passion for software development. Second, attend career fairs! In addition to online applications, I find that career fairs can surprise you with an opportunity you never knew about. Smaller companies or startups at Research Park have amazing opportunities that can start your professional career. 

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Join the iSchool at ALISE 2024

Join iSchool faculty, staff, and students for the annual conference of the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE), which will take place from October 14-17 in Portland, Oregon. The theme of the 2024 conference is "Ethics and Evolution of Truth and Information."

iSchool Building

iSchool researchers to present at ILA Annual Conference

iSchool faculty, staff, and students will present their research at the 2024 Illinois Library Association (ILA) Annual Conference, which will be held on October 8-10 in Peoria. The theme of this year's conference is "Libraries are Lit: Sparking Innovation and Imagination."

Kemboi receives international award for digital preservation work

PhD student Gladys Kemboi has been awarded the 2024 Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) Fellowship Award for her distinguished contribution to securing digital legacy to advance local and Indigenous knowledge in development in Kenya and across Africa. She received the award virtually during the DPC's biennial awards ceremony, which took place last month during the International Conference on Digital Preservation (iPRES 2024).

Gladys Kemboi

Herrera and Ryan selected for ARL Kaleidoscope Program

Master's students Caitlin Herrera and Isabel Ryan have been selected to participate in the 2024-2026 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Kaleidoscope Diversity Scholars Program. With the goal of attracting MSLIS students from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to careers in research libraries and archives, the Kaleidoscope Program offers financial support to scholars as well as leadership development through the ARL Annual Leadership Symposium, a formal mentoring program, career placement assistance, and a site visit to an ARL member library.

Isabel Ryan and Caitlin Herrera

Get to know Chloe Miller, MSLIS student

MSLIS student Chloe Miller is using her journalism background in her role as editorial assistant for the iSchool's quarterly journal, Library Trends. In the span of a year, Miller has proofed and edited nearly 2,000 references across approximately ten languages for adherence to the Chicago Manual of Style and provided foundational research for new policies and procedures.

Chloe Miller_square