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.