How to apply to Outreachy?

May 2019 to August 2019 Outreachy internship round

Hey,

I am glad that you have decided to apply to Outreachy and also looking for ways to get your application in and successful. I am Gayathri Rajendar and I am part of the May 2019 to August 2019 Outreachy program through Jenkins. I work on the development of a Jenkins plugin along with another intern Aarthi Rajaraman.

As you already know, Outreachy is an internship program that supports diversity in free and open source software. Being an Outreachy intern, I can work remotely and are not required to move. On successful completion, I will likely be paid a stipend of $5,500 USD for the three-month internship. Also, I may get a $500 USD travel stipend to attend conferences or events.

Given a lot of learning and benefits, there is considerable competition to get into the program. Still, you can make it if you choose the right project that matches your skills and also work closely with the mentors of the project. Throughout my experience applying to Outreachy, mentors are very much helpful and always promptly respond to our help requests.

If you see that your chances are low during the current round of applications, be sure to turn around during the next round. I applied to December 2018 to February 2019 Outreachy round under Fedora organization to work on the Fedora Analysis Framework project. I wasn't selected in that round.

I again applied to May 2019 to August 2019 Outreachy round to Jenkins and got a chance!!

Following is a gist of the whole process that we have to go through to apply to the Outreachy program.

Make sure you subscribe to the mailing list and look for the announcement of projects

Outreachy welcomes diverse people to be a part of the program. We have essays to the filled in and Outreachy organizers take time to evaluate them and post their decision via an email to us. Once we get the confirmation, we can view the projects.

All the projects will have the required skills posted and you can carefully go through them and pick one or two. The more careful and thoughtful you're at this step, the chances of being selected gets higher.

It is recommended to get in touch with the project community. You will be more visible and can get help regarding your queries. Being transparent in our efforts is a nice way to move forward. 

Outreachy requires you to complete a small task to validate the skills needed for the chosen project. Most likely, this is the deciding factor of your selection. As a potential applicant, you need to make a quality contribution to the project. Remember that the contribution will stay forever beyond the application period and so do prefer to make a significant contribution.

It is very normal to be stuck during this phase. Than being worried, you can reach out to the community and post for help. You will be surprised to see a lot of helping hands coming your way. As you make progress, keep recording your contributions to the Outreachy site. As you record your first contribution, the form to apply to a project shows up.

Keep making more significant contributions to the project and once you approach the deadline, be sure to submit your application early. There are chances that you're confused by the timezones.

As you might have already noticed, many applicants would have submitted for the same project that you have applied to. So it is recommended that you continue making contributions to the project that you applied for.