Hi, I'm Dhamith, a software engineer with over 2.5 years of experience. But back when I was an undergraduate, I faced the same challenge many students face today, finding an internship. These days, it's tough. There's lots of competition, few responses, and endless applications. That's exactly why I'm sharing my story. I didn't land my internship through a job portal or by sending out resumes. It came from something completely different. Here's how it happened.
In the beginning, I built a few hobby projects just for fun. Simple things I was curious about or wanted to try. I didn't expect much from them, but I shared them anyway on social media. At first, I posted my work everywhere Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. But after a while, I started noticing something, LinkedIn was where my work was getting the most attention. People in the tech industry were more active there, and my posts were reaching the right audience. So even though I continued sharing on other platforms, I began focusing more on LinkedIn.
At first, I told myself, "Now you have the platform to share your progress but you don't really have a clear plan." I knew I wanted to build and grow, but I wasn't sure where to begin. So I started with what I could simple landing pages using React, and I shared them online. Then one day, while scrolling through Twitter, I noticed developers consistently posting daily updates using the hashtag #100DaysOfCode. At first, I didn't even realize it was a public challenge. I thought it was just something people were doing independently. But the more I saw, the more inspired I became. That’s when I decided to commit to the #100DaysOfCode challenge myself.
When I started the challenge, I still didn't have a clear roadmap. So on Day 1, I created a simple loading animation using just HTML and CSS. From there, I kept going. I completed several mini projects using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and later moved on to React and MongoDB. You might find it hard to believe, but as an undergraduate student juggling lectures, assignments, and limited time, I still made it work. While others used weekends to relax, I used mine to build. On many nights, I stayed up late just to complete a project. Every single day, I challenged myself to create and share something new for the #100DaysOfCode.
As I continued sharing my progress through the #100DaysOfCode challenge, something completely unexpected happened. One night, I received a message on LinkedIn that caught me by surprise "We are hiring" The message included openings for roles like ASE, SE, and SSE. I wasn’t actively job hunting, but I replied and mentioned that I was currently looking for an internship as an undergraduate. To my surprise, they were open to it. After a few more messages, they invited me to take part in a technical interview and a coding assessment. I gave it my best, and not long after, they officially offered me an internship.
After completing the internship, my team lead gave me feedback that truly stayed with me. She said, "We were really impressed by your work. That's why we reached out to you through LinkedIn." That one sentence confirmed everything I had believed while doing the #100DaysOfCode challenge. All those late nights, daily posts, and small projects added up. It wasn't luck. It was the result of showing up every day and sharing my progress publicly. That was the moment I truly realized how powerful consistency and building in public can be.
So here's my advice to anyone trying to land an internship, Don't just do what everyone else is doing. Try to create something unique, something so impressive that when people see it, their first reaction is "Wow!" Share your progress on the right platforms, where your work can be noticed by the right audience. And most importantly, never give up. Consistency, creativity, and persistence are the keys to standing out and turning opportunities your way.
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