The Secret to Landing a Tech Internship Without a Tech Degree
What’s the secret recipe for a student without a technical background to get started in tech? For Anqi Guan, it was one part thoughtfully crafted bridge program, two parts institutional support developing soft skills like communication and teamwork, and three years of cook time. As she reflects on her journey to her new role as a software engineering intern at Amazon, Guan encourages other Northeastern in Seattle students to make use of all the school’s educational and experiential learning resources, not just what’s presented in the classroom.
Guan’s interest in tech began when she was asked to design a podcast app during a course for her communications BA. She wanted to learn to develop what she had designed, so she was thrilled when she discovered Northeastern’s Master of Science in Information Systems Bridge program, which equips students with non-technical degrees with the skills to enter the information systems field. She enrolled at Northeastern’s Seattle campus in the fall of 2022.
Guan hit the ground running, learning HTML, CSS, React, and Javascript, and quickly accruing experience in web development. Her favorite classes were taught by Professor Brett Ritter, who wove technical instruction together with advice and insights to ensure his students were industry-ready.
“One thing I remember very clearly is him telling us you need to ask your team for help when you work. A lot of students – including me – will think ‘I can do it myself, I want to try to figure things out.’ But Professor Brett told us it’s important you let the other team members know when you need help, because your goal is not to prove you can solve the problem by yourself. It’s as a whole team, to finish the goal,” Guan said. “I think I got the first two internships – IpserLab and PayPal – because of his classes.”
Guan began working at the startup incubator IpserLab in the spring of 2024. It was her first software engineering position, creating webpages for the company’s varied projects. The role taught her problem-solving skills and helped her build her portfolio to nab an internship at PayPal the following summer.
Working at a large company was very different from working at a startup, and Guan loved it. She was tasked with updating the platform’s currency management systems for merchants, so exchanges between dollars, euros, pesos, and other currencies could happen in the time it takes to reload a webpage. Seeing her updates go live made her feel very accomplished.
“You can see your code merging into the main code, and you can see the page you changed. Because PayPal is a big company, you know that your work will influence other people; it can have a real impact,” Guan said. “My manager said my project worked very well, so I’m very happy.”
Working on a large project also gave Guan more experience collaborating across teams. Her manager encouraged her to get to know her coworkers, so she began inviting people out for coffee. As she learned about her colleagues’ careers, Guan began to hold soft skills in higher esteem.
For Guan, one of the most important non-technical skills was fluent, confident English. Her first language was Mandarin, and when she attended a conference put on by the Society of Women Engineers, she found that her shyness with native English speakers was holding her back from booking interviews.
“After this conference, I decided I needed to improve my English,” Guan said. She found Northeastern’s Global Learner Support (GLS) program, which provides one-on-one English tutoring and workshops, outings, and events promoting inter-cultural competence. “After I took a semester and went to a lot of the events they provide, I found that my English improved a lot. I became a Global Learner Support Ambassador because I wanted to help other students, like me, who are not confident and want to improve their language skills.”
In addition to organizing Global Village events as a GLS Ambassador, Guan gave back to her community as a teaching assistant. She also got involved with a variety of student groups like Rainbow NU, Tech@Crossroads, and Northeastern Women in Tech. It’s little surprise that when she graduated in May of 2025, Guan was one of the Seattle campus’s three inductees into the Laurel and Scroll 100, the society of distinction honoring exceptional graduate students across Northeastern’s global campuses.
With her MS in Information Systems in hand, Guan began a software engineering internship at Amazon in June. She enjoys the work, and looks forward to continuing to improve as a software engineer and landing a full-time position. She’s grateful Northeastern didn’t just teach her technical competence, but also helped her improve her language, develop a community, and become a better team member. She encourages other students to take advantage of the many non-technical learning opportunities the school has to offer.
“I see a lot of students who only care about tech skills, but I would say only maybe 30 or 40 percent of getting an internship depends on your tech skill,” Guan said. “The rest is all about soft skills, like how you build communication and connection with others.”
By Madelaine Millar