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Outreachy Program

Outreachy is a three-month-long internship program which is organized by the Software Freedom Conservancy for the people who are underrepresented in this specific field. It is a paid and remote internship, and it is conducted twice a year that is from May to August and December to March. In the Outreachy program, you will get to contribute to open source so if you are familiar to open source then this will increase your chances of getting shortlisted for the program. The amount paid as a stipend is around 5500 USD and the internship completely works from home but if you need to attend any event related to this program then the travel stipend of 500 USD is also available.

The Outreachy Internship program is not only for programmers or developers, there are lots of opportunities in the Outreachy program for non-technical people too. You can also visit to Oureachy website from here.

Eligibility Criteria

  • The minimum age of the applicant must be 18 at the time of applying for the program.
  • The candidate must be available to spend 40 hours or more per week throughout the program.
  • Candidates who were GSoC interns earlier are not eligible for Outreachy even if they have not completed their GSoC program successfully.
  • Candidates who applied for a previous Outreachy program but got rejected can also apply.
  • Candidates who have part-time jobs or contract-based jobs are eligible for the program but candidates having full-time jobs are not eligible.
  • If the candidate is a university student then he or she can only apply for the first round if their university lies in Northern Hemisphere and if their university lies in Southern Hemisphere then they can only apply for the second round.
  • If the university lie near the equator or the candidate is a final year student then he or she can apply for either of the two rounds.

Goal of Outreachy

The goal of Outreachy is to "create a positive feedback loop" that supports more women participating in free and open-source software, since contributors to free and open-source projects have mostly been men. The program is similar to Google Summer of Code, also an internship in free and open-source software, but unlike Google Summer of Code it is not limited to students or developers. It is intended to be compatible with student schedules, with mid-year internships corresponding with the summer break of students in the northern hemisphere, and late-year internships corresponding with the summer break of students in the southern hemisphere.

The program began with inviting women participants, and it grew to include "anyone who was assigned female at birth and anyone who identifies as a woman, genderqueer, genderfluid, or genderfree regardless of gender presentation".

Application Process

1. Initial Application Period: There is mainly essay-type questions where they generally ask about your thoughts about diversity in work and present challenges and you will have to answer questions that will aim to test your dedication to the program, so you should answer to show that you are eager to learn and completely committed to the program.

2. Contribution Period: It is mainly about making open source contributions. The final selection of candidates depends upon the quality of contribution they make during the contribution period. The candidates will get to interact with the mentors during the contribution period.

3. Intern Selection Period: Here, the mentors analyze the work of the applicants and verify their project timeline according to their contributions and commitment and then the mentors give reports to Outreachy organizers of all the selected candidates.

Benefits of Outreachy Program

  • The Outreachy program will boost your learning curve as you contribute and make changes to the Free and Open Source Software.
  • You will get a taste of how things work in the industry and how a task is divided into small parts so that it could be achieved in a specific amount of time.
  • The program not only provides you knowledge and experience, but it also rewards you for your hard work, dedication, and commitment with a stipend of 5500 USD.
  • The program will give you great exposure and some practical experience which will later help you in placements or career endeavors.