Graduation Can Wait: Startups Recruiting Pandemic-Weary CS Students For Gap Year

theodp writes: That was then: Lamenting a dire shortage of U.S. computer science grads, tech investors Ali and Hadi Partovi launched Code.org in 2013 with backing from the world’s largest tech firms to push coding into America’s K-12 classrooms. This is now: CS graduation can wait. Bloomberg News’ Ellen Huet reports that some Silicon Valley startups, hungry for young talent, are making lemonade from COVID-19 lemons, presenting pandemic-weary CS students with an alternative to school: remote gap-year internships aimed specifically at young people looking for alternatives to a dismal school year. Huet writes: “Dozens of Silicon Valley startups are looking to hire fall interns, according to a list assembled by startup accelerator Y Combinator. This month, venture firm Neo organized a virtual career fair for 120 students and a range of startups (including Code.org), hoping to match pairs for internships during the upcoming academic year. And venture firm Contrary Capital is offering to invest $100,000 in five teams of entrepreneurs if they take a gap year from school to build a company. Such arrangements allow interns to get paid and learn on the job, while avoiding paying tens of thousands of dollars for Zoom University. It also means that companies willing to improvise on hiring and gamble on younger workers may get new access to fresh talent. Ali Partovi, Neo’s chief executive officer, said the firm surveyed 120 students who are part of its mentorship programs and found that 46% of them are interested in taking a gap semester and 21% are interested in taking a gap year.” So, is now a good time for CS majors to turn on, tune in, drop out?