The Department of Computer Science Professional Internship Program (CSPIP) allows undergraduate students to obtain 12 or 16 months of practical "on-the-job" experience with a sponsoring company prior to completing the final year of their undergraduate degree program.
Employers can recruit from a pool of students who have had at least three years of university education and developed diverse expertise. In addition, employers will receive a better return on their training investment since students can work longer, take on more responsibilities, and integrate more fully into their company.
12 or 16 month work terms available
Students can start work in May or September
Program Details
Program administrators are here to assist you with your hiring needs, connect you with candidates, and assist in your recruiting process to bring a student on board.
By hiring a student from our program, you become part of the student’s journey through their work-integrated learning program. This includes:
- Informing the program administrators when you hire from our program
- Completing the program’s performance evaluations with your intern after each 4 month period
- Completing a virtual site visit with program administrators after the first 4 months
- Encouraging the student to ask questions to clarify job responsibilities
- Providing the student with relevant training and development opportunities
- Not expecting extensive and/or regular overtime hours from the student
- Disclosing all agreements a student will be asked to sign to the program administrators
If you do not support these work-integrated learning activities or provide an improper work environment, the Department reserves the right to support the student in finding a new placement for the remainder of the internship.
Students admitted to CSPIP are pursuing 4-Year or Honours Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or Applied Computing degrees at the University of Saskatchewan.
Internship candidates must be Canadian citizens, landed immigrants, or visa students with appropriate work permission for off-campus employment when they begin their internship in May or September.
Full student eligibility criteria can be found here.
Recruit With Us
New for 2024-2025, our program uses a continuous recruitment process for hiring students. This move away from Rank and Offer recruitment is meant to simplify the recruitment process and help you best meet your hiring needs.
1. Connect
Contact our Internship Coordinator to discuss your hiring needs and register on USask's job managment software, CareerLink.
2. Post
Post the position to the computer science internship program on CareerLink yourself, or email our office a completed job posting template and we will post on your behalf.
3. Interview
Confirm student availability on CareerLink or by emailing our office. Then contact students directly to arrange and perform interviews.
4. Hire
Confirm student availability on CareerLink or through our office. Offer directly to available students or ask our office to extend on your behalf. Please cc' our office on all correspondence with students.
Suggested Timeline
A new cohort of students is admitted to the program each fall, with recruitment available from November through August.
We recommend the following recruitment timelines to best align with when our students are actively pursuing work placements. Generally, it is best to start recruiting 3-5 months prior to the position start date.
| Post Your Position | Onboarding |
|
Mid-November - Mid-January |
May |
| March - May | September |
Wage Subsidies
Employers may be eligible for subsidies when hiring post-secondary student to fill an internship position.
Connect With Our Students
We hold events throughout the year to connect our internship candidates with employers. If you are interested in hiring interns from our program and would like to take part in our events, please see the information below or contact cspip@cs.usask.ca to start a conversation.
Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Time: 4:30 - 6:00pm
Location: Louis' Loft (Upstairs in the Memorial Union Building, Campus Drive Saskatoon, SK)
We are welcoming industry professionals with a tech background to share their career journeys and provide advice to students at our internship mentorship night. Mentors from all stages of their careers are encouraged to attend. Register by October 27.
Note: space is limited at this event. If you would like to participate but the event if full, please reach out to us for more information on how to get involved in similar initiatives.
Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Time: 5:30 - 7:30pm
Location: Louis' (Basement of the Memorial Union Building, Campus Drive Saskatoon, SK)
Employers interested in hiring students for internships are welcomed to join us on December 4 for a casual networking event at Louis'. Chat with prospective candidates, enjoy light refreshments, and learn more about the program.
This is a free event for employers to attend. Register by November 26 to secure your ticket
Date: January 15, 2025
Time: 10:00 am- 2:00 pm
Location: Education Gym
This is your chance to meet Computer Science students and those who are in the Computer Science Professional Internship Program.
Presentations will be held throughout the event, giving sponsors the opportunity to easily promote their company to a large group of students at once.
Contact
CSPIP
For additional information on the Computer Science Professional Internship Program or to connect with our department, please contact:
Ellen Redlick
Academic Programs and Outreach Coordinator
Department of Computer Science
306-966-6513
ellen.redlick@usask.ca OR cspip@usask.ca
USask Employer Portal
USask's Employer Portal is a central hub for employers looking to connect with students from a variety of programs. Here you can find information about other internship programs on our campus, career fairs, mentorship programs, and more!
Frequently Asked Questions
Our recruitment period is open mid-November through August each year. There are no strict deadlines enforced by the program otherwise.
We recommend posting jobs 3-5 months in advance of the work term start dates of May and September. Recruitment is possible up until the work term, and it’s up to you to set your application deadlines.
CareerLink allows you to link postings to your company's ATS so all applications will still be collected in your system.
By posting to our internship job board in CareerLink, you can easily:
- Identify available applicants by viewing the color-coded Applications tab
- Cross-reference with your external applications to confirm which applicants are enrolled in our program. Students admitted to our program have been selected based on their academic and non-academic merits, and have been provided with additional professional development training.
Positions are evaluated by program coordinators to ensure they will provide a suitable learning experience for the students. In general, we accept positions that meet the following criteria:
- Full-time
- Paid
- Located in Canada
- 12 or 16 months in duration
- strongly related to the student's field of study (i.e. Bachelor of Science in Computer Science or Applied Computing)
If you have questions or concerns about the job you would like to recruit for, please contact cspip@cs.usask.ca to discuss.
Employers are able to set the wages they offer our students. Given that our students are nearing the end of their degrees and will be making meaningful contributions to your company over a 12-16 month period, we recommend a wage simlar to that of a new grad hire. Some employers also offer additional benefits, such as relocation or tuition incentives in order to attract applicants.
Offers should be competitive for the work the student is doing, reflective of industry standards, and in line with regional, provincial, or federal employment standards.
Below is a summary of hourly wages from our 2024 placements:
- Lowest: $22.25/hr
- Average: $26.99/hr
- Highest: $33.85/hr
No, we assist international students with applying for co-op work permits that will allow them to legally work in Canada as part of their degree.
Our students are prohibited from reneging on accepted offers, and will be removed from the internship program if they do so. Because of this, students who have a preferred employer in mind may be apprehensive about applying for positions at the start of the recruitment period.
Job offers are made to students on a first-come, first-served basis. By posting later in the recruitment cycle, some students will have found placements and be unavailable to you.
A lack of applications may be attributed to of the following three reasons:
1. Recruitment Style
Employers who are used to recruiting from our program's old Rank and Offer process are likely to notice a decrease in the number of applications they receive. Rank and Offer encourages blanket applications because students would receive all offers on the same day.
In a Continuous recruitment system where students aren't allowed to renege on offers, they need to be more considerate about where they are applying. Feedback we have heard from other programs who have moved from Rank and Offer to Continuous recruitment is that while the quantity of applications per posting decreases, the quality of those applications increases. Students who apply are more engaged and eager for the jobs to which they apply.
2. Posting Time
You may have posted your position at a time when your ideal candidate pool is less interested in applying. Not all students in our program may be ready to apply for jobs at the same time. Personal circumstances, school projects and exams, or other commitments may prevent students from applying at any given time.
If you find yourself in this position, we recommend that you extend or repost your position later in the year to encourage a new pool of applicants.
3. Poorly Defined Job Details
If your position isn't attracting the right applicants, review your job posting. Some employers think that having a broad job posting will help them attract a wide range of students, but it can actually have the opposite effect.
Students are more likely to apply for a position if they clearly understand the job and how they would make a meaningful contribution. If they can't identify those two aspects, we strongly recommend that you rewrite your posting. Our office is happy to work with you to address these areas.