Silicon Valley (also abbreviated as SV) is located in the southern part of Northern California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was also called 'Santa Clara Valley' and today is a global center for high technology, venture capital, innovation and social media. SV is called the technology and business hub of America. It is the most profitable valley with the highest per capita income in the world (after Zurich, Switzerland and Oslo, Norway).

History and Background

Silicon Valley is called SV because it has the largest number of inventors and manufacturers of silicon chips. This valley is also the headquarters of the world's largest high-tech companies and MNCs, including 39 Fortune companies and thousands of startups.

Silicon Valley also accounts for one-third of venture capital investment in the United States, and as a result, the United States is heavily supported in high-tech innovation and scientific development. The development of integrated circuits (ICs), microprocessor and other important technologies is mostly done here at SV.

According to the statistics of 2013, two and a half lakh people are associated with the information technology industry in this valley.

Education in America

The US government takes illegal residence and employment very seriously. Students have limited employment opportunities if they have an F-1 student visa. F-One students are required to provide proof of financial stability (a recent bank statement) to cover tuition fees, living and board expenses during their studies. If you have decided that you will work alongside your studies, you will need to speak to the DSO (designated school official) of your educational institution. If you are working in the US without authorization, the DSO will report you through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), after which your record will be expunged and you will not have to leave the US. Depending on your status and study program, you can do some jobs, like on-campus jobs, but for that too, you have to show your status as 'Employee' in SEIVS. This type of employment includes a university bookstore cafeteria job. However, students who wish to be employed must obtain a social security number for this process. However, F1 students who have completed one year and are facing financial difficulties can apply for on-campus employment.

Internship in Silicon Valley

Many students do internships at some technology companies in America. International students studying in the US are eligible to work as interns at many companies in Silicon Valley. The social networking website 'Twitter' is headquartered in San Francisco. This company provides internships to 125 students in the summer every year. Each intern is assigned a manager and a mentor. All managers and mentors are urged to give challenging projects to these interns. But when the interns get here, they are surprised to see how much freedom they have and how much they are trusted.

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"We try to make everything interesting and memorable," says Brian McDow, who runs the intern program at Ya Who Inc., a search and advertising company in Sunnyvale, California. In addition to regular business operations, it also takes part in discussions run by the company's top executives. They also participate in programs that give them team-building experience. They are taught the art of communication in social programs specially organized for them.

Step into Practical Life

Stepping into the practical world can be very tempting, but getting an internship can be tough. Every summer, Yahoo selects 300 interns out of 2,000 applicants, and this ratio is not unusual. Students take a lot of interest in it because, in their eyes, an internship is the first step towards choosing a new future.

Katie Dahm was a third-year student at Tulane University in New Orleans when she got an internship in the social media team of Cisco Systems Inc., a corporation in the IT sector, in 2011. It was during this time that she was offered a job at Cisco, which she accepted and is currently working at. She says, "Students are well aware of the importance of internships, as there is a possibility of them getting a job in a company."

Patricia Rose runs the University of Pennsylvania's Office of Future Employment Services in Philadelphia. He said that 25 percent of his college students who had a job upon graduation got jobs at the companies where they interned during the summer break. "There are some companies that choose the majority of their full-time employees from people who have worked as interns for the company," he said. This gives them the advantage that they have seen them work for 10 weeks and as a result of good work, they are being offered full-time work."

Visit the Education USA website as a first step to studying in the United States. If you're already studying in the US and want to learn more about internships, check out the careers pages of the companies you're interested in, as well as your eligibility through the Department of Homeland Security. Do the research and then go for it to grow your career.