[DL] What is CSC Dev Lab

Getting an internship requires two things: passing the interview and having a resume that gets you the interview.

Most advice focuses on the interview - LeetCode, behavioral prep, and mock interviews. This is necessary, but it’s not enough. To get the interview, you need to show you can actually build software.

The standard advice is "build side projects." This works, but it’s harder than it sounds.

The Reality of Side Projects

Building a project alone in your dorm room is a good start, but it has limits.

When you work solo, you miss the complexity of real engineering. You don't have to read other people's code, handle merge conflicts, or design architecture that scales beyond a single user. You inevitably get stuck on configuration or specific bugs, and without a team, it’s easy to abandon the project entirely.

We often see students with "To-Do List" apps or unmaintained clones on their resume. These don't stand out to recruiters who are looking for evidence that you can work on a professional software team.

Engineering > Coding

CSC has historically excelled at the career game - our "Zero to Offer" guide is proof. Now, we are doubling down on the core of our major: Computer Science.

CSC Dev Lab brings the "engineering" back to the club. We are fostering a community of:

• Software Engineers building robust, scalable systems.
• UI/UX Designers creating intuitive user experiences.
• Product Managers driving features from idea to launch.
• DevOps Engineers automating deployment and infrastructure.

What is Dev Lab?

CSC Dev Lab is a semester-long program that simulates a real internship environment.

You aren't hacking together a prototype in 24 hours like at SteelHacks. You are joining a structured team to build and ship software for the Pitt community.

How it Works

1. Agile Workflow: We treat this like a job. You work in sprints, manage tickets on a Kanban board, and submit pull requests (PRs). You learn the process before you start your first internship.
2. Collaborative Growth: You work alongside Team Leads and peers. When you get stuck, you have immediate support to debug the issue and keep moving. Code reviews ensure you write clean, maintainable code.
3. Real Tech Stacks: We use industry-standard tools. Check out our Requests for Projects to see what we're building. You'll learn the frameworks and languages you'll actually use in your career.
4. Actual Impact: Your code ships to real users. We are building the digital infrastructure for CSC and Pitt, making you a key part of the best engineering hub on campus.

Why Join?

This is the bridge between coursework and your career. You walk away with a deployed project, a network of engineers, and the confidence that you can contribute to a professional codebase from day one.

CSC Dev Lab makes you a better engineer.