Incoming MS Comp Engg @ SJSU – how do I break into Bay Area startups for part-time/intern work?

[u/___loki__]

Hey everyone,

I’m moving to San Jose this January to start my MS in Computer Engineering at SJSU. I’ve been hearing mixed things, some say the Bay is the best place to meet startups, others say it’s all about who you know.

My background (TL;DR):

• Projects in fraud detection, anomaly detection, CNNs, explainable AI (SHAP/LIME)
• Deployed ML pipelines on AWS + GCP
• Web scraping/automation (SeleniumBase, BS4, Browserbase)
• A couple of research publications in ML
• Did internships and currently working as a data engineering intern cause plans for Fall 25 did not go through due to visa appointment issues

What I’m trying to figure out:

• What’s the best way for someone like me to land part-time or internship opportunities at early-stage startups in the Bay Area?
• Is it all cold emailing/founder DMs, or do people actually find success through campus recruiting/career fairs?
• Any tips on communities, meetups, or specific strategies that worked for you?

Not looking for a “golden ticket,” just trying to get some real-world advice from people who’ve done it in the Bay.

Appreciate any insights! Thanks in advance :)