6 Cool Tech Internships You Wish You Had
Interns at top tech companies such as Facebook and Google enjoy many of the same perks available to full-time employees.
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For a long time, the title "intern" was synonymous with "company gofer." Buried at the bottom of the corporate food chain, interns have long been associated with tasks like fetching coffee and making copies, compensated with little but a few extra lines on their resumes.
As companies often rely on their intern pools for new hires, it's unfair to make the generalization that internships are a waste of time. Most provide students with skills they might never learn in a classroom, something I learned during five internships over the course of my undergraduate and post-grad years.
Modern entry-level roles often require applicants to have an internship or two under their belts.
The spectrum of internship experiences is broad and varied. On the lesser side, there are employers that impose 10-hour workdays on their interns with little to no pay -- situations that eventually lead to the rise of lawsuits such as those at Conde Nast and Fox Searchlight Pictures.
[ Looking for a new gig? Read: Tech Jobs: 12 Killer Locations. ]
On the opposite end, there are businesses that not only provide interns with housing but also offer many of the same lavish perks that full-time employees enjoy. The competition for these positions is fierce, as many companies use their internship programs as extended interviews to vet candidates for full-time roles.
Tech giants, including Facebook and Google, are famous for showering employees with benefits such as free gym memberships, round-the-clock meals and snacks, massages, and bike rentals. Interns are welcome to take advantage of these amenities, in addition to intern-specific perks such as team-building activities and flights before and after their internships -- all on top of handsome payment packages.
It should be noted that interns earn these perks, just as their full-time mentors and colleagues do. After undergoing competitive and technical interview processes, interns are trusted to work on projects that contribute to their organization and potentially affect millions of customers.
So, did you miss out on these perks when you were an intern? Do you want to see how the elite intern during their summers, or are you hoping for one of these privileged positions for yourself? Let us know in the comments section below and share your own internship experiences with us.
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"I was given a project and told to run with it," said one Facebook intern to Glassdoor, reports Business Insider. "This is both terrifying and awesome, as I got to control an entire new feature. Architecture and design decisions of the feature were made primarily by me, something that I was not really allowed to do in previous internships."
The ability to work on real-world projects is just one of many perks available to interns at Facebook, which hosts programs across the country but mostly at its Menlo Park, Calif., headquarters and major hubs such as New York, Seattle, and London. Interns undergo a week-long training program at the start of their internships, are provided housing, and have access to free bike rentals, shuttle buses, on-campus gyms, sweet shops, and trips to locales such as Yosemite National Park.
While interns leave Facebook well-positioned to take on any number of entry-level roles, they might just find themselves back at One Hacker Way or any of Facebook's offices around the globe. According to intern program manager Hyla Wallis, internships are only offered if there is an opportunity for full-time employment upon completion.
A fun intern perk at Dropbox is Parents' Weekend, during which the company flies interns' families to its San Francisco office, provides housing for everyone, and organizes a series of talks to explain Dropbox, its mission, and what the interns have been doing.
Fun gatherings aside, Dropbox provides interns with free housing in two-bedroom or one-bedroom apartments, shuttles to and from the office, music room with a grand piano and drumset, massages, haircuts, gym access, an in-house restaurant, and coverage for expenses such as phone plan and public transportation. Interns can experience Hack Week, during which the entire company halts their normal activities to work on anything they want.
Oh, and interns can set their Dropbox space quota for life.
At the end of the day, internships are truly about educational experience. While Qualcomm interns are handsomely compensated for their work with the company, they also have the option to transfer and learn about different departments. One intern explained on Glassdoor that it's not only easy, but encouraged, for interns to move around throughout the organization to learn about the different areas of Qualcomm and see what most interests them.
Qualcomm treats interns to at least one social activity per week, whether it's a guest speaker, community volunteering, or weekend hackathons. The company also offers gym access, a variety of classes on topics from fitness to technical skills, and housing reimbursement. As it's based in the San Diego area, Qualcomm also offers discounts to attractions such as SeaWorld, movie theatres, and Six Flags.
The search giant requires internship candidates to undergo a long and highly technical interview process, but it's well worth the effort to be one of 1,500 interns that Google selects from its annual pool of 40,000 applicants.
After a week-long orientation, each intern is assigned a project within their respective division and a mentor to manage their progress. If they prove successful, interns can interview for full-time jobs at Google before their internships are complete.
Google provides interns with paid corporate housing, roommates, free shuttles throughout the Bay Area, and bikes that can be rented for long-term use or ridden across the Googleplex. Projects aside, interns' schedules are packed with activities, including group outings to movies and museums, biking trips, and plenty of time in San Francisco. Of course, they also have access to Google's infamous nap pods and endless free food. One intern who described his experience on Quora noted additional perks such as attending internal hackathons, no set work hours, massages, and free classes on a range of topics from technical subjects like C++ to salsa.
Interns receive many of the same perks that full-time Apple employees enjoy, including product discounts and a health plan, reports a a former intern and UPenn graduate. They also have access to an on-site barber, carwash, and all-organic cafeteria (not free, but "dirt-cheap," according to the employee). Apple provides travel and housing in Cupertino apartment complexes.
Apple interns have the opportunity to handle real responsibility and collaborate on real products alongside some of technology's most talented employees. One highlight of the internship is the executive speaker series, during which Apple execs share their stores and participate in a Q&A session. Interns can contribute ideas of their own during iContest, an intern idea contest that gives them the chance to submit abstracts on innovations they would like to explore. Ten interns with exceptional ideas have the chance to present their projects to senior Apple executives.
Former interns speak to positive first impressions of Microsoft, which flies candidates to Redmond for their interviews. If they are offered a position and accept, interns have the option to accept a housing stipend or have Microsoft set up a studio for them.
Interns undergo a process of learning about the technology their teams work on before jumping in with their own projects. It's safe to say that Microsoft interns aren't making copies; they're working on meaningful projects that contribute to the organization. One student explained that he helped unlock big data in Visual Studio and built Xbox One Manager during two of his three internships with Microsoft.
Over the course of the internship, the company organizes events like an off-site fair, baseball game outings, on-campus sports, hackathons, an intern "puzzle day," and free gym memberships. Interns also have the freedom to organize events themselves and have participated in outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting, kayaking, and exploring Mount Rainier or Mount St. Helens.
Former interns speak to positive first impressions of Microsoft, which flies candidates to Redmond for their interviews. If they are offered a position and accept, interns have the option to accept a housing stipend or have Microsoft set up a studio for them.
Interns undergo a process of learning about the technology their teams work on before jumping in with their own projects. It's safe to say that Microsoft interns aren't making copies; they're working on meaningful projects that contribute to the organization. One student explained that he helped unlock big data in Visual Studio and built Xbox One Manager during two of his three internships with Microsoft.
Over the course of the internship, the company organizes events like an off-site fair, baseball game outings, on-campus sports, hackathons, an intern "puzzle day," and free gym memberships. Interns also have the freedom to organize events themselves and have participated in outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting, kayaking, and exploring Mount Rainier or Mount St. Helens.
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