Wooing interns to Silicon Valley

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Google interns, much like Microsoft interns, get on-the-job training to work with the company's code, as well as other technical courses. Google also encourages interns to attend its lecture series with the likes of Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, or Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This summer, Google interns also get to see some of the presidential candidates, such as New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, speak on campus.

Redmond vs. Mountain View
Microsoft has hired about 1,000 interns in the United States this summer, with the lion's share located at its Washington headquarters and about 50 at its Mountain View, Calif., campus, across the road from Google. (Google representatives would not say how many interns it has hired this summer, except to say it's in the hundreds.)

To find students, Microsoft, like most major tech companies, recruits at universities and career fairs all over the world, scouting for undergrads and graduate students in the departments of computer science, engineering, electrical engineering, physics and math. Microsoft also relies on referrals from professors in those fields. (Maurer got his job in Google's calendar group because of a referral from a professor at CMU.)

Although Microsoft's isn't seen as the hottest internship among technical types as it has in years past, the company carries heft on a student resume.

"I still think the Microsoft internship brand is a strong one on campus," said Caroline Bulmer, Microsoft's intern program manager. "They're getting real work experience on their resume, and that makes them very attractive not only to Microsoft but to other companies."

Most promising computer science students will get multiple offers to intern from rivals like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo before they choose where to go. And when they graduate, having a tech giant on the resume certainly helps them land a job. "It's more a difference than having an internship at (one of these companies) and flipping burgers," Maurer said.

"For a CS undergrad, it depends on the environment, the caliber of people who are around, stuff you get to work on. (Without that), you don't have quite as many stories to tell," Maurer said.

Still, with the growing roster of Silicon Valley start-ups, some aspiring software engineers have turned to smaller companies like Moka5, a 20-person software company founded by Stanford University computer science professor Monica Lam. Her company took on two interns this year, one from Stanford and the other from MIT.

"The students get to see what's it's like to work at a start-up--the dynamics are different, everybody knows everyone," Lam said. "And they're working on features that are immediately used by customers."

As for perks like baseball games and bay cruises, Lam said, the start-up life comes with a more personal touch. "We're planning a one-day trip out to Angel Island with the whole company. Maybe that's the difference."

[Chong Yew]

What? No date with Jessica Alba???

What? No date with Jessica Alba?

[Marcus Westrup]

I wonder -

Why are the High Tech companies of the world so intent on only looking for students to work for them? By Googles own criteria, Linus Torvalds would not have had much chance of getting a job there: Linus even admits that his first effort at Linux was embarrassing because he lacked the skills. A few years of experience had to happen first, and I don't see that Google is willing to wait.

[DecliningUSDollar]

Silicon Valley - boohoo

Wait, what happened to all of the CS grads back in the late 90s? Oh wait, I remember - they were working 80+ hours a week, at startups, the bubble burst, companies left and right offshored CS and engineering jobs to India and Pakistan, then no one with tech skills in the US could find a job. Then a recent CS grad had the employability of a philosophy major.