In the world of competitive Silicon Valley internships, there have been plenty of rumours about the crazy perks of being an engineering intern: luxury boat cruises, secret concerts, and trips to Disney Land top the list.
But what is it really like to work at one of the Valley’s tech giants or unicorn startups? Do interns really get massage Mondays and summer stipends higher than what hourly workers earn in a year?
Business Insider asked Lyft, the $5.5 million ride-hailing startup based in San Francisco, about their internship program.
Here’s what we learned.
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Lyft
'We have 17 interns, half of which are from underrepresented backgrounds, which is an actual goal for us,' Peter Morelli, Lyft's vice president of engineering, told Business Insider. 'We're definitely looking for a diverse group because Lyft itself is diverse, our customers and our drivers are very diverse, so we're trying to mirror that as well.'
'We don't have a lot of hard and fast rules, but I would say it's a full day,' Morelli said. But he's quick to add: 'it's not till three in the morning.'
Lyft
Lyft interns exploring San Francisco.'You need to have people who can learn quickly about the technologies, pick those up, be able to use them,' Morelli said. 'But you also need to be able to apply base principles, like how to be efficient, how to be quick, how to be fast. I look for interns to be able to learn quickly, to be able to adapt and build products, and actually to ship them.'
Lyft
'They were very excited about me,' said Dineen, who's in her fourth year at the University of Waterloo in Canada. 'I was interviewing with other companies and I didn't feel that they were excited about me in the same way that Lyft was.'
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