Deciding on an internship between Amazon and Microsoft?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I have been fortunate enough to receive internship offers from both amazon and microsoft for their software developer (engineer) roles, and I was hoping that people who have had internships with these companies would be able to help me make a decision on which offer to accept. I am being optimistic and hoping that for whichever company I choose, I will get a full-time offer at the end of the summer.</p>

<p>Before I get started, let me say that I am located about 15 miles northwest of Washington, DC and both internships are in Seattle (well, Redmond and Seattle), WA. I would love to go to Seattle for the summer. I have one year left in college and I know that both companies tend to extend full time offers to ~80% of their interns. I would like to stay in the area when I have a full-time job. I can understand that I may need to work an additional year or so in Seattle to get transferred to a local position (I believe Microsoft has a health division in/near DC, which is OK for me as I am pursuing both a computer engineering and cell biology degree; Amazon has satellite offices in Herndon/Reston, VA, which is about 40 minutes away from my house).</p>

<p>When discussing the possibility of a transfer at the end of my internship with my Amazon recruiter, he noted that the task would be "difficult, but not impossible."</p>

<p>One of my friends with a full-time offer from Amazon (he did not have an internship with them) said that his recruiter told him she would hold one spot in VA for him if he really wanted it (i.e. he would not work with Amazon if they didn't let him work there), but that all the other spots were taken up by interns. My friend said that interns at Amazon get priority on full time positions. Does anyone know if this is true, and if so, to what extent? My friend said both positions were open to him, and he would be paid at the same rate regardless.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, if you get a full-time offer at the end of your Microsoft internship, are you tied down to your specific team? Is it difficult to change teams? Do you need to interview again? Does pay dramatically change if you don't work in Seattle?</p>

<p>Turning my internship into a (somewhat) local full-time position is my primary concern with choosing an internship. I would also like to hear if people have gone through their internship/full-time positions and can pitch-in a little about their experiences with the work environment, work-life balance, politics within the companies, if pay-raises are more significant at one company than another, etc. From what I have read, Amazon is better in terms of the salary (~20k bonus + 45k stock), but I'm still quite torn.</p>

<p>I know both companies offer amazing opportunities and I am absolutely psyched about both of them - but if anyone can give me any honest insight into either company I would really, really appreciate it!</p>

<p>One last point - in the situation that it's probably just as hard to transfer in either company at the end of my internship (though I'm willing to stay in Seattle for a year or so after graduating) - which, in your opinion, would look better on a resume?</p>

<p>I know this post was long so thanks for hanging in there.</p>

2

<p>As an internship experience, MSFT for sure. MSFT pumps tons of money into the intern program, including all sorts of events and gifts to keep you drinking the koolaid. In my opinion, interns have the best shot at landing FT positions. You will have to re-interview if you want to switch teams. Otherwise, if you are offered a FT position, you won’t have to re-interview and will be required to work on the team for a year before applying to transfer. The motivation is that intern positions are only created when a FT position is waiting. They want the intern to be pipelined into the FT position because, at the end of the internship, they have a good idea whether or not the intern can succeed in that role. If they say yes, but you say no, they have to start over. Pay is standard across employee level, not location (within the US). Not sure internationally. </p>

<p>The intern experience at MSFT is fantastic. You write your own commitments with the help of your manager and your offer is largely contingent upon how well you fulfill those commitments. You are accountable for your work and have real responsibilities. Intern events are pretty ridiculous. One other advantage of MSFT is the breadth of technologies that you can work on. Throughout your career, it’s fairly easy to switch to entirely different product groups or even to health-related technologies that you may prefer.</p>

<p>On a resume, Microsoft may have the historical advantage, but both undoubtedly demonstrate that you are a talented developer.</p>

3

<p>We visited the campus of Microsoft last summer on our trip to Seattle/Washington State. OMG, you are so, so lucky to have offers there. I did not see Amazon, but I can tell you, the area around Microsoft is so, so nice. And you can’t beat the Pacific Northwest. Good luck on your decision, and congratulations!</p>

4

<p>From DS to parent’s ears.
DS did essentially 3 consecutive internships, post-masters, with MS-Research (non-programming, device research) During his time there was a hiring freeze (2008-09). He went thru many interview rounds and with different departments, only to be eventually shutdown by HR. So it does happen. Pay was based on local rates and standard, Rupees in India, Euros in Germany, and USD Redmond. So it does happen. No idea for software jobs.</p>

<p>He landed at Udub in Robotics. DS raised in PNW but colleges in the East. PNW has a different lifestyle from Calif, from DC, or East Coast. He enjoyed his internships. and He attended a weekly ‘club’ for interns and recent grads who work at the tech companies. </p>

<p>You’ve looked at Google Maps on the Seattle locales?
MS-Redmond, gave DS a subsidized car and nearby corporate housing. More suburban. You will pay fed taxes on the car.
Amazon is located in Fremont District and has a city feel, Udub is nearby. No idea on perks. </p>

<p>IMO, you seem to have a lot of conditions. You’re first job will not be your last job. I don’t think that it makes any difference on your resume.</p>

5

<p>Microsoft>Amazon</p>

6

<p>I don’t have much experience in this field, but from a business perspective, I don’t know what software engineers at Amazon do. If the decision were a statistical analysis internship, I would choose Amazon because of the models they build for decision making. However, I think that there are probably more interesting applications being developed at Microsoft than Amazon. </p>

<p>Note: I’m not majoring in CS, but my friends would choose Microsoft over Amazon. Difference between developing for a software firm and an online retailer.</p>

7

<p>thanks for all the feedback everyone. from what I gather it seems to be MS across the board. it doesn’t help that my amazon recruiter isn’t the best recruiter. i’m leaning heavily towards microsoft right now and will decide soon. thanks!</p>

8

<p>Microsoft’s internship program has the goal of essentially selling the company to you so you join full-time. On the down-side, Microsoft is big, corporate, and is losing on most of the hot technology fronts nowadays (browsers, phones, tablets etc. etc). If you follow their business strategy for the last 20(-30?) years, it’s essentially to copy other companies’ winning ideas, often in a clunkier way, but to use their tight relationship with industry and massive amounts of money to push their product ahead of the competition. This strategy is no longer working for them, but the company is organized into poorly communicating, poorly flexible silos with massive egos. </p>

<p>Also, you are locked into producing with the Microsoft stack, using Microsoft programs and chat tools, etc. I would personally never want to work there because I disagree with most of their business practices, I find their software almost uniformly inelegant, buggy, and aesthetically displeasing, and I greatly prefer open-source development stacks. </p>

<p>A younger, nimbler company might offer a better future, but I don’t know if Amazon is necessarily that company. However, I do know that they pay some of the highest salaries, including for interns.</p>

<p>Whatever you choose, you will do very well for yourself, and be guaranteed a well-paying job until you burn out ten years down the road (or go into management) :)</p>

9

<p>Despite the MSFT hate that rains down throughout the technology community, this does not diminish the fact that there are lots of very bright people working here who can teach you a lot about developing software especially during your first few years. From there, where you take your skills is up to you. Regardless, the intern program is amazing, highly-regarded, and super fun whether you decide to go on and work FT or not.</p>

10

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<p>Hear, hear.</p>

11

<p>Not to fuel the fire any more than necessary but :P</p>

<p>[The</a> World’s Most Ethical Companies - Forbes.com](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/15/most-ethical-companies-leadership-responsibility-ethisphere.html]The”>The World's Most Ethical Companies)</p>

12

<p>thanks for everyone’s advice. i decided earlier this week to go ahead and accept the offer from microsoft! looking forward to an awesome summer!! :)</p>