<p>First off, sorry for the cross post! I posted this in the internship forum, but am now thinking I'd probably get better feedback in this forum. I'd delete that one if I could but I don't have the power....anywho:</p>
<p>I'm a 4th year CS major who will be graduating in 2013 (as in, I'll graduate at the end of my 5th year). I've been offered summer internship positions with both Microsoft and Google. At Google, I would be working as a software developer. At Microsoft, I would be working as a PM (Program Manager). I'm having trouble deciding between the two internships.</p>
<p>I'm leaning towards Microsoft for the following reasons:
1) I feel that PM is a good fit and it's a role I'd like to try out
2) Microsoft offers full time employment to 85% of their interns (Google I've heard is far less)
3) It seems like the Microsoft internship was more competitive to get, which might be good for networking and meeting incredibly smart interns. For example, I had to go through a full day of rigorous Microsoft interviews. For Google, I just had two phone screens.</p>
<p>The main thing making me lean towards Google is that it seems to really have the most elite reputation amongst companies. On most company rankings and the like, Google comes out near number 1 while Microsoft is far lower.</p>
<p>What do you think is the right choice? I'd love to hear comments from people that have interned at Google and/or Microsoft.</p>
<p>Note: Salary offers are near identical, so this is not a factor</p>
<p>I visited GoogleNYC and it’s such a comfortable and innovative workspace!! You never have to go hungry and the NYC location in particular is amazing and bubbly. </p>
<p>I thought for the actual job though, the interviews for Google are very rigorous. It took my friend approximately 6 months from date of application/them calling back for him to land the job. You would have to go through several interviews by different people. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about Microsoft but it depends ultimately on you!! If you’re still deciding and need more info about Google, pm me.</p>
<p>Congrats, goog. Seems like you have a tough choice, but if I were you, I would focus on the actual work rather than company reputations or anything like that. Program manager and Software Engineer are very different positions, so if you really want to get more into that role I think the Microsoft offer is a good choice.</p>
<p>Based on my observations, I think it may be true that Google is less likely to offer its interns permanent positions upon graduating. I knew a bunch of classmates who interned at Google, most of whom went to work elsewhere upon graduating, and although they didn’t say that they weren’t offered a full-time job from Google, I assume that they weren’t.</p>
<p>I would definitely go with Google.
PM is a job type that you will not develop many actual useful skills in (in my opinion), and development will open much more opportunities in your career.</p>
<p>Besides that, Google is more prestigious, has better benefits, etc…</p>
<p>JamesMadison: I should note that I have already done an internship in software development. I did very well in this internship (well enough that Google is offering me a position as a dev), so I’m not leaning towards PM because I’m not a good dev. To be honest, I just feel like my skill set fits very well into this role. If I change my mind at the end of summer, then so be it, but I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to try being a PM.</p>
<p>I’m pretty much set on the fact that I’d rather try PM for the summer than developer. Also, note that on the team I’m working on at Microsoft, PM’s code.</p>
<p>“Prestige” in a company is irrelevant to me.</p>
<p>If prestige is irrelevant to you, don’t work for microsoft OR google. Try a small startup- you’ll learn much more and get real responsibilities.</p>
<p>The interns I have met at Microsoft (both of my parents have worked there for 10+ years) get a cutesy-little project just to keep them busy for 10 weeks, which gets thrown in the trash the minute their internship ends.</p>
<p>JamesMadison: I know what I’ll be doing at Microsoft. My project will end up in major production code, so I have no concerns about that. I will have real responsibilities. On the other hand, many of my friends that have interned at Google have had their projects totally scrapped.</p>
<p>I said I wasn’t concerned with “prestige” as in impressing some random person I meet. I’m more concerned with setting myself up for future success and learning a lot, which all signs point to Microsoft right now. I agree I would probably learn a tremendous amount working for a startup, and I may do that at some point in my career.</p>
<p>^ Good for you. First off, I don’t think the presitge differential between MS and Google is enough to influence a decision. Secondly, I think that PM might help you develop exactly the kinds of skills that will make you stand out: leadership, communication, teamwork, writing, presentation, etc. (in addition to learning about technologies and getting into some wet work). Also, don’t let JamesMadison’s comments about work being inconsequential put you off… whether work is consequential is a matter of degrees, and is based on how you look at it. There’s clearly value even in throw-away projects, if you have just a little imagination.</p>