It's amazing that the culture can be so different. Going to college in a European country, I never did an internship. I barely even worked summer jobs, I did maybe one summer's worth of work spread out over a few years, just to get some money. Even college summers were spent LANing with friends, fishing, watching movies, swimming, traveling, reading, some recreational coding etc. Just enjoying the summer, not worrying about my future career. It was great. Honestly, even though I could've spent my summers doing internships, I think it would have been rather pointless. I was already working 110% during the school year and still learning basic math, science and related theory. Whatever work I would've put in would have been sub-par. And that time was great to unwind.
Imagine my astonishment when I first came to the US and kids in the first and second year of college were doing internships at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Good on them I suppose, especially getting paid well to do it, but I can't see how it helps much. Seems mostly like a way for Google et al to fish for young talent before they graduate.
Anyway, being as excited about coding as this kid is, maybe this is the best way for him to use his time, but the culture difference is just amusing to me.
>even though I could've spent my summers doing internships, I think it would have been rather pointless.
>I can't see how it helps much. Seems mostly like a way for Google et al to fish for young talent before they graduate.
There is tremendous value in summer internships. You get to "test out" companies to work for after graduation. You get to learn a ton about actually using technologies in production and/or at scale. You get to learn from engineers who have years of industry experience. You get to work on technologies you would otherwise never work with (e.g. big data) by yourself. By the time you graduate, you will already have 9 months work experience, rather than 0, which makes starting a startup a more feasible option than before. I'm a little bewildered as to why you (or the culture in Europe?) find these internships pointless.
If what you say about the culture in Europe is true, I find this to actually be a competitive advantage for students/companies in the US.
Imagine my astonishment when I first came to the US and kids in the first and second year of college were doing internships at Google, Amazon and Microsoft. Good on them I suppose, especially getting paid well to do it, but I can't see how it helps much. Seems mostly like a way for Google et al to fish for young talent before they graduate.
Anyway, being as excited about coding as this kid is, maybe this is the best way for him to use his time, but the culture difference is just amusing to me.