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Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
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Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#12I actually had my dream internship when finishing my Master's.
It was in a private research lab, I had all the hardware I wanted (laptops, desktops, servers, RPis, Arduinos, STM32s, etc..)
My manager was very knowledgeable but respected my individuality and what I can bring to the table. My tasks were specific enough that I never was lost, but vague enough so it didn't become boring. Ended up doing a bit of crypto, a bit of web, a bit of embedded systems and it was a blast.
Best of all, the project was not thrown out of the window when I finished; The following year a student reached-out to let me know they're continuing on what I had setup.
A great ego boost for a fresh grad.
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#13dominatrix
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#14Used to be Google, which I'm sure would seem mundane to a lot of ppl here who work there. I've met some working on big scale things, like the guy who started street view, and it always seemed like a neat enough place where I could just work on tricky things and find my space to do it with whatever tools I'd need. Always seemed out of reach, but I'd still take it I guess, even though I really need the money.
Other than that, maybe Blizzard or some volunteer thing like as a zookeeper or trail maintainer. or just somewhere where I can contribute to something tangible. or a place that's in total chaos.
Edit: The MET centre in England would be cool
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#15Used to be Google, which I'm sure would seem mundane to a lot of ppl here who work there. I've met some working on big scale things, like the guy who started street view, and it always seemed like a neat enough place where I could just work on tricky things and find my space to do it with whatever tools I'd need. Always seemed out of reach, but I'd still take it I guess, even though I really need the money. Other tha…
Street view? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an intern ship anything more complex than a new lint rule.
That’s not a criticism of interns btw, a few months in a new job just isn’t enough time to ship anything substantial even for a very senior engineer.
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#16Do I need to have qualification for the job? If not, F1 team mechanic.
This is fun. I was a Tony Kart and Ducati racing team mechanic for a few years and although really taxing on the body, it’s always fun and new. The challenges are tangible and so are the results. When you start getting into high dollar and highly organized teams, it just feels nice. The shop I was in was kind of a mess. Like a crazy scientist kind of mess. The owner was the Doc Brown of 2 stroke engines and so I was…
Oh, motorcycle teams, didn't even occur to me to work on motorcycles despite ton of my friends race on local tracks.
I hung around in a pit while I was in college, just an extra hand helping my friend's dad who competes in drag races. That was a super interesting experience, but a lot of unsafe, messy (arguable illegal) shit going on. Being an Asian in an all "country boy" environment wasn't pleasant, but I enjoyed my team's company. I can't even imagine how freaking cool it would be to work on F1 teams.
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#17Not at the intern level, but when I was, I just wanted the biggest possible project that could be completed in 6 months. Like lots of new tech, new features, innovative stuff etc.
Since this is my 'dream internship', I would also want to travel lots. Like checkout all the offices across the US so I can pick where to live after I'm brought on full time.
Also lots of public recognition.
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#18Used to be Google, which I'm sure would seem mundane to a lot of ppl here who work there. I've met some working on big scale things, like the guy who started street view, and it always seemed like a neat enough place where I could just work on tricky things and find my space to do it with whatever tools I'd need. Always seemed out of reach, but I'd still take it I guess, even though I really need the money. Other tha…
Street view? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an intern ship anything more complex than a new lint rule. That’s not a criticism of interns btw, a few months in a new job just isn’t enough time to ship anything substantial even for a very senior engineer.
I meant to say that I've met cool people from Google, not interns. But on that basis, being one would be neat. I agree with your intuition about how much gets done in 6 months. Though the first prototype was basically a custom in the trunk of a car
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#19Do I need to have qualification for the job? If not, F1 team mechanic.
I like this perspective. Unless it greatly enhances knowledge or job opportunities, then I'd rather have something that is just thrilling to me personally. I'd rather help out skydive instructors or open water shark dives than work at a place that does not grow or develop my career.
Re: Ask HN: What is your dream internship?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
Street view? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an intern ship anything more complex than a new lint rule. That’s not a criticism of interns btw, a few months in a new job just isn’t enough time to ship anything substantial even for a very senior engineer.
I meant to say that I've met cool people from Google, not interns. But on that basis, being one would be neat. I agree with your intuition about how much gets done in 6 months. Though the first prototype was basically a custom in the trunk of a car
Street view started at Stanford with Marc Levoy. Like a lot of things at Google, the hacking around was done by a person with a PhD and many years professional experience and deep domain knowledge...computational photography knowledge in the case of street view.