Ben Maurer is one of hundreds of Google interns this summer whose days include free clothes, free meals and free reign to delve into Google's code.
"It's like a scuba diver and an interesting coral reef. For a software developer, diving into the code at Google is a comparable experience," said Maurer, an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University who's interning at the search giant for a second summer in a row, following two summer stints at software maker Novell.
As if to underscore his appreciation of the tangible perks of his summer gig at Google, Maurer added: "I really can't believe the food. It's amazing. The hardest thing for me is on the weekends and the food isn't there."
As a college kid, Maurer is in an enviable spot, and not just because he's fed well. He's got a paid internship at the company widely regarded as the coolest place to work in Silicon Valley, where even press representatives have Harvard University degrees.
But as a computer science undergraduate with ambition and several internships under his belt, Maurer is in another kind of sweet spot. As companies like Google and Microsoft fish in a shrinking pool of skilled job candidates to fuel innovation and growth, they're similarly looking to recruit university-level talent for next year's hires. That makes college-intern recruiting a competitive business.
"There's a lot of demand for top computer science undergrads and grads, both from start-ups and big companies, because there's growing recognition of the limited supply of the really talented students," said Stephen Hsu, a professor at the University of Oregon and founder of SafeWeb, a network-security specialist that was purchased in 2003 by security company Symantec. "Companies take it pretty seriously because summer interning is a recruitment tool."
Recent statistics indicate the number of computer science majors in colleges may be shrinking. According to the Computing Research Association (CRA), total enrolment in computer science bachelor's programmes in the US was down 14 percent from 2005 to 2006, and more than 40 percent since 2002. On the upside, there were some hopeful numbers: a 10 percent rise in pre-major enrolment in computer sciences.
There's a lot of demand for top computer science undergrads and grads, both from start-ups and big companies, because there's growing recognition of the limited supply of the really talented students
Stephen Hsu, University of Oregon professor, and SafeWeb founder
Similarly, the number of students earning a master's degree in computer science was down 13 percent, from 9,286 in the year ending June 2005 to 8,074 in the year ending June 2006, according to CRA.
However, the number of students graduating with a doctorate was up more than 25 percent, to 1,499 in June 2006. CRA also reported that, as was true during the dot-com heyday, a high percentage — nearly 50 percent — of doctoral students in computer science went to work in industry, rather than academia, from 2005 to 2006.
Offers that are hard to refuse
When wading into that talent pool, securing a talented workforce makes companies like Google and Microsoft work hard to pave the way for interns, beyond offering an attractive salary.
Microsoft, for example, offers students superlative benefits, according to students and recruiters. Whereas Google typically will conduct phone interviews with prospective student interns, Microsoft will fly undergraduates and graduate students to its campus for interviews. It also offers to pay new intern hires for relocating, and gives them the choice of a housing stipend or subsidised corporate housing with free transportation to and from work. In a new move this year, Microsoft started giving interns a one-time allowance for housing.
On top of that, Microsoft sells itself to interns with various perks, including San Francisco Giants baseball games at AT&T Park, a sunset cruise in San Francisco Bay, and a dodgeball tournament. Out-of-state interns are also flown to Redmond, Washington, for a barbeque at Bill Gates' house during the summer.
Similarly, Google interns are treated to ice cream socials, bowling nights, a cruise on the bay, and a scavenger hunt in San Francisco. Unlike the subsidised meals they might find at Microsoft…
