Tesla or Square for internship?
I'm working at Uber for my last internship (Sept 2019, location unknown). For Jan 2019, I'm debating between Tesla in SF and Square in Waterloo Canada. My goal was initially to maximize prestige on my resume so I can open the most doors possible in terms of new grad, since I'm not sure what I want to do full-time yet. Since I'm interning at Uber eventually anyways, I'm wondering if it matters where I intern next. Here's the pros of each: Tesla - More prestige/resume visibility - Larger intern cohort - Get to experience SFBA for the first time (big hiker so I would be checking out the national parks a lot) Square - Potentially more interesting work (scaling Square Cash vs full-stack engineering design tools at Tesla) - No relocation involved - Closer to friends/girlfriend This is currently what I'm debating right now and I'm wondering if there's anything that leans one way or another.
Do SFBA, make new friends, your GF and the Waterloo friends can come visit.
Depends on the type of industry you want to work in. FinTech or energy.
I'm interested more in FinTech.
square has an office in Waterloo?
Square. It’s nicer to work for a company’s who’s ceo isn’t a drug addict nut job and isn’t under endless government investigations.
Is your Uber internship in SFBA? I'd lean toward Square but if SFBA I where you'd like to end up having an internship there might be a good thing.
Uber may put me in SFBA, Seattle, or NY. I find out location next week but Tesla deadline is today.
Tesla is not entirely a tech company and has less "prestige" than Square. You'll also open more doors and get paid more in the long run at Square. The only con would be location since it's not in the SFBA so that's for you to pick -- location vs company. Personally, I'd pick Square hands down.
Can I ask why you think Square would open more doors? Anecdotally I've seen many more recruiters/engineers recognize Tesla on a resume.
Well, Square is a well respected tech company with a much higher hiring bar than Tesla for SWE. I've interned at Facebook and Google and would put Square in the same league based on my experiences based on engineering culture and the hiring bar.
make a poll
Added one
i think you should go for square! the project sounds much more interesting and odds are if you ask Uber to put you in SF they will. also, as a SWE you probably don’t want to work at Tesla full time, but square and Uber could both be good full-time opportunities and you can compare your experience at both to decide what you want for your new grad experience. also, consider that Tesla in Palo Alto is probably not as fun as being in SF (my boyfriend was at Tesla last summer)
If I want to be able to be in a good position as a new grad, company visibility is kind of important
I saw your posts on cscq too. Big 4 isn’t everything - and it’s fairly easy to get interviewed there anyway. You’ll definitely get interviewed if you have Uber on your resume. As someone with internship offers from Google and Facebook, I would honestly consider working on Square Cash instead because it’s a really exciting project.