I figured this would happen. In the comments already posted, it is obvious people aren't reading my entire post and missing key details. 'Twas expected, I guess (sigh). I figure since it is my post, I'll address some of the comments below:
"Working for someone else is not all bad, even if building your own thing is your ultimate goal." -Kyllo
I am not saying it's bad at all! It's perfectly fine to work for someone else but if you are entrepreneurial-minded, it's best to intern at either a startup or a completely unrelated field to what you are used to, SO that you may be able to find an area in that industry where software/hardware can optimize it.
"There is a huge difference between that. A good job will have some nice engineers there, that might be willing to help you out and push you to learn how to code correctly." -stevoo
So the main reason to intern is to just become a better coder? Doubtful. Just to be completely blunt, the main reason college students intern is to have a secure job after graduation.
"Interning was a great start for me and helped me meet a ton of people. The difference was I interned at a startup." -blakeshall
Yeah I explicitly say this in my post! Working for a startup is completely reasonable as you will hopefully be able to directly help with the companies' organic idea.
"it's just not very appealing to take risks with your finances" -iansinke
There is very little risk taking with finances in the sense that you really don't have to spend anything to build. What you are losing is the money that COULD be made doing a summer internship. Being an entrepreneur is risky, though, so this risk will have to be taken at some point if you want to exercise that desire, right? Better now in college than after where you really will be taking risks with your finances (living expenses while trying to have a startup).
My Takeaway: This post should be titled differently because it seems that people are just reading the title and not the actual post.
I also may have not taken into account the money aspect as much (I promise I am not a snob)...I guess if money is an issue and you need to work, then interning is fine but at least do it at a company that will help to enhance your entrepreneurial mind! I actually do make explicit mention that working elsewhere IS reasonable.
I think your post would be better received with a bit more facts and a bit less anecdotal evidence. Moreover, you have a clear bias that big companies are bad and startups are good. Having worked professionally for both, it's not that black and white.
There are wide variations in company culture and work habits and my advice is to not be immediately turned on or off simply by the size or life stage of a company. You need to ask much more in depth questions to understand if the company is a good fit for what you're looking for at a particular stage in your life.
"So the main reason to intern is to just become a better coder? Doubtful. Just to be completely blunt, the main reason college students intern is to have a secure job after graduation."
False. 100%, completely and entirely, false.
School is frequently grounded in theory. More often than not, Internships are on actual products. Being able to traverse/understand source code and build productively into an existing product is an invaluable skill as an engineer.
Not only that, but it's during the internships that you meet all the people from outside of your collegiate bubble and where you FIND the people you want to build with. Not only that, but a fair amount of (us) students are consumed by loans, and any sum of pocket change (though the thousands of dollars you make at a place like Facebook or Google is in no way trivial) is invaluable. Not to mention that you get that building experience at the same time.
And yes, internships help you get a job. There is nothing, NOTHING AT ALL undignified about doing that.
The mindset of building for the sake of building is great! No qualms there. I think your view on internships and their value to students is a bit oversimplified.
"Working for someone else is not all bad, even if building your own thing is your ultimate goal." -Kyllo
I am not saying it's bad at all! It's perfectly fine to work for someone else but if you are entrepreneurial-minded, it's best to intern at either a startup or a completely unrelated field to what you are used to, SO that you may be able to find an area in that industry where software/hardware can optimize it.
"There is a huge difference between that. A good job will have some nice engineers there, that might be willing to help you out and push you to learn how to code correctly." -stevoo
So the main reason to intern is to just become a better coder? Doubtful. Just to be completely blunt, the main reason college students intern is to have a secure job after graduation.
"Interning was a great start for me and helped me meet a ton of people. The difference was I interned at a startup." -blakeshall
Yeah I explicitly say this in my post! Working for a startup is completely reasonable as you will hopefully be able to directly help with the companies' organic idea.
"it's just not very appealing to take risks with your finances" -iansinke
There is very little risk taking with finances in the sense that you really don't have to spend anything to build. What you are losing is the money that COULD be made doing a summer internship. Being an entrepreneur is risky, though, so this risk will have to be taken at some point if you want to exercise that desire, right? Better now in college than after where you really will be taking risks with your finances (living expenses while trying to have a startup).
My Takeaway: This post should be titled differently because it seems that people are just reading the title and not the actual post.
I also may have not taken into account the money aspect as much (I promise I am not a snob)...I guess if money is an issue and you need to work, then interning is fine but at least do it at a company that will help to enhance your entrepreneurial mind! I actually do make explicit mention that working elsewhere IS reasonable.