Microsoft Interns Still Feel the Love

theodp writes "Despite layoffs and a blip in earnings, the Chicago Trib reports that Microsoft's summer interns still enjoy the VIP treatment. Although there were 20% fewer of them this year than last, still 85% of the interns are offered full-time jobs. In addition to being paid $4,600-$6,000 a month, a housing stipend, and relocation costs for the summer, the 600 or so Microsoft apprentices enjoyed other perks — such as a police escort to speed their way to a private museum party where they screened the most recent Harry Potter movie and were given a free Xbox 360. 'You feel like royalty to be escorted by police,' said Joriz De Guzman, an intern working toward his MBA at Wharton. BTW, before he got mixed up with those MBA-types, De Guzman earned some fame as the Doogie Howser of computer science."

Comments

Escort

[DoofusOfDeath]

such as a police escort to speed their way to a private museum party where they screened the most recent Harry Potter movie and were given a free Xbox 360.

Before I get too angry, I should make sure I'm clear on something. Does this mean Microsoft paid money for people to get preferred treatment on the roads?

Re:Seriously?! WTF?!

[thesandtiger]

In a world where many people have never made a phone call, where children still get polio or die from malaria, where there are some people who make less than $30 USD in a year, let me be the first to say FUCK YOU! Seriously, Libertarian001, what the hell is the matter with you? You honestly think that showing off by using the luxury of an internet connection and personal computer to bitch about other people's fortune is a good idea? Asshole.

Perspective, it's what's for dinner.

OK, let's talk perspective...

[IANAAC]

Perspective, it's what's for dinner.

$4500-$6000 a month is a LOT of coin for pretty much most of the country not containing coastline.

Truthfully, this is real news to me, I never heard of interns making that kind of money. In this economy - and yes, I'm talking about the US - it just seems... absurd.

Re:OK, let's talk perspective...

[AtOMiCNebula]

The work Microsoft interns do is along the same lines as what a standard developer does, aside from the fact that they have to ramp-up on the product and finish their project all within 12 weeks. What I'm trying to say is that while an intern obviously can't do as much as a normal FTE could in the same time period, as they have to learn along the way, they still do very real work. Interns certainly aren't coffee grabbers or paper filers, unless, of course, they're grabbing coffee for themselves.

The idea behind the program is that an intern is a potential new full-time hire, but because they're not ready to work full time (as in, they still have a year or two of college to complete), then Microsoft tests the water with us. They get a fair amount of work out of their interns, and the interns ramp up on a product at a rate that's ~80% of what they'd pay an FTE. If interns choose to return, then theoreticially, they've completed their ramp-up work already and hit the ground running.

Disclaimer: I was a Microsoft intern this past summer.

Keeping the Microsoft hate alive.

[Kenz0r]

If this were Google, most of you'd be praising them, for being such a great employer.

How about we judge a software company by their software and business ethics, there's plenty of things to dislike Microsoft for in those departments...

Re:Keeping the Microsoft hate alive.

[minsk]

Have to voice agreement on that. Microsoft puts a lot of effort into attracting excellent developers and trying to keep them happy. The developers and front-line managers I've talked to struck me as a decent, and I know more than a few people who have settled in there.

There are lots of reasons to rip on MS and their products... but I'm not seeing good treatment of good interns as one of those.

Renting police and public streets

[Restil]

Ever see a carnival that takes in several city streets and blocks traffic for the duration? It depends on the city, but most cities will, for the right price, allow companies, or even private citizens to purchase the rights to have exclusive control over specific public facilities or resources for a short period of time. It's usually not cost effective to do so, and you're therefore not likely to see a great deal of it. The only example I know of with real numbers would be the First Saturday sale in Dallas, TX. I don't even know if it's still there, but back in the mid 90's when I was a vendor there for a few months, I asked about it. For a few public parking lots and to block one street in Dallas on a Saturday, they paid $5000 for a 24 hour permit.
And yes, you can rent cops.. in uniforms... with cars, for pretty much anything you want.

The real question isn't how they could do such a thing, but why they would even bother. I never thought of a group of interns going to a Harry Potter movie as being an event worthy of a police escort, let alone requiring one.

-Restil

Definitely not Apple

[lucm]

Good money, plenty of perks... this is not the Apple way.

A few years ago the company was on the brink of disaster and made huge salary cuts. Now they are making sh*tloads of money, thanks to the iPod and iPhone, but the salaries are still low. Last year, Techcrunch published data pulled from Glassdoor.com, showing that Apple engineers are paid 15-20% less than their counterparts at Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.

Some food for thought: who made more money at Microsoft? Steve Ballmer or Bill Gates? and who made more money at Apple? Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak? Engineers always have been a commodities for Apple.

Woosh...

[carp3_noct3m]

If the parent douchebag would have read what the person hes aiming this at was talking to, he would have realized it was sarcasm to point out the others idiocy... talk about woosh...