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Accept the return internship.Because being an intern at a company for once mainly tells the readers of your resume that you did well in the internship application (interview, etc.). Being an intern in a company twice or more tells people that you did well when you were intern there. That's a major difference.So far your resume has only proven the first: you really can repeatedly do well in intern applications. Adding one more company (Microsoft) to the list makes the message stronger. But still the same message.Accepting the return intern will change the message to the second: "people in that company approve my performance and potential shown during the internship".Not to mention that it's Google, one of the most respected employer in our trade. Return intern to such a company carries some extra weight.

The top answer is a good answer. And given that's it's anonymous, I assume written by a currently employed banker. The truth is most bankers usually toss out the cover letters from the resume review pile. (The only reason to submit a cover letter for a college summer internship is if your campus recruiting website requires it.)Make the cover letter radically shorter than suggested (shoot for 1 paragraph) to actually increase the chance that someone reads it. People notice brevity.Best case scenario: a short cover letter has a neutral effect on a candidate with an already strong resume.Worst case scenario: go browse Dealbreaker to read some horror stories.

Apart from full time researchers and interns, there are positions called as Research Assistants (RA). The basic idea is essentially to explore more in research, and at the same time make your profile stronger for a PhD. application.Who should apply for a RA position?Typically, a person should apply for a RA if she is inclined to a PhD, but does not want to go for a PhD. right away either because her PhD. application does not seem strong to get admits from desirable places, or because she is not sure whether she really wants to do a PhD. and hence wants to get some research experience to be sure.Which MSR locations have a RA position?I have heard from a friend that RA positions are not available at MSR locations outside India, though I'm not quite sure about that. Nevertheless, in MSR Bangalore there are a total of around 12 RA positions at a time.How to apply for a RA position?Rather counter-intuitively, there is no online application for applying! The way I did it was to fill the online application for an internship, and then wrote to Neeraj Kayal (working in Arithmetic Complexity Theory) at MSR saying that I was interested in a year-long position. [The internship application was important because that is where I submitted my resume and recommendations (3 of them were required).] Subsequently I had to come to Bangalore to give a technical talk (to exhibit my research experience), followed by day long interviews (totally 6 of them!). Within 2 weeks after that, I heard back from MSR with an RA offer.How long can one work as a RA?Typically, it can be for either one year or two years totally depending on your preference.How competitive is it to get a RA position?Getting a RA position can be slightly more challenging than getting an internship. As long as you have good academic standing and some research experience, it should be fine.What kind of work is expected from a RA?The work expected from a RA is same as that of an intern. However, since a RA stays for a longer duration, she can take up more ambitious/long-term projects.