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I am in the middle of an Amazon technical internship right now. Since I haven’t completed it, my statements aren't entirely set in stone, but I can offer some insight into what it’s been like so far. (The short version is: it's pretty good :) )WorkI am guessing that the work aspect of Amazon internships is similar to that of other technical internships, but here are some specific details.TimelineAmazon SDE internships last 12 weeks. The first week or so involves getting oriented—meeting your team, going through the SDE Bootcamp, deciphering corporate jargon, and settling in to the culture. Then, the bulk of the internship is devoted to working on your project(s). Finally, sometime in the last weeks of your internship, you present your work. (This seems pretty standard). For those curious, the main languages used at Amazon are Java (for most services) and Perl/some C++ (for page generation/rendering). Along the way, you learn about the area your group focuses on, the specific tools for coding at Amazon, general CS/Amazon knowledge, what it’s like to work in a company setting, and other miscellaneous items.ProjectsThe intern projects at Amazon tend to be of fairly high quality and significance. This is a great facet of Amazon internships, and something that many people here highlight as a unique plus. I remember my interviewer stressing that interns complete meaningful work, and after coming here, I definitely see the truth in his words. In addition to my manager and mentor discussing options for my project, the entire team weighed in and contributed their thoughts on the relevance/usability/difficulty of the suggestions. They even explicitly considered how significant each possibility would be for full-timers, using tangible impact as a factor to weed out less significant contenders. In talking with other interns, this careful deliberation process is common and results in meaningful projects for most interns, which feels exciting. So if you are concerned about the significance of what you work on at an internship, Amazon does a good job in that area.MentorshipIn addition to your primary SDE mentor, there are additional mentorship programs available that anyone can sign up for (if they're applicable). For instance, the Grace Hopper mentorship program for female software engineers provides a network for women in engineering that pairs each female intern with a female mentor, letting them establish a cordial advisor relationship. Similar mentorship programs are available in other areas as well.CultureProfessionalOn a corporate level, Amazon prides itself as being “earth’s most customer-centric company”. From orientation presenters to team members to panel speakers, people at Amazon emphasize this aspect of being customer-driven. The primary goal of Amazon is to satisfy and improve the experience of its customers-- in essence, to make its customers happy. This customer focus seems fairly unique to Amazon; I am just hazarding a guess, but it does not seem as pronounced at places like Google that seem more to target innovation and novelty. (Amazon also chooses to highlight its customer component, so this might arise from actively stressing it more). At any rate, customer obsession is a prominent part of Amazon.Another interesting aspect of Amazon professional culture is its openness within the company. There is not too much secrecy here (well, unless you're in the secret Kindle building). People from other teams are very willing to chat about what they're working on, which I hear is different from internships at some other companies. Even the code itself is often accessible across different teams.Social (Company)In my experience, Amazon working culture is quite casual and easygoing. But this doesn't mean people don't work hard; some work 12 hour days regularly, and people are almost always very busy with many tasks to do. In general, however, they still find time to relax and have a good time. I had to switch teams during my internship, but both have their own ways of having fun, such as some form of social "hangout" event on Friday afternoons. The people are very talented, as well. The specific dynamics of each team can vary; for example, my first team members often socialized outside of work, but that doesn't seem to be the case with my second team. My second team, however, has random nerf gun fights, which didn't happen in my previous team. However, one cross-team constant seems to be the presence of foosball tables in all of the break rooms and the ongoing foosball games. Oh, and on my new floor, people also bring their dogs in :)Social (Interns)There are various official intern events throughout the summer, such as a dinner and a trip. However, these are not too frequent. As a preface/disclaimer, I am very much in the minority housing-wise (since I was placed pretty far from the workplace with not many interns) and gender/age-wise, which has made it more difficult for me to comfortably meet and connect with other interns. I have heard there are other areas downtown near Amazon that are swarming with interns, and they likely have a very different experience from me. But, in my case, getting to know other interns past a cursory level takes active initiative. That is unless, of course, you go into your internship with a pre-existing group of friends (a lot of interns are from University of Washington, for instance). But there are a number of ways to reach out, including a mailing list with random activities like board games, which provides a venue for those interested to spearhead an intern activity. And the interns here are generally very talented and open. Demographically, the majority of SDE interns are male masters/PhD students or upperclassmen (going into senior/junior year).SeattleFinally, as a miscellaneous item, Amazon's location in Seattle is an interesting and large component of interning here. This was actually a huge reason why I chose this internship, because I wanted to explore what working in CS is like outside Silicon Valley. Seattle is a cool city with neat things to do (Pike Place, Seattle Center, Green Lake, parks, ferry rides, and more) and generally nice people. The weather is fairly good (not too hot, not too cold), but then again, people say summer is when the weather is nicest. Many complain about seemingly perpetual rain throughout the year, but there are those who don't mind. All of the different districts have their own quirks, too. Oh, and Seattle is really hilly. Sometimes I'm tempted to just roll down a big hill, but then I realize that's probably not a good idea if cars are driving on it too :)A quick summary:Meaningful work with significant applicationsA customer-centric mentality that drives the company's vision and workGreat open and casual culture that lets you see into the company and have a relaxing time doing itHelpful mentorship programs that offer guidance and friendshipThe opportunity to be in an environment of many bright, talented people (both interns and full timers) and learn from themVarious perks, like good pay, opportunities for full time if you're interested, free cereal (though I think that's just my team), Amazon employee discountFoosball! and hillsThese are just my two cents, and, since I haven't completed my internship, the points are prone to change or evolve. Also, in general, any internship experience depends on specifics of the intern's circumstances, such as their team, their background, their personality, and other particulars :)

Hi, folks. First, my previous answer has been deleted. It seems I have been naive, but you have taught me something, and for that I thank you. I need to curtail my own frustration and stifle the snarkiness that creeps into my writing without my even knowing it, because you hear that as arrogance and hate. Truly, all I hoped to say is that I wish you would look out for your own interests better than you are now doing. And I still do.As I said, I don’t hate you, but I am frustrated. I am also very worried that our democracy is well on its way to extinction. And that makes me angry, so angry that among friends I express that anger. The trouble is when you hear things like that, you hear “hate.” I repeat, I do not hate you or look down upon you. In truth, I and the rest of us “liberals’ really need you. Please understand that what may sound like “hate” to you is anger and frustration at what you are enabling Mr. Trump to do to our nation.So, to return to the question: This is my revised shot at the one thing I’d like to say to you. Let me tell you who we liberals really are and what we believe. It’s that government’s job is to take care of the people. To promote liberty and equality and justice.We believe in what Jefferson said: that everyone is created equal, which I take to mean equal in terms of basic dignity and equally deserving of justice. And that government’s core function is “to preserve these rights.” In other words, the primary function of government is to serve the interests of the people.We also believe what the Constitution says . . . that its purpose is to “, , , establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, [and] promote the general Welfare.” Again, government is there to establish fairness and equity for all citizens.Lincoln said the same thing: “. . . government of the people, by the people, and for the people . . .”As we see it, some corrupt politicians have convinced you that government is the problem, and that it therefore needs to be dismantled. There may be many problems with government, but I would submit to you that the solution is not to dismantle it but to fix it. Because history shows us what happens when there is no government: anarchy and exploitation by the powerful. And that is where we are now headed. We need government because we want somebody to come to our aid when we are in need.To paraphrase Robert Lustig, “I don’t want government in my life, unless there’s someone far more dangerous already there.” Lustig goes on to say that someone is corporations — who have paid to stack the deck so that they can exploit consumers (the people) everywhere you look: environmental protections, consumer protections, health services, you name it. And only government has the power to rein them in. But they have bought the government. We “liberals” believe we need to empower the government to hold corporations accountable. We believe we need to make government answerable to the people, not to the powerful.I hope that you agree with these principles I have set out. If you don’t, I invite you to show me the flaw in this logic.This democracy is at a perilous crossroads. We need you to join us in restoring government to its intended function. You are in the minority, but you are a large minority. This country cannot function and return to health without your help.To recap: We are not who you think we are. We are not evil demons full of hate. We don’t hate you or look down on you. We are your fellow citizens, and we invite you to join us in restoring the health of our democracy. We can’t do it without you.Addendum RE dismantling of government:Steve Bannon said the goal was “the deconstruction of the administrative state.’A reader responded:“What is the purpose of "deconstructing the administrative state" ? Complete freedom for corporations and gun owners to do anything they please, with no guardrails? A free pass for Russia and China and North Korea to do anything they please, with no pushback? Unbridled capitalism? Poison baby food? Poison candy? Flint water everywhere? Crime and massacres with no consequences? Fires with no fire departments? Sick people but no hospitals? What in the world do they want?”Again, what you hear is not hate. It’s our despair and frustration. Please join us in reforming government.

The question embeds a number of false assertions; that ‘socialism’ in the abstract makes things worse than what we practice in the United States, that Sanders advocates something other than Market-based capitalism (The flavor of social democracy Sanders promotes is one in which we’re still capitalists, but we regulate those markets democratically, in the public interest). Nobody, Sanders included, is talking about doing away with market-based capitalism. What he’s advocating is essentially the New Deal, all over again- kinda like what we did in the 1930s-70s.This assertion (that ‘socialism’ in the abstract is bad), as presented in the context of American politics, where we aren’t seriously considering socialism, is little more than a Thought-terminating Cliché:Thought-terminating clichés, also known as thought-stoppers, are words or phrases that discourage critical thought and meaningful discussion about a given topic. They are typically short, generic truisms that offer seemingly simple answers to complex questions or that distract attention away from other lines of thought. They are often sayings that have been embedded in a culture's folk wisdom and are tempting to say because they often sound true or good or like the right thing to say.Asserting the evils of socialism isn’t so much the start of an inquiry into how best to organize the economy, it is a means of shutting down the beginnings of that thought. Perhaps this is why Americans over a certain age don’t realize what the rest of the developed world has known for decades: that their systems cost them less, and deliver better value, than ours do. No economic or political system is perfect, but it should be instructive that this rhetoric about it deals in broad, abstract generalizations as a means of avoiding dealing with the facts and details. This is probably because the facts and details are not kind to American Capitalism compared to Social Democracy.The irony of this claim (that ‘socialism robs people of opportunity’) is that the downside to the claim is more true of American capitalism than it is of the countries that have embraced social democracy or something like it: Americans enjoy LESS economic and social mobility than do their overseas peers:Bottom line: American Capitalism as practiced today has legitimate problems, and the ‘socialism’ boogeyman is too-often invoked to deflect conversation away from examining or addressing them.The American economy no longer delivers economic mobility in the ways that it once did, and countries with policy like what Sanders promotes do have that. What folks like the OP probably believe is that the rest of the developed world lives in hellish, stifling circumstance that is much worse than we have it here- but that belief is false. In asserting this claim as part of the question here, the rhetorical construction seeks to avoid the question and ask respondents to confirm the postulate. By contrast, American Capitalism delivers a 3rd-world living situation for those of us not ascendant:In the Lewis model of a dual economy, much of the low-wage sector has little influence over public policy. Check. The high-income sector will keep wages down in the other sector to provide cheap labor for its businesses. Check. Social control is used to keep the low-wage sector from challenging the policies favored by the high-income sector. Mass incarceration - check. The primary goal of the richest members of the high-income sector is to lower taxes. Check. Social and economic mobility is low. Check. ~[America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People]In sum, the track we’re on right now has the United States regressing in meaningful ways into a 3rd world country. That’s what the kids today understand.What young liberals realize is that the conventional thinking about economic policy we’ve had for the last 40 years (which has called itself ‘free market capitalism’) is a rolling disaster for anyone not in the top 10% of us. Since Reagan, the middle class has collapsed. This has gutted the whole notion of what we used to call ‘The American Dream’- it used to be that we could expect to hand our kids a better life than the one we had, and today fewer than half of us can. The following graph tracks the percentage of Americans who could expect to out-earn their parents, by birth year:The trend it illustrates is that where a rising tide of economic prosperity used to raise more boats than not, whereas today on average anyone’s relative gains come at someone else’s loss. It also happens that our economic growth rates since the Reagan years are lower than they were before we embraced our current thinking about laissez-faire/neoliberal economics, and it’s also true that even though productivity (and thus, theoretically, the basis of shared prosperity) has gone steadily up, it is no longer shared proportionally between capital and labor:Fifty years ago, economic growth was more evenly distributed among all social classes, while today it is significantly more concentrated among the most affluent Americans. If the distribution of wealth had remained the same, 80 percent of Americans born in 1984 would be earning more than their parents, which closes most of the current earnings gap between generations.~ [Why Fewer Americans Outearn Their Parents]What the OP seems not to realize is that countries embracing the sorts of policies Sanders promotes tend to have higher quality of life [https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/quality-of-life-rankings], at least as much in the way of opportunity (as measured by economic mobility), and far less in the way of poverty and bankruptcy than we have in the USA.In reality, this scare-talk about socialism has been a very effective tool in the hands of the American neoliberal, it’s been wildly effective in convincing American voters to not notice that everywhere else in the world that takes up social democracy or New-Deal-like policy seems to enjoy the following better than we do here in the USA:Longer, healthier livesHigher levels of social and economic mobilityLess poverty, less violent crime, lower rates of addiction and mental health disorderBetter educational resultsmore.Yes, young liberals are aware that you’re trying to scare them. But really, they’re more afraid of today’s reality in the USA than they are of your paper tigers from the cold war propaganda files. They’re not blind to the fact that the rest of the developed world live better, longer lives than we do [America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People]. They know we pay more for health care and education, and compete harder for more limited opportunities here today than they do. It just happens that American Capitalism is everything they warned us Socialism would be, and the policies advocated by Bernie Sanders are the ones delivering the highest quality of life in the world today.