Intern recruitment season is upon us! At Flare, we typically hire 2-3 interns each semester, with one joining one of our development teams. As we prepare to welcome a new cohort, we’re also gearing up to recruit for the following semester. Here’s an inside look at what an engineering internship at Flare entails, the benefits we gain as an organization, and how we ensure we recruit top-quality candidates.

What an Internship at Flare Looks Like

Before an intern starts at Flare, we’ve already identified a team that aligns well with their skills and interests. During the interview process, we discuss their previous experience, areas of interest, and what they hope to learn. However, once they’re more familiar with what we do at Flare, they’re free to choose the team they wish to join.

Interns undergo the same onboarding process as our full-time developers. The onboarding starts with an introduction to the company, where they learn about our mission, meet leadership from every department, and get a comprehensive overview of our operations. Following this, they dive into developer-specific onboarding, which includes a series of "quests." These quests are essentially sample tasks that cover various aspects of development, ensuring that interns have correctly set up their environment and tools. Throughout this process, they are guided by a "buddy" and supported by their assigned team. Typically, within the first two weeks, interns are ready to tackle a real issue.

Once onboarded, interns are fully integrated into their development teams, participating in our development cycle (see our ShapeUp article for more details). During their semester at Flare, interns work on two full development cycles. This means they will contribute to two meaningul and time-bound projects. The first project helps them get up to speed, gradually taking on larger tasks as they become more comfortable and independent. By the end of their internship, they’ve gained the experience of delivering two increments of user value—an ideal experience for budding engineers.

In summary, our interns are treated as full team members, working alongside experienced developers on meaningful projects. We set realistic expectations based on their experience level but ensure they are fully immersed in our development process.

Why We Hire Interns

Hiring interns offers numerous benefits beyond just increasing development velocity. While gaining additional hands on deck is valuable, the true benefits lie elsewhere.

Firstly, recruiting interns is an excellent way to engage our team in the recruitment process. It’s a low-stakes entry point that allows team members to gain experience in hiring, particularly those who might be hesitant about recruiting more experienced professionals. Our internship hiring process is shorter and less time-consuming than hiring full-time developers, making it an ideal starting point.

Once interns join the team, it’s a fantastic opportunity for team members to develop mentoring skills. Mentoring is a crucial skill that improves communication, processes, and team interactions far beyond the scope of the internship program. In my view, this is the greatest benefit of having interns.

Moreover, providing a great internship experience is important to us. It not only benefits the interns themselves but also contributes to a positive environment that makes future recruitment easier. It's a great pipeline to cultivate to ensure a steady flow of well-trained junior developers joining the team.

How We Recruit Great Candidates

Our recruitment process for interns consists of two main parts. First, we conduct a one-hour "fit" interview. This interview allows us to discuss the candidate’s experience, explain what an internship at Flare entails, and answer any questions they may have. If there’s a mutual fit, we move on to the next step.

The second step is a technical interview. We believe it’s essential to see interns code to ensure they can be productive within our development teams. Given the steep learning curve and the complexity of our distributed systems, we focus on onboarding interns to our way of doing things rather than teaching the basics of software engineering. Therefore, we prioritize candidates with prior experience and assess their capabilities during this interview.

While coding interviews can be daunting, we strive to make ours as comfortable as possible. We ask candidates to solve a simple problem involving around a dozen lines of code, conducted live over video chat. Though this might seem stressful, we allow candidates to use any programming language, tools, or documentation they’re comfortable with, including Google and language docs. They can also ask questions, and we guide them as needed. Our goal is to simulate real work, where we act more as colleagues than interviewers. Feedback suggests that while candidates may feel nervous initially, they quickly relax and enjoy the exercise.

Conclusion

Thanks for sticking with me through this overview of software development internships at Flare! If you’ve got thoughts on our process, I’d love to hear them. And if you’re looking for an internship yourself, don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re always on the lookout for great talent. https://flare.io/company/careers/