HP Internship Story

Senior-year internships for Software Institute students have been a tradition since the Class of 2000. When the time comes, students are like birds freed from a cage after years inside — cheering with joy. This year it’s the Class of 02 undergrads heading out (my internship was already two years ago — I’m getting old…).

HP GDCC is always the biggest internship destination for our students. Probably because Class of 01 went there and had a good experience — HP tasted the benefits and came first this year, taking over 40 people in one go. Rumor has it they almost swept up all the top students from Class of 02.

Then some people started feeling they’d gotten a bad deal on BBS. Some wanted to back out. But the institute has a rule: “Students who are accepted must原则上 (in principle) not break the contract, or they can never participate in institute-organized internships again.” This left some people bitter and resentful. Someone even changed their MSN name to “Tricked by the institute, tricked by Old Wan, so不甘心 (unwilling)…” — openly expressing displeasure with Professor Wan, probably a first for the Software Institute.

After my unofficial investigation, I gathered the following reasons. All hearsay, but here are my thoughts on each:

1. HP was the first company to come to our institute. Class of 02 students had heard many stories of seniors bravely facing interviews and wanted to experience it themselves. When the opportunity came, they rushed to sign up. HP initially said: written test, then two rounds of interviews, then decide. So some students who just wanted interview experience planned: do their best on the written test and first interview, then tank the second interview (or skip it entirely) to avoid being selected. But in practice, there was only one written test and one interview. Those who tried their best had no chance to back out.

This has nothing to do with technology — those students tried to “trick” HP but got “tricked” right back. Neither side was particularly诚信 (trustworthy). So students can only blame themselves — they’re not as shrewd as a Fortune 500 company.

2. Getting into HP was too easy — the written test and interview had no pressure at all. They didn’t experience the thrill of fighting through crowds like their seniors did. Some students, after being accepted by HP, secretly interviewed with Microsoft on the side. During the MS interview, questions came like a barrage, pushing them to the brink of崩溃 (breaking down). Afterward, regardless of MS’s decision, comparing the two companies only increased their awe of MS and regret about HP.

Professor Wan answered this quite clearly on BBS, and I agree with him. Things that come easily aren’t necessarily worthless. You might only know their value after losing them.

3. Mismatched technology. This matters a lot to tech-loving people. If you don’t care, any technology at any company is fine — you sell your labor, they pay you, fair deal. And HP’s pay isn’t bad. But complaints about HP include: HP is a hardware company — software is just a sideline. Not like Microsoft, IBM, or Oracle, whose names thunder in the software world. HP only makes you think of printers. Also, GDCC has no core technology of its own — they do projects, many of them outsourced. As the saying goes: “First-class companies set standards, second-class companies make products, third-class companies do projects…” By that measure, they’d be going to a third-class company. Also, some students were “traumatized” by IBM WebSphere’s turtle-like speed in class (I was too…), leading them to hate J2EE — and HP’s projects are mostly J2EE. Another不爽 (displeasure). Some prefer C/C++, embedded development, but HP does enterprise development. And according to insiders, HP doesn’t value technology most — communication skills matter too. There’s the case of a Fudan grad who, just one year out, rose through the ranks on silver tongue alone. Tech-minded people who prefer machines to people would be fighting an uphill battle.

For these issues, I think it’s a somewhat reasonable complaint. Some programmers are天生 (naturally)偏执 (obsessive), both in China and abroad. The Java vs .NET flame wars abroad are no weaker than in China. Doing work that suffocates you every day could literally make you sick. Having to jump off a building or into a river because of Java — you’d be the world’s first suicide by coding technology :-) HP is really quite good for enterprise development in Shanghai — not many companies surpass it. But making algorithm-loving, dev-board-tinkering students do that kind of work is indeed a stretch.

These problems — HP is just the tip of the iceberg. With other companies, the result might be the same. Deep down, this reveals conflicts between the interests of several parties: students, the institute, and companies.

• Students: hope to learn things not taught at school, earn some income, and boost future employment prospects.
• Institute: hopes internships solve students’ employment problems.
• Companies: hope students contribute to the company.

These three have different focuses. Under most conditions, their interests don’t conflict — it’s a “triple-win” decision. But in certain situations, inconsistent focuses can激化 (intensify) and surface, causing the above problems. When conflicts emerge, students are clearly the弱势群体 (disadvantaged group) — somewhat unfair.

How to solve this? I think: 1) The institute should provide objective introductions about companies — both pros and cons — so students can make informed choices, avoiding complaint #3. 2) Companies could make interviews more “intense,” maybe even plant some “actors” to satisfy students’ vanity, solving complaint #2. 3) Companies/schools should standardize interview processes and not change them without notice — or clearly state “subject to change without notice…” — first play hardball to set the rules, then play nice.

Anyway, these are purely personal opinions, not representing any organization or individual. I don’t want to offend the institute, HP, or students.