OpenAI Engineer Advises Students to Intern at Both Big Tech and Startups for Well-Rounded Experience

Janvi Kalra, an AI engineer at OpenAI, believes that students should intern at both Big Tech companies and startups during their academic careers. This approach provides a comprehensive understanding of the tech industry's various environments and helps them make informed career decisions. Kalra shared her insights on the topic in an episode of The Pragmatic Engineer podcast. Kalra has interned at major tech giants like Microsoft and Google, and has also worked at a productivity startup called Coda before joining OpenAI. Her diverse experience has given her a unique perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of both types of organizations. According to Kalra, Big Tech firms offer valuable lessons in building reliable and scalable software. The scale at which these companies operate requires engineers to handle complex, high-stakes scenarios, such as managing infrastructure during intense traffic spikes. She noted, "It's very different to build something that works versus building something that works when it’s swarmed with millions of requests from around the world and Redis happens to be down at the same time." Another significant benefit of interning at Big Tech is the opportunity to work on ambitious, long-term projects. These companies often fund research and development efforts that may not generate immediate revenue but can lead to groundbreaking innovations. Kalra explained, "You get to work on more moonshot projects that aren’t making money today. They don’t have the same existential crisis that startups do." Financial incentives and prestige are also notable advantages of Big Tech internships. Kalra pointed out that these internships can lead to faster visa processing, higher salaries, and roles that carry more weight in the job market. For instance, “People are more excited about hiring an L5 Google engineer versus an L5 from a startup, especially if that startup doesn’t become very successful.” On the flip side, Kalra highlighted several benefits of interning at startups. One key advantage is the extensive hands-on coding experience. Startups typically have fewer resources and more problems to solve, which means interns get to work on a variety of projects and gain broad skills. "First, you just ship so much code, right? There are more problems than people, and so you get access to these zero-to-one greenfield problems that you wouldn’t necessarily get at Big Tech," she said. Startups also provide interns with the chance to tackle a wide range of challenges, both technical and non-technical. This exposes them to the inner workings of the business, from product development to marketing strategies. Kalra elaborated, "You get to work on everything from front-end features to writing Terraform. You also gain insights into how the business works, which is invaluable." Additionally, startups offer more agency and the ability to significantly impact the company. Interns are often given the chance to propose and implement their ideas, which can be crucial for personal and professional growth. "You just get more agency in what you work on. You get the opportunity to propose ideas that you think would be impactful for the business and go execute on them," Kalra said. Kalra strongly recommends that students gain exposure to both Big Tech and startups early in their careers. This dual experience allows them to compare the work environments, project scopes, and responsibilities, ultimately helping them choose the path that aligns best with their goals and interests. "Given that Big Tech and startups are such different experiences and you learn so much at each, it would be more educational to do one startup internship and one Big Tech internship to get a very robust overview of what both experiences are like very early," she advised. In evaluating Kalra’s advice, industry insiders agree that early exposure to both Big Tech and startups can be immensely beneficial. Diversifying one's tech experience provides a broader skill set and a deeper understanding of the industry. Companies like OpenAI, known for their cutting-edge AI research and development, value candidates who can demonstrate adaptability and a broad range of technical and business acumen. This combination of skills can make a significant difference in an engineer’s ability to contribute effectively in various settings, from large corporations to innovative startups.