While it may not be as well known as San Francisco or Los Angeles, San Jose is still the “heart of Silicon Valley”. The proximity to many company headquarters across all industries, not just in tech, makes San Jose an amazing place to intern at. However, for as many internship positions that are available in this city, there may be double or even triple the amount of students wanting a position at one of these companies. 

Although it may be possible to intern at one of the companies students want the most, such as the FAANG companies (Meta, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google), ultimately that may not occur considering the high competition in the area. Therefore, you should aim to also apply to companies that have great reputations (and opportunities) in their respective industries. 

Let’s talk about some companies that are headquartered in San Jose and how you could possibly intern with them. 

Cisco

Although you may have heard of Cisco, you may not know exactly what it does. Cisco is an all encompassing business, working in software tech, CX services, business security, cloud storage, and more. Because of how many business fields Cisco is involved in, there are a variety of opportunities to intern at the company. 

Besides the ten different fields that offer internships, such as finance or sales, Cisco also offers a 4 year degree apprenticeship program that combines your education with on-the-job training. Since Cisco is prevalent across a variety of industries, from automobiles to retail, it is the perfect place to get a taste of what the industry you want to pursue will be like. Even if you aren’t selected after your internship ends, you still will come out having gained invaluable experience from a top company. 

Adobe

As an industry leader in all things production software, Adobe can be the perfect place to start a career in design, programming, and many other fields. However, applicants should be wary of the strict requirements. For example, the Adobe research internship is limited to students pursuing a PhD in computer science and electrical engineering. There is also a different program for MBA students as well. However, if you want to intern at Adobe as an undergraduate, consider joining Adobe’s Sales Academy. 

The Adobe Sales Academy doesn’t even require you to be currently attending school, yet it offers a coaching program equivalent to some college courses. If you decide to enter the program, you’ll first onboard and start developing relationships with your teammates. As you learn the ropes, you’ll transition into a Sales Representative role, and if you do well, you’ll become an Account Executive, allowing you to handle and lead complex sales cycles. 

PayPal

Although you’ve probably used PayPal while shopping or to pay back your friends, finance isn’t the only industry PayPal interns work in. From risk strategy to legal compliance, there are 18+ internship fields that this company has to offer. However, all PayPal internships focus on building a strong network and working on-the-job projects that interns can proudly add to their portfolio, such as company sponsored hackathons. 

Each internship runs during the summer, however applications for the next session start right around the time the last internship session ends, usually around August. Therefore, you need to be prepared and have your materials ready before that time comes. Consider looking at PayPal’s intern hub, a page created by past interns to learn more about what interning at PayPal is like and what opportunities you can look out for once you become an intern. 

eBay

If you’ve tried to apply for an internship at a FAANG company, such as Amazon, you know how difficult it can be. While eBay may seem like a “downgrade” compared to the prestige of Amazon, the skills you learn while interning there are equally as valuable. Of course, eBay is still a huge company, but the smaller environment, at least compared to Amazon, provides a more interactive and personalized internship experience. 

Each intern is trained alongside mentors as they enter the company and molded until they can lead a project of their own. eBay also offers flexible hours and other benefits not usually provided by Amazon. Therefore, if you want to work in e-commerce with a household name that isn’t Amazon, apply to eBay.  

Zoom 

If you were a student during the COVID-19 pandemic, or even if you’re still a student, you know Zoom. During 2020, the niche conference call software quickly spread from business use to classroom use across the globe, and because of this spread, Zoom quickly grew into the perfect place for Gen-Z to intern. After all, who better to work at Zoom than the people who used it daily for school and beyond? 

Zoom offers internships for both students and new graduates, each enrolling in the GET (Global Emerging Talent) program experience. This program divides interns into teams across the organization, assigning projects that the interns will lead. The rest of the Zoom team will help to expand on these projects later on, incorporating whatever the interns created into the business, helping interns make real-life impacts on the organization. 

‍Want a better way to quickly find internships in your city? PathMatch is your ticket to creating modern resumes online and connecting with businesses looking for interns. Create your PathMatch profile today!