I have to admit that the “jobs” that I’m most concerned with today is Steve Jobs. I can’t wait to find out what Apple is announcing today, and I wish that I had some relevant internships to bring you. I don’t, but I did come across a really cool list yesterday called 5 Butt Kicking Companies You (Probably) Never Heard Of. The list is exactly what it promises, as it features 5 later stage startups that are growing rapidly and hiring lots of people. The first company on that list is Palantir, a Palo Alto, CA based company (with another office in McLean, VA) that “is working to radically change how groups analyze information.” They were founded by former PayPal employees and Stanford computer scientists. Right now the company is focused on two verticals: Government and Finance. Both areas deal with massive amount of data and information, so it makes sense that Palantir is starting with them.
The cool thing about Palantir is that they still have a startup attitude and culture despite the fact that they’re focused on two industries that most people don’t associate with fun. The types of problem that Palantir is trying to solve include “national security, global finance, cyber defense, regulation & oversight, public health, and disease control.” This isn’t just some Web 2.0 startup—it’s a serious business with clients who expect perfection. That’s why culture is so important at Palantir. They only hire the best: “Less than 3% of candidates who receive a phone interview will receive an offer.” It’s a strict meritocracy, with a family feel. They have the XBOX, masseuse, and on-site gym that you come to expect from startups, but there’s also the expectation that “‘work’ and ‘life’ are not separate universes.”
Palantir appears to do a lot of on-campus recruiting with a focus on engineers from elite schools. They don’t provide any information on college recruiting on their site, not do they mention internships, but you can take a look at current job openings. They offer plenty of entry level jobs, and I’d imagine that their internships mirror those positions. A little research on LinkedIn turned up the fact that past interns have held titles that include Business Development Intern, Web Programming Intern, Software QA Engineer Intern, Financial Business Development Intern, Sotware Engineering Intern, and Operations Intern. It’s unclear what the best way to apply for an internship at Palantir is (maybe they’re just not posted right now?), but if you’re smart enough to work for them, I’m sure that you can figure it out. Also, I think it’s a safe bet that Palantir’s internships are paid.
Links to Help You Begin Your Research
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Tags: administrative, analyst, analytics, business development, California, data, engineering, finance, information technology, Internships, operations, paid, quality assurance, quality engineer, research, software development, Virginia, web development
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