Epic Systems

You may have never heard of Epic before, but this is one of the best internships you could possibly get. The pay and benefits are amazing for an intern. I was making about what I would make as a full-time developer, with housing provided.

I could even invest in a 401(k).

As an intern, you are assigned a project and a team. Every project is some kind of prototyping, from app development to potential enhancements to their core software. Almost every project lets the interns design and develop the project from the ground up, with little to no interference. Despite being prototypes, a large amount of the projects are incorporated into Epic very quickly, some even being included in the next release.

You will feel like your work is important, potentially life-saving even, despite being just an intern! You are also given an office (usually shared with one other intern until they can build more offices).

You will work closely with full-time developers, QA, and implementation. The hierarchy of Epic is pretty flat, so you will get several opportunities to present your work to higher-ups (including the head of R&D and sometimes the president). Your work may be featured at UGM in front of thousands of users as well.

The campus is amazing. There were a few times I was walking around and literally felt stunned. It looks like an artist's rendition or an architect's dream project. The buildings are themed, and they are building additions to campus constantly. Additionally, they have several places to get food, all of which are great.

They clearly label vegetarian and allergenic foods, and don't skimp on the quality of the food. Vegetarians and vegans can expect equality in the quality of the food.

A main complaint I have heard is being overworked or feeling like you have to work long hours. While this is definitely a problem some may face, it is also generally avoidable from my experience. If you use your time well and are clear about expectations, there is no need to come in on weekends or stay late (except for the occasional bug right before presentations).

You do have the freedom to set your own (reasonable) schedule, and they really trust their employees.

There are intern events to get to know the other interns, which will make your summer fly by. The interns generally are all housed together (if they don't choose to find their own housing), so you'll get to know everyone very well.

From what I can tell, the interns generally go through a standard application and interview process, which means if they plan on offering you a full-time position after your internship (which they generally do), the process is short.

Epic's future looks very bright. Don't expect this company to go anywhere soon.

The training was barebones (as a 12-week intern, they want you getting as much done on your project as possible), which is my only complaint about the entire internship. It was enough to get our project done, but our week of training pales in comparison to the few months a full-time employee receives.

If you are incapable of managing your time and deciding your own schedule, it will be hard not to feel overwhelmed. Epic will do everything they can to help you learn time management (speakers, books, etc.), but if you're not motivated, it won't help.

You guys really make the interns feel important. My only suggestion is to have a few more classes about how to actually start your project. It would also be beneficial to have assigned sit-down times with mentors and TLs at the beginning of the internship to discuss exactly what the interns will need to get started on the project. This is different for each project (e.g., programming an iOS app vs. using Visual Studio to develop for web), but just a few hours to help get started can take away a lot of pain and wasted time from interns.