My HackerRank Internship Experience

Hey there! Welcome back to my blog—this time, I’m diving into an experience that played a huge role in shaping my early career: my HackerRank internship. I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but life got busy, and before I knew it, time just flew by since I transitioned from intern to full-time. Now feels like the perfect moment to reflect on what I learned and how it shaped my career, and hopefully, sharing my journey can help others navigating their own internships. So, here we are—better late than never, right? 😊

A Bit of Background

Before HackerRank, I interned at Dineout. I have also been a Student Software Developer under Google Summer of Code'22 for CHAOSS (Community Health Analytics in Open Source Software). I contributed to building access and entitlement features for their project, Augur. I joined HackerRank in my final year of undergrad in February‘23 and interned for almost a year before joining full-time. I learned so much during that time, and in this post, I’ll be sharing my experience, from landing the internship to the amazing projects I worked on, and what I took away from it all.

Whether you’re a student looking for an internship, a recent grad navigating your first job, or just curious about what the experience was like, I hope this helps! So, let’s get into it! ✨

How It All Began 🚀

I started coding in my first year of college, during the pandemic. With everything online, HackerRank became my go-to platform to learn and practice coding. The best part? That "All test cases passed!" message felt like a mini celebration 🥳. And those Bronze, Silver, Gold badges—like leveling up in a video game 🎮—kept me hooked.

Fast forward to my final year: I got an LinkedIn InMail from a HackerRank recruiter inviting me to apply for an internship. The platform I used to learn coding was now offering me a chance to contribute. I replied instantly!

The Interview 🌟

I then received an email with a Calendly invite for a 45-minute interview with Harishankaran K — the Co-founder and CTO of HackerRank. On the day of the interview I was super nervous! But I reminded myself that it’s not every day you get an opportunity to speak directly with a co-founder and CTO! I knew I couldn’t pass that up!

During the interview, it felt more like a conversation with someone genuinely passionate about tech and curious about my projects—like a mentor rather than a traditional interviewer. It was as if we were discussing ideas together. We discussed my projects in detail: I shared my screen, talked about why I built them, the tech decisions I made, and where I saw them going. We also talked about my Google Summer of Code, previous internships, and open-source contributions. Hari also asked me how I would approach building a product from scratch, and I walked him through my thought process. We even discussed a few questions I had about HackerRank's products. By the end of the interview, I felt incredibly happy and confident. It was a great experience!

The Call 🎉

A few days later, I got a call from the technical recruiter, Ritika. She told me I had been selected as an SDE intern! 🎉

I was overjoyed. All the late nights and interview prep had paid off. I called my family, and they were thrilled. Sharing the news with friends was amazing too. Their excitement made it even better. It was an emotional moment, full of gratitude and pride. It wasn't just about the offer; it was about realizing that all the hard work was worth it. 🌟

My Contributions 👩‍💻

I was part of the Skills-Infra team where I had the chance to work on some really exciting projects. Here’s an overview of the key contributions I made during my internship:

Within a few weeks of starting as an intern, OpenAI APIs were released, and I had the opportunity to work with them firsthand! I collaborated on exciting projects using Generative AI (GenAI) to develop tools for content engineering. These tools helped reduce costs and automated tasks, assisting the content team.

Within the Infra team, I helped migrate all project-type question stack environments to the official VSCode IDE, making it the standard for all project questions, excluding Data Science and DevOps. I also worked with the team to add observability to the runtimes and build dashboards for the metrics, logs, and processes running inside the VMs. I had the opportunity to work on several technical spikes as part of my objectives. This allowed me to evaluate our current workflows, understand our operations, and find effective solutions. It helped me learn how project-type environments work. I also gained a better understanding of Docker, containers, VMs, GCP, Ruby on Rails, Kubernetes, observability, CI/CD pipelines, and testing changes in private, staging, and production environments, as well as how production deployments are done. Additionally, I worked on Language Server Protocols (LSP), identifying and fixing some JS/TS LSP bugs we encountered.

There was certainly a steep learning curve, especially for someone completely new to Infra. Learning so many new things, understanding how things work, and getting hands-on experience was incredibly enjoyable! The challenge, the team's dynamic pace, the workflow, and the technology all truly thrilled me. Even after a full day of learning, I was always excited to jump back in and do it all over again the next day. 💪🏼

The Fun- Offsite & Hackathon 🎉✈️

Let’s talk about the fun stuff! This internship was not just about coding; it was packed with exciting experiences! We had Product and Engineering offsite — it was my first time visiting the company office in person. I even took my first flight ever! ✈️ It felt amazing to finally meet the people I had been collaborating with online. The offsite was packed with learning and team-building activities, and we had so much fun getting to know each other outside of our usual work environment. We also had a hackathon- HackGPT! I teamed up with folks from other teams, brainstormed ideas, and even shared some friendly competition. It was incredible to see what we could achieve together in just a short time!

Plus, there were plenty of outings and laughter-filled moments! From team dinners to fun games, it was a perfect mix of hard work and fun, filled with late-night brainstorming sessions, delicious food, and, of course, lots of learning. These experiences made the internship even more memorable and solidified the connections I had built throughout my time there!

My First Demo in Front of the Whole Company 😬

One of the biggest highlights of my internship was demoing my project in front of the entire company at the office! During the hackathon demos (which had an AI theme), my co-intern (Yashika Jotwani) and I were encouraged to share a demo of our internship project where we used GenAI to build an internal tool for content engineering. I thought, “Why not? That’s a great idea!” (By the way, I also have a blog about my experience giving demos — check it out here!)

Our project focused on streamlining content workflows and automating repetitive tasks using AI, making life easier for our content team. Seeing everyone’s reaction to our work was so rewarding! The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and it felt incredible to showcase something I had poured my heart into. It was a moment I’ll never forget! 🎤✨

A supportive team and environment has such an impact 🌱

From my very first day, I felt welcomed and supported by everyone on the team. My manager and teammates consistently challenged me, pushing me to grow both personally and professionally. It was a safe space where I could be myself, ask questions, and thrive.

I was fortunate to be part of a team that was not only supportive but also eager to answer my countless questions. Seriously, I asked so many questions, but never once did I feel like a burden. (Pro tip: It’s perfectly okay to ask questions!)

Looking Back: What I’d Tell My Past Self

If I could go back in time and give myself advice, I’d say:

1. You won’t know everything, and that’s okay. No one expects you to be an expert. What matters is how you tackle problems and seek out solutions.

2. Build relationships early: Internships are not just about the tasks at hand; they’re also about the people you meet. Take the initiative to connect with your teammates—they can be your greatest source of learning and support.

3. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed: It’s perfectly normal to feel like you’re in over your head. Just remember to break problems down into manageable steps.

4. Take ownership: Don’t hesitate to take the lead on projects, even if they seem intimidating. It’s a fantastic opportunity for growth.

5. Truly, Madly, Deeply care. One of the company’s core values really resonated with me. Caring deeply about your work, your team, and the impact you make is what transforms a job into a meaningful experience. Embrace this mindset, and it will guide you through challenges!

Final Reflections: Why This Internship Was So Special

Reflecting on my journey, it's incredible to see how much I've grown since starting as an intern. This experience has profoundly influenced my development as a professional.

• Supportive culture: Everyone was genuinely invested in helping me succeed, and that made all the difference.

• Real impact: I didn’t just work on “intern projects.” I was part of real initiatives that had a lasting impact on the team.

• Opportunities to grow: Whether it was through hackathons, offsites, or just day-to-day work, I felt like I had so many opportunities to learn and improve.

If you’re considering an internship here (or anywhere, really), my advice is: go for it! You’ll grow more than you expect, and you’ll look back on it as a pivotal part of your journey.

Thanks for sticking with me through this reflection! If you’re an intern or thinking about interning, feel free to reach out—I’d love to chat about it. 😊