[Analog24]

Internships are definitely not a waste of time. First of all, they pay well in and of themselves (at least in tech). Second of all, most internships are filled by students on their summer break. What better use of that time than getting an inside view of a company they might want to work for? From the companies perspective it gives them a much better idea of how well the candidate performs and how they fit in at the company, giving much higher confidence in a hiring decision that could lead to significant future impact.

[darth_avocado]

I think you misunderstood. Internships for students during the summer definitely makes sense. However, i was talking about internships/probation as a way to evaluate candidates instead of interviews. Meaning if you are a staff engineer with 10+ years of experience, you’re still going to be hired conditionally for 3-6 months to see if you’re good enough for the team. I personally find that very prone to abuse.