Google and Microsoft compete hard to pave the way for interns, beyond offering an attractive salary. While Google typically conduct phone interviews with prospective student interns, Microsoft fly undergraduates and graduate students to its campus to interview them. It also offers to pay new intern the hires and gives them the choice of a housing stipend or subsidised corporate housing with free transportation to and from work. Since this year, Microsoft started giving interns a one- time allowance for housing.

On top of that, Microsoft sells itself offers interns various benefits, including baseball games , sunset cruises in San Francisco Bay, a dodgeball tournament and a barbeque at Bill Gates' house in Redmond, Washington during the summer (who lives out-of-state will be flown to). Similarly, Google interns are treated to bowling nights, a cruise on the bay, and a scavenger hunt in San Francisco.

Google interns enjoy the free, all-day gourmet meals as regular employees do. And, if they're envious because Microsoft interns get a date with Bill Gates, they can hang around with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin during the company's regular Friday evening fireside chats.

Google interns, much like Microsoft interns, get training to work with the company's code, as well as other technical courses. Google also encourages interns to attend its lecture series with the likes of Linus Torvalds, the inventor of Linux, or Carolyn Porco, a planetary scientist for Nasa. Last summer, Google interns also got to see some of the presidential candidates, such as New York Democratic senator Hillary Clinton, speaking on campus.

Sometimes to be an intern can be a dream...