Life as a Software Engineer Intern at Splunk

Have you ever wondered what a Software Engineer internship at Splunk is like? It is more than writing code — it's an opportunity to have autonomy and flexibility in deciding what you work on, build a community, and explore Boulder, CO over the summer! 

To learn more about life as a Software Engineer Intern at Splunk, we connected with three Splunkterns; Thomas Payton, a third-year student at Iowa State University who interned with the Enterprise Dashboards team; Juan (Juanchi) Flores, a fourth-year student at the University of Michigan who interned with the Search Head Management team; and Christina Liang, a fourth-year student at the University of Waterloo who interned with the Security Engineering team. 

Flexibility of Work

During the interviews with their teams, Splunkterns were given a chance to discuss which projects and skills they wanted to focus on during their internship. Splunk is committed to providing an enriching experience to interns that not only produces great outcomes but is also valuable to the interns. For example, Juan shared he “wanted to have a challenging project, and they definitely delivered with that one.” He went on to say that the project is “something impactful and that, once I finish, will have a lot of value for the team and Splunk, in general.” 

Christina also called out, “There are always opportunities to develop skills in an area that you're looking to learn more in. That's not something that you get everywhere, which is why I love [Splunk]”. Giving interns the opportunity to decide what they work on ensures they have ownership and autonomy during their internship. 

What Software Engineer Interns Work On

Once they’ve shared what kind of work they’d like to do, it’s time to jump in. Each of these three Splunkterns worked on different projects across our product portfolio. Thomas worked on the dashboard studio on the main Splunk search and data platform, specifically on the front-end, which means that his work will get to be seen by our customers. “This is something that's going to be seen by the customers and could potentially add to revenue,” Thomas said. “I'm actually adding value to the product. It's really cool.” 

Christina got to work with the SOAR team on an integration with eSight. She shares, “This project has been a really great learning experience for me because I've been able to really drive that whole part.” In this project she drafted the engineering requirement documents, collected reviews and feedback from stakeholders and was responsible for the implementation of designing storage collections and endpoints. Not only was she able to oversee the entire lifecycle of the project, she also worked with other teams like the SOAR Side Team and the Mission Control Team, “being able to work across these different teams and knowing your work is being used by other teams has been a really rewarding experience for me.” 

Juan has worked on showcasing how leveraging AWS S3 can revolutionize lookup file replication in Splunk's Search Head Clusters where he identified current challenges with large CSV files and demonstrated how to start implementing a solution that improves efficiency and scalability. This project allowed him to develop technical skills that will make an impact throughout his career!

Not only were the interns able to work on projects that expanded their desired skills, but they were also able to make an impact and bring value with their work. This value will continue even after the interns leave Splunk.

Culture at Splunk

Aside from the projects they worked on, the interns also highlighted Splunk’s fun and supportive culture. This summer, all of our Products & Technology interns worked from Boulder, CO. Juan shared how memorable this was by saying, “What I've enjoyed most from the internship is being around a set of cool people that are kind of similar to me because of what we study and work on.” The Splunkterns enjoyed getting to know each other in the office and often coordinated weekend activities, including beautiful hikes around Boulder!

The interns also experienced a supportive team culture. Thomas, shares, “[my manager] is cultivating a team that cares about each other, and that works well together.” Christina had the same sentiments when asked about her team, saying, “I think one of the big takeaways I had from Splunk’s internship was, even as an intern, you have a voice on the team.” The interns' experience was enhanced by the relationships they built with one another and their team members! 

Are you looking for an internship where you can have flexibility in your work and challenge yourself? Learn more about what it takes to be an intern at Splunk and apply for an open role! Visit our internships page.