Finished my Stripe internship last summer and just wanted to document what the conversion process actually looked like, because I couldn't find much specific info when I was going through it.
I interned on the payments platform team for 12 weeks, NYC office but hybrid. The actual work was genuinely hard and they treat interns like real engineers, which sounds like a cliche but I mean it. My project touched production code in week 3.
The conversion process
Midpoint check-in around week 5-6. My manager was direct about where I stood. I was told what was going well and specifically what I needed to demonstrate in the second half. Not vague. I appreciated that.
The return offer decision came about 2-3 weeks before the internship ended. I know some people at other companies wait until after they're back at school. At Stripe it was earlier, which reduced some of the uncertainty.
I got a return offer for an L3 SWE role starting the following summer. The offer letter came with full comp details: base, equity, and signing bonus. Not going to post exact numbers but the base for L3 in NYC was competitive with other big tech offers I saw my classmates get. Equity was RSUs, 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff.
What seemed to matter for conversion
Project completion. They set a clear scope and expected you to ship it. I hit a blocker mid-internship and had to scope down slightly. I was transparent about it early and that seemed to count as a positive, not a negative.
Code quality and review engagement. I got feedback on PRs and was expected to take it seriously. Senior engineers weren't pulling punches in reviews.
Communication. Weekly written updates to my manager and skip-level. Stripe has a strong writing culture and this felt like part of the evaluation even for interns.
One thing I wish I'd known going in
The internship is effectively a very long interview. That sounds obvious but I didn't feel it until around week 4. Once I internalized it, I approached every interaction a bit differently. Not in a fake way, more just in a 'this matters, pay attention' way.
If you're heading into a Stripe internship this summer, happy to answer questions. This community has been helpful to me so trying to give a bit back.