Arrrrrrr, ye swarthy land lubbers. Come set sail with your pirate captain, the Dread Pirate Jim and his pirate crew as we set sail on the seven seas to find the finest treasure in the land – knowledge!

In this series our trusty pirates set sail on the Sea of Thieves, and share their galleon with a range of special guests from across the tech industry. Each episode will mix sharing tales of tech quests large and small to pass the time whilst we sail, with intense piratical action as we try to claim treasure. This is the only series from the Microsoft Reactor where you can both learn how folks have achieved greatness in their fields, whilst watching how good or terrible they are at video games. So come join our crew, bring your questions for our guests, and let's all #BeMorePirate!

In this episode:

Every good pirate in training takes time to sail with a crew, before committing to a captain once their training is complete. Students are the same – doing internships to try out companies and jobs before they commit to their first graduate role.

For this session, our crew is joined by a group of young pirates who recently interned at Microsoft.

As these fresh-faced pirates help us find where X marks the spot and dig for buried treasure, we will be discussing tech internships, what students are looking for in an internship experience and how tech companies can support them. We will also be exchanging tales of intern interview panels and what fun activities Microsoft had in store for them both as interns.

Speakers:
Jim Bennett, Regional Cloud Advocate, Microsoft
Jim is a Regional Cloud Advocate focusing on building out and skilling communities in the Pacific Northwest, with a focus on the Microsoft Reactor in Redmond, Washington. He’s British, so sounds way smarter than he actually is, and is happy he moved to Redmond in time to be locked down at home and not see the office he came to work in, or the places he wanted to visit. In the past he’s lived in 4 continents working as a developer in the mobile, desktop, and scientific space. He's spoken at conferences and events all around the globe, organized meetup groups and communities, and written a book on mobile development.

Hermes Bonilla
Ahoy! I’m Hermes Bonilla and am thrilled to take part of this livestream!
A little about me: I’ve mostly worked on Python-based projects (scripts, data cleaning, etc.) and ML (audio deepfake research) while completing my B.S. in computer science from Florida International University (FIU). Speaking about FIU, I currently live in Miami, Florida! I did originally grow up in the French-speaking side of Switzerland.
Last summer, I interned at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on an undergraduate research internship. We visualized low-level regions of interest (ROI) in the brain and how they connected to higher-level ROIs as part of our research. I also co-founded the Google Developer Student Club chapter at FIU with some friends two years ago, increasing the club size from 400 people to over 960 people last year as president.
In my free time, I adore snorkeling (though I want to avoid walking the plank if possible)—and really all matters concerning oceanic creatures 🐠 I’m excited to share any advice, insight, and comfort possible to help you navigate the internship process while sailing the Seven Seas of Sea of Thieves. ⛵