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Here at Vault, we’ve made it our business to know what makes a good internship program. In this series, we’re examining the four pillars of an impactful internship program and how each supports the growth and success of students. Our first pillar is Real-World Experience. It’s critical for interns to get hands-on experience with actual projects that have meaning to the company. Mock projects certainly have their uses—they can teach interns about situations or projects that typically do not come up during the internship cycle, for example—but there’s no training quite like doing real work.
I asked the leaders of two internship programs known for providing their interns with real work to comment on its importance and how their company approaches giving its interns real-world experience. Camila Arcila is the Head of Talent Acquisition at H&CO, an accounting and professional services firm. Christina Garvey is the Early Career Recruiting and Programs Senior Manager at Fastly, a cloud computing company that focuses on CDN services. Both were kind enough to offer their perspectives when it comes to ensuring that interns get the most out of their internship experience by providing them with real projects.
How does your company integrate interns into its teams and projects to give them real-world experience?
Camila Arcila, H&CO: The main mission of our Brilliant Internship Program is to create an experience of value. Before the program begins, we take great care in pairing interns with specific teams where we see strong potential for mutual success. These decisions are intentional; we do not place interns simply to fill a role, but to ensure both interns and leaders can make a real impact.
Once the program starts, interns work closely with their teams on meaningful projects and have the opportunity to shadow client meetings, gaining hands-on exposure to real-world scenarios. We foster a learning environment that encourages growth by allowing interns to make mistakes and learn from them. To support this, we assign challenging tasks and projects that push them outside their comfort zones, helping them develop problem-solving skills, gain exposure, and learn how to find effective solutions.
Christina Garvey, Fastly: At Fastly, I’ve designed our internship program around a simple principle: interns are not here to observe, they are here to learn, grow, and contribute.
From day one, interns are embedded directly into engineering teams, working alongside full-time engineers on projects tied to real business priorities. Each intern is paired with an Engineering Manager and a Technical Lead to provide both technical and cultural guidance.
We are intentional about defining meaningful, real work. Our bar is simple: if the intern didn’t complete the work, a Fastly engineer would. That’s how we define “real.” The program mirrors a true performance cycle. Interns align on goals with their managers, participate in milestone check-ins, and receive a final evaluation, ensuring clarity, accountability, and growth over the 12-week experience.
Beyond the work, interns are fully immersed in Fastly’s culture. They engage with ERGs, connect with executives, participate in development workshops, and build strong internal networks. They are not treated as visitors, they are Fastlyans.
During the program’s final week, interns take the stage in a formal, global showcase, highlighting what they built, how they built it, and the real impact the experience had on them, both technically and personally.
What is the benefit of working on real projects as an intern, as opposed to theoretical or mock projects?
Camila Arcila, H&CO: The main benefit of working on real projects is the development of critical thinking and the ability to feel comfortable with not having all the answers. That discomfort is where true learning happens and where expertise is ultimately built. While mock projects and theoretical work provide an important foundation before hands‑on practice begins, real-world experience is what truly shapes problem-solving skills and professional confidence.
The true success of our internship program lies in how early we empower interns to develop leadership skills. From the very beginning, we encourage them to ask questions, take initiative, and step into projects where they may only understand 15 percent of the work at first. Rather than waiting until they feel fully prepared, we want them to learn by doing.
As interns engage with these projects, they learn through practice—navigating challenges, making mistakes, and refining their approach along the way. This process builds resilience, adaptability, and confidence, all of which are essential qualities for future leaders. By creating an environment that values curiosity, accountability, and hands-on learning, we help interns grow both professionally and personally.
Christina Garvey, Fastly: From my perspective, the difference between real work and theoretical work is simple: one builds confidence, the other builds comfort. When interns work on real projects, they experience what it truly means to contribute professionally while navigating ambiguity, collaborating across teams, receiving feedback, and seeing the direct impact of their work. This builds not only technical capability but also critical thinking, communication, and resilience.
Real work creates ownership. And ownership drives engagement, accountability, and accelerated growth. Interns shift from completing tasks to driving outcomes, and that mindset shift is crucial. It also creates value beyond the intern. Managers and Technical Leads grow as well, developing their coaching and mentorship skills while gaining fresh perspectives from emerging talent. It becomes a shared learning experience that strengthens the entire team.
From an employer's standpoint, real work allows for a more meaningful evaluation of potential. We’re not assessing performance in a controlled exercise; we’re seeing how someone shows up in the real environment that they may return to as a full-time engineer. When you give interns access to real work, you’re not just developing talent, you’re uncovering it.
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