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Apply for an all-expenses paid trip to Silicon Valley

"I’m so excited to announce our ninth all-expenses-paid trip for 10 students to meet with the companies that are changing the world. This is one of many exciting opportunities you’ll have this year on Piazza Careers to interact with companies like Facebook, Quora, Pinterest, Airbnb, Palantir, and many more."

— Pooja Nath Sankar, Piazza Founder & CEO

Application Deadline

March 31st, 2019 at 9am PST

Invitees Will Be Notified

May 31st, 2019 at 9am PST

Tour Dates

August 2019 (exact dates TBD)

Piazza just completed its third Silicon Valley Tech Tour. Are you next?

Read about experiences from our third Silicon Valley Tour:

Students from a range of schools met with the CEO of AppDynamics, the co-founders of Spire and Robinhood, executives from Yelp and Palantir, and even got a private hour-long Q&A session with legendary Greylock venture capitalist and former Mozilla CEO John Lilly.

This broad exposure to a range of perspectives from executives, VCs and fellow engineers at early start-ups to larger companies, helped the students understand the pros and cons of different types of companies and roles, and it helped them hone in on their individual priorities for their summer internship or first full time job.

Thinking about working in Silicon Valley? Here are some lessons learned by our trek attendees:

  1. School doesn’t teach you everything – and that’s OK. Working is a learning experience. You don’t have to graduate already knowing everything in your field. You do, however, need to be ready to work hard and ready to fail–and then learn from those experiences. Silicon Valley is built on ideas that failed, were perfected over time, and eventually worked.
  2. Don’t look for a place where you’ll be the best. Look for a place where you’ll grow. Look for companies that have employees even better than you, where you’ll get feedback, and where you’ll occasionally (or often!) find yourself outside of your comfort zone.
  3. Don’t come to Silicon Valley with a sense of entitlement; plan to work hard, and let your passion show. Writes one student, “Nothing is given to you here; you have to fight for it.” Enough said.
  4. Choose a job based on more than money. This should be obvious, but as one student so eloquently stated, “it’s easy to get distracted by the bells and whistles. Just remember that it’s the people you work with, the culture, the impact of the work and your ability to grow that are more important.” And don’t underestimate the importance of company culture. It really does matter.
  5. Use every opportunity available to learn about companies. When you interview, ask tons of questions, and when you visit a company, ask to meet with engineers at your level. Ask them about the day-to-day aspects of their jobs–from what they’ve worked on to how they spend their lunches. Really dig into the benefits and the challenges of the work environment, so you’re able to make an informed decision.
  6. Don’t just take any job. Stated one attendee, “People can get so excited to get their first job offer that they act irrationally. Just make sure it’s really the right fit.”
  7. In Silicon Valley, anything is possible. You can join an early stage start-up, you can join a large established company, or you can create your own - even just out of college. With passion and drive, the opportunities here are without limits. Wrote one attendee, “It was all a blur before this tour. Now I would be very open to moving here. “

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Piazza is designed to connect students, TAs, and professors so every student can get the help they need when they need it.

Today, hundreds of thousands of students across hundreds of campuses are using Piazza for their classes. It warms me to think I started something that is impacting the way students learn and the way instructors teach.

I sincerely hope Piazza enhances your experience as a student, as a TA, and as a professor.

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