Backend Software Engineer Internships
Backend software engineer internships give university students, recent graduates, and early-career switchers hands-on project experience, mentorship from working engineers, and, at many employers, a path toward a full-time offer. Technology & Software lead the market for internship openings, with TikTok and DELSYS among the employers posting roles now.
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Showing 5 of 8+ Backend Software Engineer Internships
Backend Software Engineer Intern (Creation Platform) - 2027 Summer
Location
:
San Jose
Employment Type
:
Intern
Job Code
:
A00235C
Responsibilities
The Creation Platform team, as the cornerstone of TikTok content creation, is responsible for the core content creation ecosystem of TikTok. As a backend team, we collaborate closely with the product team and other cross-functional teams to explore innovative methods of content creation in TikTok, build a trusted content creation platform that prioritizes privacy and security, and drive the evolution of TikTok content creation infrastructure, ultimately providing the best content creation experience for TikTok creators.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. Our internship program offers students hands-on experience, industry exposure, and opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges while building a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.
Interns will gain practical experience, explore potential career paths, and participate in social events, learning programs, and development workshops alongside industry professionals.
Candidates may apply to a maximum of two positions across Our Company and its affiliates globally. Applications will be considered in the order they are submitted.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Please clearly state your availability in your resume, including your start and end dates.
Responsibilities
- Directly design and develop features touching global users, and bring real-world impact.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to explore innovative product ideas and cutting-edge technologies.
- Work with experts in different technical domains to identify and solve challenging issues in the world-leading multimedia infrastructure.
- Evolve the architecture of global large-scale distributed backend systems to better support TikTok's future.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Currently pursuing an Undergraduate/Master in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical discipline.
- Proficient in at least one programming language such as Golang, Java, C++, Python.
- Solid understanding of computer architectures, data structures, and algorithms.
- Hands-on experience in commonly-used technical stacks such as databases, caches, message queues.
- Responsible, self-motivated, and have a growth mindset.
- Experience in building large scale distributed backend services for consumer-facing applications.
- Knowledge of multimedia technologies such as video codecs, media containers.
- Good team communication and collaboration skills.
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $45- $45.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at
https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Backend Software Engineer Intern (Creation Platform) - 2027 Summer
Location
:
San Jose
Employment Type
:
Intern
Job Code
:
A00235C
Responsibilities
The Creation Platform team, as the cornerstone of TikTok content creation, is responsible for the core content creation ecosystem of TikTok. As a backend team, we collaborate closely with the product team and other cross-functional teams to explore innovative methods of content creation in TikTok, build a trusted content creation platform that prioritizes privacy and security, and drive the evolution of TikTok content creation infrastructure, ultimately providing the best content creation experience for TikTok creators.
We are looking for talented individuals to join us for an internship. Our internship program offers students hands-on experience, industry exposure, and opportunities to apply their knowledge to real-world challenges while building a strong foundation for personal and professional growth.
Interns will gain practical experience, explore potential career paths, and participate in social events, learning programs, and development workshops alongside industry professionals.
Candidates may apply to a maximum of two positions across Our Company and its affiliates globally. Applications will be considered in the order they are submitted.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so we encourage you to apply early. Please clearly state your availability in your resume, including your start and end dates.
Responsibilities
- Directly design and develop features touching global users, and bring real-world impact.
- Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams to explore innovative product ideas and cutting-edge technologies.
- Work with experts in different technical domains to identify and solve challenging issues in the world-leading multimedia infrastructure.
- Evolve the architecture of global large-scale distributed backend systems to better support TikTok's future.
Minimum Qualifications:
- Currently pursuing an Undergraduate/Master in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or a related technical discipline.
- Proficient in at least one programming language such as Golang, Java, C++, Python.
- Solid understanding of computer architectures, data structures, and algorithms.
- Hands-on experience in commonly-used technical stacks such as databases, caches, message queues.
- Responsible, self-motivated, and have a growth mindset.
- Experience in building large scale distributed backend services for consumer-facing applications.
- Knowledge of multimedia technologies such as video codecs, media containers.
- Good team communication and collaboration skills.
Job Information
【For Pay Transparency】Compensation Description (Hourly) - Campus Intern
The hourly rate range for this position in the selected city is $45- $45.
Benefits may vary depending on the nature of employment and the country work location. Interns have day one access to health insurance, life insurance, wellbeing benefits and more. Interns also receive 10 paid holidays per year and paid sick time (56 hours if hired in first half of year, 40 if hired in second half of year). Interns who are not working 100% remote may also be eligible for housing allowance.
The Company reserves the right to modify or change these benefits programs at any time, with or without notice.
For Los Angeles County (unincorporated) Candidates:
Qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act. Our company believes that criminal history may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship on the following job duties, potentially resulting in the withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment:
1. Interacting and occasionally having unsupervised contact with internal/external clients and/or colleagues;
2. Appropriately handling and managing confidential information including proprietary and trade secret information and access to information technology systems; and
3. Exercising sound judgment.
About TikTok
TikTok is the leading destination for short-form mobile video. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. TikTok's global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we also have offices in New York City, London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo.
Why Join Us
Inspiring creativity is at the core of TikTok's mission. Our innovative product is built to help people authentically express themselves, discover and connect – and our global, diverse teams make that possible. Together, we create value for our communities, inspire creativity and bring joy - a mission we work towards every day.
We strive to do great things with great people. We lead with curiosity, humility, and a desire to make impact in a rapidly growing tech company. Every challenge is an opportunity to learn and innovate as one team. We're resilient and embrace challenges as they come. By constantly iterating and fostering an "Always Day 1" mindset, we achieve meaningful breakthroughs for ourselves, our company, and our users. When we create and grow together, the possibilities are limitless. Join us.
Diversity & Inclusion
TikTok is committed to creating an inclusive space where employees are valued for their skills, experiences, and unique perspectives. Our platform connects people from across the globe and so does our workplace. At TikTok, our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. To achieve that goal, we are committed to celebrating our diverse voices and to creating an environment that reflects the many communities we reach. We are passionate about this and hope you are too.
TikTok Accommodation
TikTok is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in our recruitment processes for candidates with disabilities, pregnancy, sincerely held religious beliefs or other reasons protected by applicable laws. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation, please reach out to us at
https://tinyurl.com/RA-request
Backend Software Engineer Internship Market
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
Tips for Your Backend Software Engineer Internship Search
Apply in the fall for summer roles
Large employers open summer internship applications in September and October and fill cohorts well before the new year. Smaller companies and co-op programs post closer to start dates, so new openings appear throughout the year. Waiting until spring means competing for whatever seats remain after the first wave closes.
Build a GitHub portfolio before you apply
Hiring teams for backend internships expect limited work history and look at code instead. Two or three complete projects showing REST APIs, database design, or backend service architecture, each with a clean README and working demo, give a recruiter something concrete to forward to an engineering reviewer.
Work your campus network alongside direct applications
Campus career fairs surface structured programs tied to your university, and professors and career center staff often know which companies recruit from your school before roles post publicly. Applying directly to companies running smaller cohorts alongside those campus channels widens the pool you reach and covers employers who never attend fairs.
Practice coding screens out loud before your first interview
Backend intern screens typically involve data structures and algorithms problems, and interviewers weigh how you reason through a problem as much as whether you reach a correct solution. Practice on a whiteboard or shared editor, narrate your thinking as you go, and work through edge cases before writing a single line of code.
Target structured internship programs at larger companies
Many large technology and finance employers run cohort-based engineering internship programs built to onboard people new to production work. These programs recruit early, move on tight timelines, and fill before general applications open. Identify the ones that match your background and apply in the first week they accept submissions.
Set your work-type filter before you start
On-site roles are 100% of the backend software engineer internships listed here. Decide what you can commit to before you start sorting through openings on Migrate Mate, then filter by location and work type so you're only reviewing roles you can actually accept.
Backend Software Engineer Internships: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a backend software engineer internship?
Lead with coursework and personal projects rather than work history, since hiring teams expect limited experience at the intern level. A GitHub repository showing complete backend projects, with documented code and a working demo, gives recruiters something concrete to assess. Combine direct applications with campus career fairs, where recruiters often move faster for students they meet in person.
Can a backend software engineer internship turn into a full-time job?
Many employers extend return offers to strong interns, but conversion is never guaranteed. What actually drives it is consistent performance on real production work, team headcount at the time your internship ends, and how early return-offer decisions are made in that cycle. Treat the internship as an extended audition, deliver on your assigned scope, and ask your manager mid-intern how return offers are evaluated at that company.
When should I apply for backend software engineer internships?
Earlier than most expect. Large employers open summer internship applications the preceding fall, often in September and October, and fill cohorts before the calendar year ends. Smaller companies, startups, and co-op programs post closer to start dates, so openings appear year-round. Checking regularly means you won't miss a wave that closed before you noticed it.
Are backend software engineer internships paid?
Most professional backend software engineer internships in the United States are paid. Compensation varies by company size, industry, and location, and listings show the range where the employer chooses to disclose it. Unpaid internships exist but are uncommon at companies running structured engineering programs.
What should a backend software engineer internship resume include?
Lead with projects, not work history. Include two or three complete, documented projects that show the languages, frameworks, and databases you used, along with a linked GitHub repository so reviewers can read the actual code. Add relevant coursework in systems, algorithms, and databases. Keep everything to one page.
Are there remote backend software engineer internships?
Yes. Remote and hybrid roles make up 0% of the backend software engineer internship listings here, with the rest on-site. Remote cohorts fill fast because they draw applicants from everywhere, so apply early and filter by work type to see them before they close.
Can international students get backend software engineer internships?
Yes. F-1 students can intern through CPT while enrolled or through OPT work authorization after finishing a degree, and the employer does not have to file anything for either, so many companies are open to international interns. Confirm your eligibility and timing with your university's international student office before accepting an offer.
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