In my sophomore year I was a Pinterest Engage Scholar. There’s not that much information about it online (so much so that my LinkedIn headshot was scraped and put on a scam website promoting a fake guide lol), so I thought I would write a post about my experience in the program.

How I learned about the opportunity:

UW Seattle’s Women in Computing Club sent out an email blast to all members.

Application Process:

Four essays, ranging in topics from why CS, why this program, and how do you connect to Pinterest’s values.

My advice is to think about what this program has to offer (connection with recruiters, students from across the country, specialized presentations on how to technically and behaviorally prepare for interviews) and why you will benefit from and enhance this experience.

Once I passed the resume and essay screen, I then had a 20 minute recruiter call. The recruiter was amazing, and the questions were very standard. I would prepare five to six different stories of how you have overcome challenges and were successful in a technical or team setting.

Why I think I got in:

• Did not have prior internship experience (I have heard of people who applied to this program and were instead funneled into the internship interview process because they had enough experience).

• Demonstrated a strong desire to want to do well in a professional setting through my essay and interview responses.

• I had a passion for Pinterest as a product and brand.

What it was like in the Program:

Pinterest Engage was a monthly program where each session was an hour long and covered a different topic about the internship recruitment process. Such topics included the STAR interview format, what CodeSignal is, and how to create a good resume. A lot of the topics are already available on the internet, but it was nice to have dedicated time to learn and practice these skills. Also, we had the ability to ask the recruiters directly what style of response they preferred, so we were prepared in the fall.

They also paired us up with each other to practice Leetcode questions. But the mileage on these groups varied a lot. Some people were super engaged in meetings and I really enjoyed working through problems with them. Other people were not as interested or did not even show up to agreed upon meetings. I would say make the most out of your connections in the program. Chances are, you will run into the same people in the future.

Practice being proactive. Challenge yourself to ask at least one question every meeting. The recruiters will remember you better between sessions, and it’s nice to have strong connections with recruiters. This is especially useful when they leave for other companies in the future. Since then you have a connection at a company you didn’t before!

Other Perks:

Free Leetcode Premium for a year

$30 UberEats voucher for (almost) every monthly meeting

Chats with Pinterns and new grad employees

Direct access to a Pinterest Recruiter who will help guide you through the entire Pinterest recruitment process for an internship

Merch!!! (a list of what I got)

• Pinterest branded backpack

• Polaroid camera

• Branded Stanley water bottle

• Branded Turkish beach towel

• Branded sweatshirt

• Branded baseball cap

• Branded tote bag

• Branded uniqlo heattech scarf

• Branded beanie

Reflection:

Out of 25 Engage Scholars, I was the only convert from this program into an intern. That comes from both some Engage Scholars being incredibly hard working and getting internships at companies they preferred more, or Engage Scholars who didn’t pass the interviews and unfortunately weren’t offered an internship. Wherever you end up though, I think it is worth applying to and being a part of this program :)

I definitely am glad that I went through this program first before becoming a Pintern the following year. I don’t think I would have had the technical interview skills to do well in the regular interview process without the Engage Program experience. This program is really aimed at helping students who have a passion to succeed and have a foundation to do well get that extra guidance and help. Receiving the Leetcode Premium subscription was incredibly motivating, since I now had a resource that many other students didn’t. So I did use it to my advantage to practice graph problems, which are focused heavily on in the Pinterest technical interview.

If you have further questions don’t hesitate to reach out, at the end of the 2025 summer I might write a review on my Pinternship experience. I’m currently a Mobile Engineer Intern on the Performance Ad Formats team!