Why we run an internship program
NYLOS hires interns because most early-career Ethiopian engineers struggle to find their first real-world software experience, and we believe Ethiopian tech grows when employers invest in growing the next layer of talent. We hire 4–8 interns annually across engineering, design, sales and consulting tracks.
We are honest about what the program is and isn't. Interns work on real product and real customers — not a make-work project. The expectation on us is to teach; the expectation on the intern is to learn fast and contribute meaningfully.
This article describes the program in detail.
Who we accept
We look for several profile signals:
- Current students or recent graduates in CS, engineering, design, business or related fields. Self-taught entrants without degrees are welcome if they can demonstrate skill.
- Demonstrable building — portfolio code, contributions, side projects, course projects, internship work, anything tangible.
- Communication — interns work with mentors, with team-mates, with customers. Writing and speaking matter.
- Curiosity — interns who ask questions and pursue understanding outperform those who follow instructions narrowly.
- Long-term interest — we're not looking for resume-line-interns; we want people genuinely interested in building software for Ethiopian businesses.
We do not require:
- A specific university or program.
- Specific GPA cutoffs.
- Prior internship experience.
- Specific technical-stack experience (we'll teach the stack).
What interns actually do
Real product work, with mentor supervision:
- Frontend engineering interns: build product UI components, fix bugs in customer-reported issues, implement small features end-to-end. We've had interns ship features that millions of users will eventually see.
- Backend engineering interns: build API endpoints, contribute to data-model improvements, work on integration features.
- Mobile engineering interns: contribute to NYLOS mobile clients and customer mobile-app projects.
- Design interns: contribute to design-system work, prototype features, participate in user research.
- Sales development interns: research target accounts, support account executives through real deal cycles, sit in on discovery and demo calls.
- ERP implementation interns: shadow senior consultants on real customer projects, contribute to configuration and training work.
No make-work. Every intern owns a meaningful piece of work by mid-internship.
Duration and compensation
NYLOS internships are 3–6 months. We pay stipends — not high, but reflective of contribution rather than nominal. We commit to the duration in writing; we expect interns to commit similarly.
Many interns convert to full-time roles at the end of the internship — typically 30-50% of interns annually. For interns who don't convert, the time spent and skills built typically position them for strong outside offers.
What you'll learn
Beyond the specific track, every NYLOS intern engages with:
- Real customer problems — interns see how Ethiopian businesses actually use software and what makes the difference between adoption and abandonment.
- Software craft — code review, testing, deployment, monitoring. The discipline that distinguishes professional engineering from coursework.
- Team dynamics — how a small team builds substantial product, how decisions get made, how trade-offs get negotiated.
- Ethiopian regulatory context — interns who touch finance, HR or compliance work learn the regulatory layer that shapes Ethiopian software.
- Communication — writing for engineers, writing for customers, writing for the team.
The compounding value of this learning over 6 months substantially exceeds another 6 months in coursework alone.
What we expect from interns
- Show up, deliver, communicate. Reliability matters as much as raw talent.
- Ask questions. Pretending to understand when you don't is the most expensive intern behavior we see.
- Own your work. When something breaks that you wrote, fix it. Don't hand it off.
- Be a teammate. Help others when you can; ask for help when you need it.
- Take feedback well. Code review, design review, project review — all are opportunities to grow.
We coach on all of this. But we hire interns who already show these instincts.
The application process
How to apply:
- Browse open intern roles on the [careers page](/careers).
- Apply via the form on the role page. Include a portfolio link if you have one.
- We respond within 1–2 weeks with next steps.
- Process is typically: written submission (a small take-home task relevant to the role) → conversation with team lead → final conversation with hiring manager.
We invest in process quality. Applications get real attention; rejections come with feedback when we can.
What success looks like
The interns we remember most fondly are not necessarily the most credentialed. They are the ones who:
- Asked the question nobody else was asking in the design review.
- Caught a bug nobody else caught in code review.
- Took ownership of something the team needed without being asked.
- Wrote clearly enough that customers actually read it.
- Stayed engaged with the work even when it got tedious.
If that describes you, we want to hear from you. Open roles are on [/careers](/careers).
Read more
- [NYLOS Careers](/careers)
- [Software Engineering Careers in Ethiopia](/blog/software-engineering-careers-ethiopia-2026)
- [ERP Consultant Career Path in Africa](/blog/erp-consultant-career-africa)