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Supporters Unveils the 2025 Summer Internship Rankings

Supporters, a leading company under CARTA HOLDINGS that hosts one of Japan’s largest databases of engineering students, has released the results of its survey focused on the internship experiences of students graduating in 2026. Titled the "2025 Summer Internship Rankings for Engineers," the release aims to serve as a guiding tool for companies while increasing the quality of internships available to students. This marks the fourth iteration of the survey, with plans for continued research in the future.

Survey Highlights

In an impressive achievement, LINE Yahoo has topped the overall rankings for the first time since the survey's inception, joining a Top 10 list primarily consisting of major tech companies within the internet industry.

Approximately 95% of respondents reported having participated in summer internships, marking a 5% increase from the previous year. This consistent participation rate suggests that internships are becoming standard practice for students.

Among those students who have experienced summer internships, about 70% reported receiving financial compensation, indicating a positive trend towards better treatment and recognition of interns.

Key Findings

1. Overall Rankings and Insights

In the category of "Most Fulfilling Summer Internship", LINE Yahoo secured first place. It achieved top rankings in two areas: "Skill Improvement" and "High Level of Peers." Additionally, the company excelled in two other crucial categories—"Mentoring/Feedback Systems" and "Atmosphere/Employee Personality," securing second place in both. Clearly, this underscores the overall high satisfaction among interns at LINE Yahoo.

LINE Yahoo offers a diverse range of over 100 programs including hands-on web frontend development tasks for Yahoo! Auctions, allowing interns to immerse themselves in real-world engineering experiences. Interested candidates can find further details on the LinkedIn affiliate program page.

The overall Top 10 rankings were predominantly filled with internet sector companies, many of which scored highly across multiple categories, showcasing balanced satisfaction levels from interns.

2. Internship Experiences and Preferences

Over 95% of the respondents had prior experience with summer internships, a percentage increase from nearly 90% in last year's survey. The unwavering high participation rate indicates a trend towards internships becoming a critical element in the employment journey.

However, similar to the previous year, respondents showed a preference for selective participation, opting for fewer yet more impactful internship experiences. As companies increasingly extend early offers based on internship performances, strategies to capture student attention in this competitive landscape will be crucial.

Approximately 65% of participants indicated that their internship experiences significantly influenced their job preferences, with many expressing excitement for potential employment. Some student testimonials highlighted:

"Participating in actual product feature development allowed me to see modern technologies applied in a cleanly designed code base, greatly increasing my desire to join the company."

"Although my goal was to improve my technical skills, the autonomy I experienced aligned with that of full-time employees opened my eyes to the company culture and strengthened my resolve to work there."

3. Internship Duration and Compensation

Most internships lasted between one to three weeks. Feedback revealed that hands-on tasks and workshops closely imitating real work environments greatly impacted student satisfaction. Furthermore, about 70% reported receiving some form of financial compensation during their internship, marking a shift towards a more equitable approach to internships.

Interns reflected additional critical impressions:

"Activities involving live code reviews and engaging in real product environments truly showcased the employees' expertise, further heightening my interest in the position."

"By using tools like Slack and Jira and collaborating on projects, I was able to visualize my future role at this company, discovering an intuitively communicative workplace culture."

Leadership Insights

Mr. Hiromitsu Kaede, CEO of Supporters, commented on the recent developments in internships:

"Due to collaboration between academia and industry, companies are now allowed to host direct-recruitment internships starting from the class of 2025 under certain conditions. Consequently, there has been a notable shift towards longer-term, practical internship programs lately."

He noted that the keyword "real" was often echoed in student feedback, emphasizing the positive response to office-style internships as well as engagements that promoted genuine company insight. Some opportunities even involved real responsibilities under non-disclosure agreements with companies.

The outlook for the job market suggests ongoing demand and early recruitment trends, driving companies to focus on summer internships to foster early relationships with students. Supporters remains committed to assisting corporate internship initiatives while hosting hackathons and tech conferences aimed at supporting engineering talents, thus contributing to addressing the shortage of IT engineers in Japan.

About the Survey

• - Organization: Supporters, Inc.
• - Duration: February 19, 2025, to March 31, 2025.
• - Target Respondents: Primarily students registered with Supporters graduating in 2026.
• - Participants: 551 students completed the survey via a web questionnaire.
• - Ranking Methodology: Rankings are based on survey respondents who have internship experience and rated up to three companies across five satisfaction criteria.

For more details about Supporters, visit their official site: Supporters Corporation.