Unlike some programs where interns are stuck fixing typos or doing surface-level testing, interns at Staples are expected to contribute to real codebases that the company relies on. This means you will spend a significant part of your time actually writing, refactoring, and reviewing code.
That said, the amount of coding you do is not the same every single day. There are weeks where you will spend most of your time buried in code, debugging, building features, or testing fixes. But there are also days when you will be reading documentation, shadowing teammates, or sitting in stand-ups. The coding workload often depends on the project you are assigned and the complexity of the team’s goals.
Interns are not handed mission-critical systems on day one, but you do get exposure to them gradually. Early on, you might work on well-defined tasks like adding features, writing unit tests, or fixing bugs. Over time, as you build confidence and trust with your team, you may handle bigger pieces of functionality. By the middle of the internship, many interns are already writing pull requests that go into production after review.
It is also important to understand that coding is not just typing lines of code. At Staples, interns are expected to follow the full software engineering process: understanding requirements, thinking through logic, writing clean code, testing it thoroughly, and reviewing feedback. So while the volume of raw code you write might vary, the depth of responsibility is real and extends beyond just writing a function.
Mentorship plays a big role in shaping how much coding you actually do. Interns are paired with mentors and team leads who review your code, push you to improve, and help you avoid pitfalls. That guidance ensures you do not just write more code, but write better code. This means you will probably rewrite or refactor your own work more than once, which is a huge part of the learning experience.
Staples also emphasizes persistence over perfection. Interns are expected to make mistakes, learn from them, and then rework their code until it meets the team’s standards. This might feel frustrating at times, but it is where most of the learning happens. Even if your first pull request is messy, the fact that you went through the cycle of fixing it, testing it, and getting it approved teaches you more than if you had written something flawless on the first try.
By the end of the internship, most Software Engineer interns can say they have made contributions that live inside a production system at Staples. That is not trivial. It means the company treats interns as engineers in training, not as observers. The coding workload may be demanding at times, but it is exactly the kind of experience that prepares you for a full-time role in software engineering.
If you are motivated by the chance to work on real projects, gain hands-on coding experience, and grow through mentorship while contributing to a global company, then the Staples internship program is the right place to start.