Pros
Direct Supply trusts its interns to do real, meaningful work that provides actual value to the company. It's not about fetching coffee or doing grunt work --- interns get to contribute to some of the company's flagship projects. As an intern, I worked alongside more experienced engineers to develop a tool that later became part of internal users' daily workflow. What's more, Direct Supply invests heavily in its interns' learning trajectories, by cultivating an environment of mentorship and giving interns all the resources they need to succeed in their roles. Everyone there is very friendly. There's a very strong sense of community, with summer interns getting to take part in Intern Olympics (think water balloon fights and volleyball) and even having access to pizza ovens and a weekly supply of frozen pizza at the downtown campus. Direct Supply has a fun-loving, playful culture that is an excellent environment to grow and level up your skills in. The benefits are also excellent, with interns receiving good health insurance and PTO.
Cons
Direct Supply's technology sector has a very skewed gender imbalance, with roughly 20% of employees in data science being women. The company does do a lot to make itself a supportive and inclusive place, however, with a Women's Initiative Network (WIN) and by celebrating Pride and hosting festivities for Juneteenth. Inclusion is good, but diversity is low. Additionally, the tech sector has a pipeline of interns from Milwaukee School of Engineering, as Direct Supply's downtown campus is located directly on MSOE's campus. This can make interns from other universities feel a bit excluded, and also contributes to the lack of diversity in the hiring pipeline as MSOE is even more skewed.