I'm talking about the internships offered by many tech companies to college students, which are always paid (often very competitively). I'm a student, and have

I'm talking about the internships offered by many tech companies to college students, which are always paid (often very competitively). I'm a student, and have benefited from these myself, but I'd imagine that from an employer's perspective hosting interns is a relatively low-risk way to get to know some potential full-time candidates pretty well.