Ava R.

Nolan M. was on a customer call when he heard it: a restaurant owner, unprompted, praising a page his team had just shipped. That’s the moment he points to when he explains why he came back to Toast full-time after his internship on the Menus team.

"Knowing my work had a real impact," he says, "is why I chose to stay."

That kind of small, concrete moment comes up again and again when you ask Toast's former co-ops and interns why they returned. Many former interns and co-ops have a specific instance where they realized their work mattered and someone noticed.

The people made it easy to come back

For Caitlyn O., a Senior People Hub Specialist now four years into her Toast career, the decision came down to the team around her. "Everyone is really helpful," she says. "It's amazing to have reliable team members you can go to anytime."

Ethan N., a Software Engineer, says the same thing shaped his path in R&D. "The support and mentorship, especially from senior-level coworkers, was the primary reason I chose to return to the engineering team."

Watching the work land somewhere real

Just like how Nolan had a spark when a customer recognized the impact of a project he worked on, many Toast employees have the opportunity to hear from customers every day on how Toast makes their lives easier and helps their businesses grow. 

Haley N., a Customer Success Manager, spends her days helping restaurant and retail owners get more time back. "Toast has a platform that's going to save them time," she says. "When you can tell someone that, it really hits home for them."

Owning your career

At Toast, we consider career paths jungle gyms rather than ladders. We love giving employees the freedom to take on new projects to learn the skills they need to grow their careers in the direction that feels best for them. This applies to full time employees as well as interns. 

Zak Z., a People Hub Specialist, put it plainly: "As a full-time employee, you create your own work by noticing things that could be done better... making life for your fellow Toasters a little bit easier." 

Nolan saw the same shift in R&D. "Coming back full-time, I really tried diving into operational ownership and working across repos," he says. "It really helped me in the long run."

Networking as a skill

If there's one piece of advice that shows up across every interview, it's this: talk to people outside your own team. Toasters are always eager to help one another, and it’s especially rewarding to find mentorship across different areas of the business.

Haley credits her internal mobility and multiple promotions to exactly that. "Whether you're meeting future managers or colleagues, it's great to hear what different people are doing," she says. "Networking is one of the strongest skills I've developed here."

Five people, five teams, one pattern: the interns and co-ops who came back full-time didn't just learn how Toast works. They found engaging challenges, encouraging team, and work with meaningful purpose.

Curious what that could look like for you? Explore open opportunities on the Toast careers page.