Bit Of Advice Pls - Work Experience (2nd Year Computer Science Programming Related)

neonitrix

Hi Guys,

I have started into 2nd year Higher Certificate In Computing at LIT Thurles a few weeks back and have to try and organise work experience for 12 weeks during the summer after summer exams, somewhere in industry related to my course.

I am hoping to continue onto 3rd year course in Carlow next September doing software development degree, so am hoping to pick up something related for work experience this summer, basically to immerse me in programming for the summer learning as i go with the hopes that i have chosen the right direction for a career.

Anyone have any hints tips or advice on what avenues to take rather than sending 100's of letters, the college has a few companies they have used in the past but have asked us to try and organise our own work experience as they could not place all students with their contacts last year.

As far as programming skills go I have 1st year Java stuff done ie: comfortable with the basics, and some OO stuff done constructors / inheritance / classes etc. I did well in the summer exams in Java programming based on course content but on stuff that i have not learned I am still getting stuck when trying to put it in practice.

This year concentrating on C up until Christmas then C++ after christmas with some Java alongside it.

I enjoy programming but when i hit a wall with it I am getting proper stuck, but with time experience & further knowledge it will hopefully come good.

I am based in Portlaoise and currently commute to thurles each day so am willing to continue commuting from Portlaoise an hours drive in any direction really, I cant really relocate for the summer as circumstances wont allow it, house mortgage etc.

The college has final say on signing off if the location for work experience is ok or not, but i would like to try and have something organised.

any hints / tips from others that have gained work experience or even those who are currently working as programmers would be great.

as always thanks


neonitrix

srsly78

Even graduates are finding themselves limited to internships right now.

That said: if you get an internship and you find yourself making coffee / answering phones all day then just walk out the door. Don't put up with any ****.

John_Mc

Have you a portfolio of work that you have completed outside of your course work?

This will be invaluable as it demonstrates your skills and shows potential employers that you're passionate about software/web development. So much so that you do it in your spare time.

As for finding a placement, I wouldn't imagine that it would be that hard to find a placement that doesn't pay a wage. Do your research and identify companies which could offer you decent experience and then ring them. Letters are far too easy to ignore and can slip through the cracks.

Best of luck!

fergalr

srsly78 wrote: »

Even graduates are finding themselves limited to internships right now.

Could you explain what you mean by this? I don't fully understand what you are saying?
Are you saying that the job market is so tough for graduates, that they can only get not-very-good internships, and that there are no 'real jobs' available for them, or something like that?

Edit: Also, did you mean 'unpaid internships'?

srsly78 wrote: »

That said: if you get an internship and you find yourself making coffee / answering phones all day then just walk out the door. Don't put up with any ****.

srsly78

I know a few places with graduates on WPP internships yes.

fergalr

srsly78 wrote: »

I know a few places with graduates on WPP internships yes.

Wow; I'm very surprised to hear of CS grads are on that program.
Is it definitely CS grads? Are they doing programming / can they code?

srsly78

From what I have heard: no they cannot program :pac: It's pretty shocking. Not gonna name&shame where they graduated from, but apparently it's possible to easily graduate because most marks are for unsupervised practicals, which many of them copy. This is an accredited degree course.

The course title isn't CS but if I give the exact name it will identify the course. They get taught lots of development and they SHOULD be able to program.

fergalr

So there you go, OP - keep at the programming...

With luck, you might find something that'll pay you to program at the end of second year. In some ways, I'd wait until the spring before thinking about these things, as your programming skills might improve a good bit between now and then.

If you don't need the money (i.e. you are willing to consider unpaid internship) you might be better off trying to spend the summer working on learning more programming, on your own, and ideally doing something like shipping iphone apps.

If you do need the money, but can't get a programming job, you could try find something in support, or QA. I worked as a paid QA intern in the summer of my first year in college. I didn't particularly enjoy QA, (there was some functional testing, test script creation, execution etc, which I didn't like, and actually don't think is a particularly enlightened way to do QA) but there was also a small amount of scripting involved, and plenty of unix use, which I'm sure was more beneficial to me than working in a non-tech job would have been.

neonitrix

to be honest i have to complete 12 weeks as part of my course anyway I am williing to do it for free as long as 1. im not thrown in the deep end and let fend for myself and 2. i get something from it ie: education in the form of someone to go to if I need help etc.

thanks for any input, any other advice appreciated. I understand that my coding skills at the moment may not be great but hopefully by the end of the year it will all come together for me.

tks

neonitrix

Webmonkey

Very often you will be thrown into the deep end and this isn't all that bad. Then you ask questions and learn.

neonitrix

Webmonkey wrote: »

Very often you will be thrown into the deep end and this isn't all that bad. Then you ask questions and learn.

I dont mind being thrown in the deep end but dont want to be fed to the sharks at the same time, with me its the ability to get direction if im lost, or being able to approach someone to ask for help. I would be lost without these two things even now as i do come up with insane ideas that i cant implement as i dont know how to.

its frustrating and interesting at the same time if that makes sense.

thanks

ed

srsly78

In a proper internship they are supposed to pair you with a mentor. This is one of the conditions of the WPP programme I think. Problem is cowboys are abusing it ofc.

Trojan

Ask everyone you know (family, friends, distant cousins etc) if they know anyone who might have something suitable. Odds are there will be someone who can help. (This worked for me)