Job Advice needed.

kdouglas

Hey guys, thought this would be the best place to post this...

im currently studying computer science in college, and i will be doing work placement next year

i have been offered a job with company A doing some development stuff (actual coding, not just testing) and i think there may be a possibility of an offer from company B for a helpdesk/support position (internal technician, NOT phone support type stuff)

both companies are well known and quite large

now personally i have a bit of experience in the type of work company A is offering and while i will learn a good deal from it, i think that the position in company B could lead to much better prospects in the future for me with regard to employment when i finish college.

however the "powers that be" (college) wish to limit my choice to company A since they have made an offer first

should i be a nice student and take that job? or piss people off a bit and try get the job i (think i) really want?



p.s. i realise i am very lucky to get offered a job in the first place, nevermind being awkward and wanting to choose between two

Oriel

Simple, go for the one which will look better on your CV.

Khannie

There's no doubt in my mind about which job you should take. At your level, getting your hands on lots of code that experienced people have put together and working at that kind of level for 3 months will help you in your final year project no-end.

I'd take company A if the jobs market for grads is in any way reasonable.

uberpixie

take company A.

Good software jobs are thin on the ground and are hard to get later on.

Tech support jobs you can fall into after college easy enough.

The software job looks more interesting and will look better on the cv.

kdouglas

i see where your coming from, however i do have other experience of using the technologies that will be in use in job A which are already on my CV, thats why i was offered the job in the first place, B as a company would look better on my cv, and offers (in my view) better future oppurtunities

jesus_thats_gre

A, without doubt.

Khannie

kdouglas wrote:

and offers (in my view) better future oppurtunities

As in....you're more likely to get an offer straight out of college from them because of this stint? If so, doing what?

Oh...and college experience with a particular technology isn't worth that much in "the real world" because (by comparisson) college code is riddled with bugs.

kdouglas

Khannie wrote:

As in....you're more likely to get an offer straight out of college from them because of this stint? If so, doing what?

Oh...and college experience with a particular technology isn't worth that much in "the real world" because (by comparisson) college code is riddled with bugs.

yea,i reckon B would give me a much better oppurtunity for when i leave college and the experience i refer to is not actually on my course but in work i have done (paid work, not just favours)

Khannie

If it's the kind of work that you think you'd like to do when you leave college then I'd consider it. You should also consider that company A may look at hiring you after your stint there. Lots of people who do internships end up with jobs at their respective companies afterwards.

I'd still go with company A myself. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Mutant_Fruit

If you can see yourself coding in future years, choose A. If you can see yourself doing tech support, choose B.

Personally, anyone can do tech support (internal tech support = making sure computers are working and networks are configured correctly? That kind of stuff?), but not everyone can code. Even less code well. I'd take company A. The experience would be MUCH better.

I was lucky to get a job in a very similar company A last summer. They took me back again at christmas, and the boss has told me (again) that he would definately be interested in taking me back again during the summer. That kind of experience looks VERY good on a CV.

kdouglas

yea... i do enjoy coding

and the tech support role could lead onto sysadmin/network admin type work, its much more than your average helpdesk job

i was completely set on B previously, but now im not so sure...

Redegg

doin work placement myself in April. I got a job i'm incredibly happy with. I working as techinal support in a very well known company. I was advised not to apply to anything with the word "development" in the title. I heard lots of bad storys. like you just debug and test programs every day. The way I look at it is that it's work placement is a few months to fill out the college year. I'll worry about getting a proper job when/if I graduate.

the_syco

kdouglas wrote:

i have been offered a job with company A doing some development stuff (actual coding, not just testing)

now personally i have a bit of experience in the type of work company A is offering and while i will learn a good deal from it

So you got offered this job as your experience applies to it...

kdouglas wrote:

and i think there may be a possibility of an offer from company B for a helpdesk/support position (internal technician, NOT phone support type stuff)

i think that the position in company B could lead to much better prospects in the future for me with regard to employment when i finish college.

... whilst this job could lead to a sysadmin.

If I could code I'd go for company A.

But it depends on what you want to do when you leave college. If someone saw your CV, and saw lots of coding, they'd see you as a coder, but if you want to be a sysadmin later in life, company B would be preferable, as it be seen as experience in that section.

All coding, and no tech support experience, and it may be hard getting a job in (non-phone based) tech support, as most places want you to have some experience in it first.

BopNiblets

I'd take B, but that's because I:
1. Hate coding (monkeys work, me =SE)
2. I did some internal technician work (intern work) where they rang me up and I fiddled with a few settings and fixed stuff, easy as pie!
3. I love B?

srdb20

This is just my two cents!

You seemed to me that before you posted you were set on Job B

Or at least leaning towards it, id say go for B, You have tried job A before, as you said you have some experience coding.

So why not try the other side of the fence, give Job B a go!

kdouglas

hmmm... this is true, i guess to sum up i kinda have experience doing both coding and system administration stuff...but depending on which job i take i will gain extra experience in one of those two fields..

however company B would be an interesting place to work also....

dammit, im too indecisive

netwhizkid

Its at times like tihs ATARI JAGUAR is soooo handy. Choices, Choices, Choices, Choices, ummmmm:rolleyes:

astrofool

if you're in DIT, take company A, one guy didn't take his first offer last year (after accepting it however), and they're going to mark down as such on his degree.

Dummy

Support jobs are easy to come by. A Support job is certainly a great place to develope those people skills BUT can become very monotonous and frustrating.

Development offers much better opportunities down the road. Every day offers a new challenge.

I suggest Company A.

kdouglas

astrofool wrote:

if you're in DIT, take company A, one guy didn't take his first offer last year (after accepting it however), and they're going to mark down as such on his degree.

yea, i heard about that from "a friend of a friend who knows a guy who heard it from his binmans mate" surely putting a bad mark against him for that is a bit harsh, i mean if he was in a similar situation to me then its purely because he wanted what was best for himself in the future. i mean im not in college to be nice to the lecturers and make them happy, at the end of the day this is about my future.


i think i may be leaning more towards A now.

astrofool

kdouglas wrote:

yea, i heard about that from "a friend of a friend who knows a guy who heard it from his binmans mate" surely putting a bad mark against him for that is a bit harsh, i mean if he was in a similar situation to me then its purely because he wanted what was best for himself in the future. i mean im not in college to be nice to the lecturers and make them happy, at the end of the day this is about my future.


i think i may be leaning more towards A now.

Well, he was in my year, and was the reason they started getting more strict about it. Best bet is to talk to lecturer first (Oliver or Mark I presume) and find out what you can actually do first.