Bit of advice - 2nd Year College Work Experience Computer Science (Programming)

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

CatFromHue

I'm not sure if it is much help but you could look on job websites for companys currently recruiting for your area and then contact them looking for a work experience.

x43r0

I know some of the banks have internship programs for mid-degree people like yourself. Not technically IT industry but the IT divisions in these places can be huge. My own bank's IT division has roughly 2/3 the amount of people that Google have in total.

Our summer internship program is 10 weeks. It is in London, so if you're opposed to working away from home for months then maybe not for you. I can PM you a link if you want

neonitrix

x43r0 wrote: »

I know some of the banks have internship programs for mid-degree people like yourself. Not technically IT industry but the IT divisions in these places can be huge. My own bank's IT division has roughly 2/3 the amount of people that Google have in total.

Our summer internship program is 10 weeks. It is in London, so if you're opposed to working away from home for months then maybe not for you. I can PM you a link if you want

yeah if you wouldnt mind pm'ing me with details and i will look at it as a possibility

tks

neonitrix

Welease

Check with your college if they consider Open Source projects as acceptable..
If so, then there are literally hundred you could become involved with on the web..

Other options, would be to contact local Charities, and see if they would be interested in having your develop some sort of system (contact management, rota scheduler, donor details database etc etc etc.. If they are not sure, then come up with an idea and market it to them)

Mr. Loverman

You will find it nearly impossible to find a company who will let an intern touch their existing codebase during a 12 week internship, so if I were you I would forget about getting hands on coding experience. Although you could get lucky, of course.

I don't think any multi-nationals will take you on for such a short period, so your best bet is to contact very small companies.

I agree with the above poster who suggested contacting charities.

mickman

x43r0 wrote: »

I know some of the banks have internship programs for mid-degree people like yourself. Not technically IT industry but the IT divisions in these places can be huge. My own bank's IT division has roughly 2/3 the amount of people that Google have in total.

Our summer internship program is 10 weeks. It is in London, so if you're opposed to working away from home for months then maybe not for you. I can PM you a link if you want

yep - we all know how the banks love overkill :-)

shows the difference between a lean us multinational and an irish based bank!

x43r0

mickman wrote: »

yep - we all know how the banks love overkill :-)

shows the difference between a lean us multinational and an irish based bank!

I'm not in an Irish/Irish based bank but I echo your sentiments on the Irish ones