Placement College Clash.

barry181091

Hey guys,

I have just been offered a six month student placement with IBM in Dublin. Im only in second year so obviously im very lucky. I'm over the moon but the problem is that its a six month contract, from late May to mid November.

That means that I would essentially miss two and a half months of college, could it be done?

I personally think I would be silly to turn it down but maybe I am wrong.

Atlantis50

barry181091 wrote: »

Hey guys,

I have just been offered a six month student placement with IBM in Dublin. Im only in second year so obviously im very lucky. I'm over the moon but the problem is that its a six month contract, from late May to mid November.

That means that I would essentially miss two and a half months of college, could it be done?

I personally think I would be silly to turn it down but maybe I am wrong.

If you have friends in your class who can give you copies of their notes, then you should be fine.

Some classes/practicals may require attendance though so maybe you could get in touch with the lecturer concerned (or even the course coordinator) and hope that they are sympathetic to your situation.

jd83

Congrats on getting the placement in second year!! You should defo do it. As the other poster said get notes of friends etc. Contact all of your lecturers and tell them that you will be missing and the reason why or if you have a tutor tell them. It will look great on the cv and stand to you later when you finish college and look for a permanent job.

However bear in mind you will have all of your college work to do in the 2.5 month while working a full time job. However still doable people do part time degrees while having full time jobs! You could also use leave to get off work when needed for college.

Good luck!

barry181091

jd83 wrote: »

Congrats on getting the placement in second year!! You should defo do it. As the other poster said get notes of friends etc. Contact all of your lecturers and tell them that you will be missing and the reason why or if you have a tutor tell them. It will look great on the cv and stand to you later when you finish college and look for a permanent job.

However bear in mind you will have all of your college work to do in the 2.5 month while working a full time job. However still doable people do part time degrees while having full time jobs! You could also use leave to get off work when needed for college.

Good luck!

Yeah I think I should go fir it, thanks for the advice!

barry181091

On another point, would it be possible to negotiate the offer dates? Could I try to shorten the contract? Or are these guys the type to have one offer and thats it.

barry181091

Forgot to mention, Im in NUI in Galway. So that means I wouldn't see head nor tail of college for the two and a half months.

Postgrad10

It sounds amazing and you should definitely do it at some stage . However I don't think missing college is worth it . I think your lecturers would agree . See if there's any way you could get it shortened ? IBM should surely be interested in helping if they see you are conscientious about your college work and attendance . Perhaps they'd let you do the remaining time over mid terms , holidays etc. There's usually a good sizable break between Christmas and the exam periods right ?

barry181091

Postgrad10 wrote: »

It sounds amazing and you should definitely do it at some stage . However I don't think missing college is worth it . I think your lecturers would agree . See if there's any way you could get it shortened ? IBM should surely be interested in helping if they see you are conscientious about your college work and attendance . Perhaps they'd let you do the remaining time over mid terms , holidays etc. There's usually a good sizable break between Christmas and the exam periods right ?

I think I will ask about dates and if I could reduce the contract by a month. I could certainly do to mid Oct. That gives me much time to catch up and stuff. Then go other months during Christmas Holidays.

The other thing is that, I would only have two exams at Christmas anyway, compared to seven in April. That's another consideration.

MannyFagnet

Hi Barry what course are you doing btw ??

barry181091

Computer Science & IT, Manny. Any reason why :P?

freeze4real

barry181091 wrote: »

Computer Science & IT, Manny. Any reason why :P?

Do you mind me asking how you got it ?

wallpaper12

Surely computer science and IT will require practical classes every week that you cant miss?
Honestly I think it would look terrible on a CV that you missed a full two and a half months of college.

Postgrad10

Speak to them and see what they say Barry. Best of luck . Let us know how you get on.

smallerthanyou

wallpaper12 wrote: »

Honestly I think it would look terrible on a CV that you missed a full two and a half months of college.

But it wouldn't be on CV? I'd say go for it. Do try to negotiate down if you can but not at expense of missing out. Don't forget you'll possibly be entitled to 10 days holidays so could take two weeks at end of contract. And college usually don't start until middle of sept so you'd be down to 6 weeks. It's a fantastic opportunity.

Do they still use Blackboard at NUIG? If you have the committment to working hard on the stuff you are missing out you should be ok.

ironclaw

First off, well done mate. Sounds excellent but to give the other side of the coin...

Speaking as a full time student, in a similar field as yourself Barry, your mad to to do this. Its WAY too much time to take off any course especially when your only finishing 2nd year. I feel bad taking a day off, let alone 2 months. You will not have time for course work. Not a chance.

And although an internship looks good on a CV, you still have 3rd and 4th year to do one. I don't know about NUIG but most courses have an internship / work experience as part of the course. As such your at no advantage as having done one as everyone will have similar work experience on their CV. Most IT companies run summer only internships as well (Google, FB etc) so again a lot of people are doing these.

If you looking at this purely as a CV booster, its a lot of sacrifice for something many other people will have the equivalent of.

If it was one of my mates, I'd strongly advise against it.

barry181091

Thanks for all the valuable input guys. I shot IBM an email anyway explaining my concerns. Got an email back today saying that the six month contract was just to allow everyone as much flexibility as possible. They said that my education was just, if not more, important and that they would work on dates throughout the summer.

Woo, dublin for the summer it seems so

Postgrad10

I'm delighted to hear that Barry. I was thinking they wouldnt expect you to miss college. I bet you are glad you asked now Enjoy !

barry181091

Yep Hopefully this will mean that I will have a great chance of getting good work experience next year, when our course has actual 'official' placement time

barry181091

Now I have another problem, where exactly is a good place to live for the summer? Not knowing Dublin at all, I certainly need help here

ironclaw

barry181091 wrote: »

Now I have another problem, where exactly is a good place to live for the summer? Not knowing Dublin at all, I certainly need help here

Anywhere students live really. Where are you based in Dublin for the summer?

barry181091

Its in Mulhuddart.

knotknowbody

barry181091 wrote: »

Its in Mulhuddart.

Will you be in ownership of a car or dependent or public transport, the accommodation options will be different for each scenario.

barry181091

Dependant on public transport or my bike.