Should I take this internship?

Fukuyama

Hi Guys,

Bit of background: 23 years old. BA in Business Grad. Want to switch to IT because I enjoy it. Only experience is having the odd personal wordpress site in the past and being good at fixing my own IT issues, setting up home servers. Little things like that.

Decided to start teaching myself web development. Focusing on front end right now - mostly Javascript, HTML, CSS. Dipping into JQuery and Node.js too. Really enjoying it. My goal is to make a little web app that scrapes Dublin cinema times and combines them into one site within the next month.

Anyways, I applied for a few entry-level IT positions. I just got a call for an interview on Friday. The position is an IT Helpdesk internship. It's in a a multinational. They have maybe a couple hundred staff in Ireland. I'll be one of 3 or 4 people on the helpdesk team. Duties will be Active Directory management, remote user support, printer management, basic wifi/connectivity support, OSD build and physical deployment of laptops and desktops, installing user software etc... I'm taking all of that from the ad. I can guess what maybe 50% of it actually means. :eek:

Should I take this position (if it's offered)?

Would this look good on a CV when applying for Web Dev internships at a later date?

Whats the day-to-day of a small IT Helpdesk jobs like?

What kind of things should I brush up on for the interview? I'm planning on reading a few chapters from a textbook and binging on YouTube tutorials. Any topic suggestions welcome!

Do IT Helpdesk internships generally pay? The ad doesn't specify a pay. I don't think I could go 2 months without any pay, let alone 6.

My main worry is that I'd be going in the wring direction if I went for a helpdesk internship. However, maybe any IT internship is better than none? I wouldn't feel capable yet of being in a web development internship which is ultimately where I want to be.

Cheers guys. Any advice or wisdom would be much appreciated.

- Fukuyama

MagicMarker

Internships don't typically pay. I would be surprised if they do.

The Corinthian

If it does not pay, don't take it. Outside of using a computer and technically being in the IT sector (depends on what the help desk deals with), a Help-desk role will have few if any skills that you'll gain that you can use if pursuing a career in development. The whole point of internship is so that you gain useful experience. If it doesn't offer that, then it's of no value to you.

red_bairn

Fukuyama wrote: »

Decided to start teaching myself web development. Focusing on front end right now - mostly Javascript, HTML, CSS. Dipping into JQuery and Node.js too. Really enjoying it. My goal is to make a little web app that scrapes Dublin cinema times and combines them into one site within the next month.

Done by a friend.

Don't do a Helpdesk job. Try find a Web Developer internship and work on a portfolio.

Ant695

red_bairn wrote: »

Done by a friend.

Don't do a Helpdesk job. Try find a Web Developer internship and work on a portfolio.

Blocked by work. Classed as pornography.

red_bairn

Ant695 wrote: »

Blocked by work. Classed as pornography.

See attached.

Ant695

red_bairn wrote: »

See attached.

That looks good and very useful if you're in the dublin area. Strange for it to be classed as pornography though. Think they need to update their definition.

Skerries

well there may be the odd nipple or 2 in one of those films I'm sure

Ant695

Skerries wrote: »

well there may be the odd nipple or 2 in one of those films I'm sure

One can hope...

Fukuyama

red_bairn wrote: »

Done by a friend.

Don't do a Helpdesk job. Try find a Web Developer internship and work on a portfolio.

Very cool. I have a few ideas that'd make mine a bit different to that. Mostly just doing it for portfolio and to learn new things. Still very green when it comes to Node and JS in general.

The Corinthian wrote: »

If it does not pay, don't take it. Outside of using a computer and technically being in the IT sector (depends on what the help desk deals with), a Help-desk role will have few if any skills that you'll gain that you can use if pursuing a career in development. The whole point of internship is so that you gain useful experience. If it doesn't offer that, then it's of no value to you.

Thanks. Turns out it doesn't pay. And it seems I'll mostly be installing printers, setting up peoples emails and monitoring a server or two.

I guess I was just desperate to take any step into IT.

My problem at the minute is that I'm currently teaching myself JS. So I don't think I'd be ready yet for an internship. Does anyone know roughly what level I should be at before I even bother trying to get a dev internship?

What should I be able to do?

Any ideas for projects which, upon mastering, it could be said I'd be reasonably capable of actually benefiting from being in a pro development environment.

Ideally, I'd want to be a sponge during an internship - soaking up as much as possible from experienced developers. But obviously they'd want me to at least be able to understand what they're talking about.

I'd really appreciate advice from experienced developers on here.

The Corinthian

Fukuyama wrote: »

Thanks. Turns out it doesn't pay. And it seems I'll mostly be installing printers, setting up peoples emails and monitoring a server or two.

With any internship you should ask them what they can offer you? Employment at the end? Specific experience in a field? If they can't really give you a direct answer, then they're just looking for slave labour - end the interview and walk out. Remember, you're going to be working for free, so you're going to have to get something for your time.

My problem at the minute is that I'm currently teaching myself JS. So I don't think I'd be ready yet for an internship. Does anyone know roughly what level I should be at before I even bother trying to get a dev internship?

Very limited, TBH. Even graduates are pretty much useless, so an aptitude and willingness to learn is worth significantly more going in the door. You may, from what you've posted, already know enough to walk in the door.

Ideally, I'd want to be a sponge during an internship - soaking up as much as possible from experienced developers. But obviously they'd want me to at least be able to understand what they're talking about.

Have you looked at Fas, or whatever it's called? Back in the day many would do something like six months and then a three month internship.

Fukuyama

The Corinthian wrote: »

With any internship you should ask them what they can offer you? Employment at the end? Specific experience in a field? If they can't really give you a direct answer, then they're just looking for slave labour - end the interview and walk out. Remember, you're going to be working for free, so you're going to have to get something for your time.

Very limited, TBH. Even graduates are pretty much useless, so an aptitude and willingness to learn is worth significantly more going in the door. You may, from what you've posted, already know enough to walk in the door.

Have you looked at Fas, or whatever it's called? Back in the day many would do something like six months and then a three month internship.

I've seen some internship ads where the company very obviously don't have their own development staff and just want a free web developer. I'll definitely make sure any internship I do has actual learning and hopefully a job at the end.

I have never done any development courses. Right now I have been studying for around 2 months. I'm definitely making progress. But I find it hard to believe that I'd be on par with someone who did a 3/4 year degree?

I guess I'm finding it hard to assess myself. I understand the basics of HTML5 and CSS. I also understand their capabilities so I can always google for solutions and I generally learn/build using that method.

JS is obviously more complex so I'm focusing on that right now. I'm using Eloquent Javascript. Getting used to using recursion and solving the little exercises, but I wouldn't be able to put together an app off the top of my head.

How would I know when I'm ready to go for an internship? Should I be able to do X, Y and Z? What kind of small projects should one be able to master so that he can call himself a novice? Because I still feel like an absolute beginner.

The Corinthian

Fukuyama wrote: »

But I find it hard to believe that I'd be on par with someone who did a 3/4 year degree?

You'd be surprised. Qute a few graduate from CS degrees having cut and pasted other people's work along the way. I remember we interviewed three graduates for a job once. All were on the same course. All were asked to bring an example of their work in Java.

All three came with the same code, so we asked them all too come back to explain said code and clearly they realized that the game was up. Only one of them, the guy who actually wrote it, came back.

How would I know when I'm ready to go for an internship? Should I be able to do X, Y and Z? What kind of small projects should one be able to master so that he can call himself a novice? Because I still feel like an absolute beginner.

Get a site or two up. Do some portfolio examples of code. Then you're ready. Remember, you're not going for a job, you're going for an internship.

Fukuyama

The Corinthian wrote: »

You'd be surprised. Qute a few graduate from CS degrees having cut and pasted other people's work along the way. I remember we interviewed three graduates for a job once. All were on the same course. All were asked to bring an example of their work in Java.

All three came with the same code, so we asked them all too come back to explain said code and clearly they realized that the game was up. Only one of them, the guy who actually wrote it, came back.

Get a site or two up. Do some portfolio examples of code. Then you're ready. Remember, you're not going for a job, you're going for an internship.

Thanks! I appreciate the advice.

I'll work on getting a couple of sites up and maybe contribute to a GitHub projects or two. Then I'll throw it all together into a portfolio.

Would it be worth doing a few small projects on the likes of ODesk?

Can I ask - do web development internships generally pay? Right now I'm saving up in anticipation of essentially having to go without a wage for 3/6/9 months...

Do you know of any good websites for internship listings? The usual job sites are overrun with Jobsbridge (I'm not on the dole so can't apply) and scammy "be our free web developer" positions.

Buford T Justice

Working as an intern in an IT support job isn't really going to be conducive to your long term goal. You'll be working all day, and then trying to fit some time into learning a development language never mind developing a project. It'll be a tough job.

I get what your saying though, looking to get a job in it for the sake of it. Installing printers and helpdesk support isn't going to help you in this regard so It'll be a waste of your time in fairness.

Would you not consider a conversion course?

Fukuyama

Buford T Justice wrote: »

Working as an intern in an IT support job isn't really going to be conducive to your long term goal. You'll be working all day, and then trying to fit some time into learning a development language never mind developing a project. It'll be a tough job.

I get what your saying though, looking to get a job in it for the sake of it. Installing printers and helpdesk support isn't going to help you in this regard so It'll be a waste of your time in fairness.

Would you not consider a conversion course?

I have applied for this course in Griffith via Springboard. I hope I get it as I couldn't afford the near 6k tuition upfront as well as having to leave my full time employment.

If I do get approved for Springboard then happy days. I'd be willing to commit to fulltime study for a year and just ...*sigh* ...go back to retail for a year part-time to keep my head above water. It'd be worth it in the end.

EDIT - If anyone has an info on that course and what it's like I'd love to hear it.

MagicMarker

Fukuyama wrote: »

I have applied for this course in Griffith via Springboard. I hope I get it as I couldn't afford the near 6k tuition upfront as well as having to leave my full time employment.

If I do get approved for Springboard then happy days. I'd be willing to commit to fulltime study for a year and just ...*sigh* ...go back to retail for a year part-time to keep my head above water. It'd be worth it in the end.

EDIT - If anyone has an info on that course and what it's like I'd love to hear it.

Jesus... I know that's a postgraduate course and all, but speaking as someone who's started a degree part time last year, I can say that course is trying to cover hell of a lot of ground in 1 year. And I wouldn't expect any graduates from a non computing background to come away from it with anything of real value bar a very basic understanding of general computing/programming concepts. And the fact that it's almost €6k!?! That's bloody ridiculous.

If you're planning on moving on to a MSc from that then I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. But if you hope to get a job at the end of it, I might rethink my options if I were you.

Fukuyama

MagicMarker wrote:

Jesus... I know that's a postgraduate course and all, but speaking as someone who's started a degree part time last year, I can say that course is trying to cover hell of a lot of ground in 1 year. And I wouldn't expect any graduates from a non computing background to come away from it with anything of real value bar a very basic understanding of general computing/programming concepts. And the fact that it's almost €6k!?! That's bloody ridiculous.

Aren't all these conversion courses like that? Pretty jam packed... There seems to be such a mixed bag of opinions about them. Some people say they're worthwhile. Others say they're not worth the paper its written on. Hmmm...

MagicMarker wrote:

If you're planning on moving on to a MSc from that then I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. But if you hope to get a job at the end of it, I might rethink my options if I were you.

I guess I'd like to get an internship at the end of it. And then a job. I'm studying at home too and working on little projects. I don't see the diploma as a 'ticket' to a job. I'd likely out the diploma, my portfolio and any experience I can get together and hope an employer sees that I'm eager to learn more and develop.

scaldy_balls

This is an alias, it's a small course and I'd wouldn't like my regular profile tied back to me. If that's not ok, just delete this post.

I'm doing an apprenticeship at the minute. The next round was supposed to start this month. I don't know if it has but last year's was delayed until April so there's a chance it hasn't started this year yet.

fit[dot]ie/courses/fit-ictap/
It might be an option for you. Since they don't provide any information whatsoever on their website, I'll try and provide some for you.

The qualifications you'll get are:

Level 3 Cities and Guilds, aligned with Fetec Level 5
cityandguilds[dot]com/qualifications-and-apprenticeships/it/it-professional/7540-ict-systems-and-principles-ict-professional-competence#tab=information

Level 4 Cities and Guilds, aligned with Fetec Level 6
cityandguilds[dot]com/qualifications-and-apprenticeships/it/it-professional/7630-ict-systems-and-principles-for-it-professionals#tab=information

The way it works is, first you interview with a company, if they take you on you can start the course.
Then you go to Fas for 5 days a week for 6 months and they pay you whatever the dole would give you.
Then you do work placement 3 days a week in the company and get paid for the three days, between 260 and 290, and Fas for 2 days for 12 months.
Then you work 4 days and fas one day, pay between 360 and 390.

We haven't started in the companies yet so I can't say how that will be. The learning part has had it's issues. The quality of the instructors has varied wildly. I have no respect for C&G qualifications at all, at least in level 3(there are three possible exams for each module, they are all available on the c&g website.)

Is it worth doing? I really don't know. I don't have a degree, so this will hopeful allow me to skip the first and maybe second year of a part time degree. It all really depends on what the work experience is like.

bpmurray

Have you considered mentoring at Coderdojo? It's a great way to be forced to learn new stuff!

Fukuyama

bpmurray wrote: »

Have you considered mentoring at Coderdojo? It's a great way to be forced to learn new stuff!

I just started a conversion course the other day. It's quite good so far. Very full on but that's what I want.

There's also an industry placement component so I'm looking forward to that.