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Internships in the Post-DotCom Era?
aetherspoon asks: "Reading the Internship at Microsoft story, I was wondering what paid jobs were actually still out there for CS majors in the industry. Coming from a CS major who has a stack of 'We're sorry, but...' letters sitting on his desk, I know that I have not had much luck in this area. Are there any places left offering good paid internships?"
...instead of looking for a job right now. If you are an undergraduate, go get a Master degree. If you are holding a Master degree, go get a PHD. The time you finish your education, the economy may have recovered, and you are right there to ride the next wave.
Good luck.
To this end, I suggest graduate study in another field. Many graduate programs in the hard sciences (especially PhD programs in the sciences) offer good compensation packages and sometimes include low-cost housing. On top of that, you don't have to pay off your student loans for a while.
Galium Arsenide is the material of the future, and always will be.
The "dot.com bubble burst" three years ago, now the students that went into university to study Computing Science purely because of the "get rich quick" scheme are graduating. They are having problems getting into work.
Now let's think.... 5 years ago there was maybe a tenth of the people doing CS as there are now, internships were available and reasonably well paid. Now all these companies have ten times the applicants that would originally have applied (but this time the other 9 want the money not the job).
If you were a CS company. Who would you want to hire?
I'm a CS major, and I decided to work construction this summer rather than chase an elusive internship. The way I look at it, I'm going to have many years ahead of me where I will be spending my summers working behind a desk. So while I still have a chance, I'm going to take some time and have a job where I can work outside, hang out with my friends (who will be working at the same company), and generally relax (save for inspection days). There is something to be said for getting outside and hauling some lumber or pounding some nails. Admittedly, it is probably not something I would want to do for years and years, but for a summer it can be a pretty good time. It gives you a good sense of balance in life, something that CS majors tend to lack.
Some people like my father have scoffed at this and told me that I "need" to get an internship now or I'll get left behind. I'm sure many other CS majors here have felt the same pressure. However, I think this is when you should take a step back and look at why you got into CS in the first place. I did it because it is something I love to do; the potentially lucrative job market is an added bonus. So what if I don't get an internship and I don't make $foo money when I get a job after school? I'm confident in my abilities so that I will do well in the long run. However, as long as I make enough to live comfortably, I'm happy with that because I would much rather do CS than get a degree like Business where I really have no interest.
Don't take this as saying internships aren't important. It is definitely a good idea to go out and get some real world CS experience. (You can do this to some extent with open source projects on your own schedule.) But just remember, jobs/money are NOT the be all end all when it comes to CS or any other field. Don't forget to enjoy yourself sometimes or you will be left as one of those bitter coders getting mid-life crises in a not-so distant future.
My company hired a coop (we're a 5 person shop, so we only have one). Despite getting lots of resumes via email, I rarely read them. This one came to me from my cousin. Previous hires came from people recommended to me by people in my fraternity.
People I know that are still undergrads are mostly people from my college fraternity (i.e. they were freshman my senior year or first year out when I visited friends there). The ones getting jobs are the ones that network well. The rest are finding research jobs on campus.
The days where you float your resume and get 20 phone calls are over. Sorry.
Time to work on the people skills.
Alex
But I think a big problem after the .com fallout were the people who put up this facade and were hired on, even if they didn't know a think about the job they got (Learn C++ in 24 Hours kinda folk).
.com hiring is that the majority of people who have jobs, think that only a minority of people out there know what they're actually doing.
So what I see in post
I think these days the job place and market are less forgiving to incompetence, and to that degree, don't even give people a change because of that fear.
At least that's my experience (being on the hire-er end).
As one of those monkeys, you should not pass over it lightly - even at low pay.
I had a debate with a friend a year or two ago about doing a startup or jumping into a small biz, or applying for a cubicle. He did the former; me the latter.
After his constant job-hopping, he's struggling still and I have been moving up through the ranks slowly by simply living in a box. My technical abilities have stayed sharp and my schedule is reliable and reasonable.
If you can adjust your cost-of-living accordingly, a cubicle is a safe place to be right now. I content to not chase the glory just so I can pay for a beer at the end of the week.
mug
You've got to suck it up and get experience somewhere. Great paying jobs aren't necessarily as good as great experience. My first job paid barely enough to live on (in Dallas) and I still say I learned more there than in the 4+ years since.
The experience pays off loads more in the long run. Trust me on this one. I make over 60k in oklahoma of all places, and with my contracts and side jobs I make over 150k combined (although i'm very lucky in my relationships).
Hard work pays off if you do what Scrooge McDuck said "Work smarter not harder!". Best lesson ever from a stupid Disney cartoon.
You might want to consider doing one for free. I know it sucks, but it's great experience, looks great on your resume and will give you a good idea of the field you're getting into.
That's what I did last summer after many interviews, a lot of "we went with someone who had more experience" and one "we don't have room in our budget." I called the latter back and asked if they would take me on in an unpaid capacity. They agreed and it was one of the better decisions I've made. Not only did they end up paying me something at the end (not as much as I would have made with an hourly wage, but a decent amount) but I firmly believe that it was that experience that enabled me to land the job I have right now.
So if you don't have anything better to do with you summer (or whenever you're looking for an internship), consider doing one unpaid.