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?"

Comments

Contiune your education...

[Anonymous Coward]

...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.

Re:Contiune your education...

[Spyffe]

CS requires that people pay for software

Wrong. Computer science does not. There are plenty of computer scientists working in such fields as operating systems (Sun), networking (AT&T), and compilers (Intel) who design clever software that is then given away by their employers.

Their employers do not play the EULA game, betting on the ability of the BSA and its secret police tactics to bully the little guy into restrictive contracts. They make their profits on hardware, and the software is meant to increase the desirability of their hardware.

Other computer scientists, in the more abstract fields of nubmer theory (the NSA), and artificial intelligence (Google) have employers who profit by providing services (yes, the government is a service) based on the advanced technology computer scientists develop.

Or do you mean computer engineers? Why, I think you can't! There are programmers in all the places I mentioned above, plus those working to make e-commerce sites, business logistics solutions, etc.

To conclude this little flame, let me say that I don't necessarily disagree with the rest of your post.

Re:Contiune your education...

[Lodragandraoidh]

I think some folks have a misapprehension that a CS degree only equates to being a programer.

Disabuse yourself of that fallacy, and you will be set.

Case in point: Me.

I started out of college NOT AS A PROGRAMMER - but as a system administrator (I parlayed my brief experience with Unix in college into the job). Once in the position, I automated all of the tedious stuff, then set my sights on some of the other things around me. For example, the technical support folks were using paper tickets; a little database magic and some cgi scripts, and 'Voila!' - an automated ticketing system.

After that, I extended my knowledge - I learned other operating systems the company was using, and I also learned new programming languages. I also started developing my philosophy regarding programming paradigms for large projects by reading everything I could get my hands on and watching what went on with internal projects. Most importantly, I learned how to make disparate systems work together (systems integration).

Finally I got into a major project as a programer and applied and refined the lessons I had learned. Having administered operating systems and databases, I had a unique perspective many of my peers did not have. I volunteered for the difficult tasks, because I knew I would learn more by stretching myself than by sitting back and just coding by rote.

Pretty soon, I was project lead, and then a full blown senior developer. At this stage of the game I deal with technology and implementation issues at a high level; I write specifications, and either implement it (if its trivial) or oversee a vendor or internal team perform the implementation.

That is how a CS major can take you where you want to go; don't limit yourself by setting your expectations too high, or conversely, setting them too low. The biggest key is to just make yourself as valuable as possible to your company and you will get where you are going.

It's funny because....

[Anonymous Coward]

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?

Re:Graduate study in Something Else

[kisrael]

Frankly, he could have studied basket weaving in college and still learned enough to be a good programmer from on-the-job experience.

God, I think I've worked with too many people like this. Or maybe there's some other reason, but there are so many bad programmers out there. About 1 in 3 I'd say tend to be sharp...the rest are the reason why Offshore coders in India look so good. They tend to be even less than 1 in 3 sharp, but at least they're cheap.

Re:Graduate study in Something Else

[ObviousGuy]

There are many opportunities out there, if you know where to look.

Not all companies are Microsoft, Oracle, and AOL. Walmart needs computer programmers. So does McDonalds and Holiday Inn.

Spamming Monster.com isn't guaranteed to find you a job anywhere. That's where everyone is already looking, the odds are just not in your favor.

Look off the beaten path and you will find a lot of opportunities that may end up being a lot more beneficial skill-wise and responsibility-wise in the long run than anything you'd do at a bigger company.