Internships for Talented High School Students?

xeon4life asks: "I'm an Austin, Texas area high school senior with a slight dilemma: I need a job, I don't want what's offered at my age, and internships are not quite open for kids like me. I've recently been reading essays by Paul Graham about creating your own startup and have been motivated enough to convince two of my good friends to go into business with me later, during college. Thus, an internship at this point would be the ideal solution for me now, but nobody is willing to take me as an intern because I'm still in high school. What am I to do?" "People have suggested that I just do what every other good American high school citizen does and take a mediocre job. The problem is, I feel it would be a waste of my talents right now to be stuck folding shirts at the local mall or flipping cheeseburgers when I could be helping develop a cutting-edge game, the next-generation compiler, or even the Linux kernel as an intern. I have a higher than most college students' understanding of concepts, and some real programming experience in languages like assembly and C/C++, but that isn't going to amount to anything if I can never find an interviewer who will at least listen to me. I'd appreciate any input the Slashdot readership can give me."

Comments

and to quote...

[JVert]

So you really want an internship?

"and internships are not quite open for kids"

awww but I really wanna!

Welcome ot the real world!

Now go do something usefull on your own. Contribute to an open source project if your too high up to flip burgers. Thats the best your gonna get unless you can modivate someone who is actually out of highschool.

Best bet is you get a job as a mail clerk, I dont know if temp agencies will touch you but part time is available with that stuff. At least with that you'll get a good idea of what work will be like.

Re:and to quote...

[ebuck]

Companies don't offer internships to high-school students, unless they are blood relatives of rather powerful upper management or somehow "connected" in a way that doesn't account for skill. Worse yet, if you do get a job (and prove yourself to your employer skillwise) they will love you.

At first it doesn't sound like a bad thing, but when they pile on the work, it tends to get in the way of college. And they'll pay you like you don't have a college degree, even if your coworker is doing the same job, you will earn half of what he makes because he has a degree. Still you'll be making much more than a Mickey D's burger flipper, and you'll get used to the money.

The companies that shop around for someone who is so easily exploitable (in this manner), are generally the same companies that will exploit you and your coworkers in other manners. Sadly, I know of a few very bright minds that have become so co-dependant on their companies that they cannot leave and cannot properly invest the time to finish their eduction.

Having a degree, or more properly, a good Computer Science eduction, helps in subtle ways outside of your paycheck. It can assist you in avoiding pitfalls when writing programs. A skilled programmer may skillfully build bridges over these traps, but an educated one often finds ways to walk around them. You could theoretically get that education outside of school, but schools provide a wonderful support net of people who organize, plan, and analyze your progress in becoming a better programmer.

If you must get some sort of computer job, start off easy. Learn to administer some of the simple server babysetting for small businesses, and work your personal contacts to find a position. Expect to be paid almost nothing, as the field is flooded with people of dubious credentials, and the reason you might be able to get a job is because your competeing with the least qualified computer "people" for the bottom-of-the-barrel types of jobs. Consider it a resume building experience, and not a money generating venture. When you do graduate, you will be noticed above the others that did nothing but go to school.

Work on open source...

[anthony_dipierro]

Internships don't pay that much, and apparently either you or your two friends are incredibly rich anyway. So forget the internship, and spend your time and talent working on an open source project or two. If it's your friends that are rich and not you, convince them to set up the company now and hire you as an intern for a measly salary.

Make your own internship

[Profane MuthaFucka]

One of the hardest things to figure out when you are starting something new is how to eat while you are still making the new project work. Since you presumably still live at home, that's not a problem for you. And since you are still in high school, it's not a point of embarassment to be living with your parents.

That means that you can work for cheap, REAL cheap, gaining experience that will help you out in the future. So, get out there and help out as many people as you can with your skills, and to hell with a "regular" internship for now. If you do a good job, they will recommend you to others.

Patience is a virtue

[ignorant_coward]

You can gain other important skills by other ordinary high-school jobs. You don't have to work at a burger joint, there's libraries, and even good entry level jobs at factories. Working third shift at a factory can be loads of fun (kinda dark and mysterious).

Also, commitments among friends in high school often end at graduation. Life gets more complex, and you can find no fault in your friends if they get a significant other or decide to change their focus in education (what if they get into a different college from you).

Don't grow up too fast. You'll feel like you're 65 and ready to retire by the time you're 25, so be careful.

Re:Patience is a virtue

[Blkdeath]

You can gain other important skills by other ordinary high-school jobs. You don't have to work at a burger joint, there's libraries, and even good entry level jobs at factories. Working third shift at a factory can be loads of fun (kinda dark and mysterious).

I hate having mod points; I can never shut up long enough to use them. ;)

Another important facet of getting an "ordinary high-school job" - PERSPECTIVE. Too many people in IT nowadays (and too many people entering IT) have never experienced a non-tech job. Some skills you can learn at your local burger joint, library, mall kiosk, record (CD) shop, factory;

• People skills
• Customer service
• People skills
• Mechanical aptitude
• People skills
• Humility
• People skills
• Respect for chain of command

Oh, and by the way, people skills.

Another good thing to keep in mind; the tech sector dried up not so long ago. When I was in college, there was promise of endless jobs for countless graduates. Schools couldn't bring enough people in! Co-op positions were available by the tree-load and we all had dollar signs in our eyes.

Now that the "bubble has burst" and everybody's graduated we have ten applicants for every available position. This, of course, compounds this young gentleman's problem; it's an employer's market. The first set of resumees to hit the cutting room floor are those that lack a high school education. Next round - post secondary? Industry certifications? Experience? When certified college/university graduates are applying for internships (at internship rates) there's not much hope for someone without grade 12.

Personally, I'd like to echo the suggestion to 'pound the pavement'; hit the phone book, job bank, dress nice and start visiting local businesses. If they're not specifically an IT shop but have need for some help with their systems so be it. You're probably not going to get a job with Compaq, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft et al. right out of the gate. You may find your happy niche designing in-house software for Joe's Falafal House, Inc.

Good luck to you, son; but never hold yourself too high that you can't work like those other regular schlepps. BTW - it can actually help in the near future to show a prospective employer that you have some range of experience. It may set you far enough apart to land that dream job.

Re:What??

[Seumas]

I'd say, suck it up and get a real job. That's what being a teenager is about. I worked flipping burgers for a few weeks and then stocking shelves at a Cub Foods all night for a few weeks. Even though it wasn't very long, the hard labor, long hours, terrible bosses and coworkers, low-pay and generally hellish environment is something I'm glad I went through. In fact, I even pumped gas for three days.

Of course, I was 16 at the time, but a few years later, I had a software career making a _lot_ of money. And knowing exactly what those kind of jobs are like makes me glad I have the job I do today. Even when work sucks the most, I can stop myself and appreciate the fact that I'm not digging ditches in the blazing sun for $12/hr or flipping burgers or stacking 50lb bags of dog food for $8/hr.

Worry about your internship when you're in the last half of college. Don't worry about it in highschool. Besides, you're not only competing with seasoned professionals who need real jobs, but college people who need internships over the summer. You're low-man on the totem-pole.

And if you really want to do something, go donate your time and services at a local charity that could make use of your technical skills. That will definitely look good on your college application and future resumes. Besides, you'll feel a lot better doing something you love and just getting some kharma for it than you will busting your ass at Intel or IBM for free.

Work for Free (if necessary)

[auferstehung]

If making money is not a necessity. Approach what you consider the "ideal" successful business (the one that would look good on your resume) in your area and offer to work for free if necessary. You might be suprised that after a while they might offer you employment, especially if you treat it like a real job despite the lack of pay. As in no showing up just when you feel like it or generally making a goof of yourself.

Regardless of the outcome, you will get to "hang around" and pick up valuable real world business knowledge. From the businesses perspective, it is a relatively low risk option to see if you are worth their time.

Humility is a great start

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is, I feel it would be a waste of my talents right now to be stuck folding shirts at the local mall or flipping cheeseburgers when I could be helping develop a cutting-edge game, the next-generation compiler, or even the Linux kernel as an intern. I have a higher than most college students' understanding of concepts, and some real programming experience in languages like assembly and C/C++, but that isn't going to amount to anything if I can never find an interviewer who will at least listen to me. I'd appreciate any input the Slashdot readership can give me."

The problem is you think you need to ask slashdot what you should do? Your high school knowledge means squat. My son as a fith grader already outscored the nations eighth graders in all subjects by 110 percent. He is currently modding xchat to make it more secure/private for him and his friends.

What are you doing? If you have the knowlege to develop the next cutting-edge game or compiler wouldn't you be working on it now? A slashdot ID and your limited knowledge of C/C++/Assembler does not make you a technowiz. Knowledge without application has no value.

So go use your skills and build something. Theres plenty to do. Take the summer off and go code. I wish I could have when I was your age. I had to hack/build stuff in between flipping burgers and school. Whats your excuse for not doing so?

You know what I do in the summer?

[77Punker]

I'm in college and I can't get a job that respects my intellect, either. During the summer I do construction.
I'm no good at making stuff at all. I come up with ideas that are brilliant but my boss is too scatter brained to implement them even though they'd save him lots of money.

You know what? I get paid $7.50 an hour to get the same job as the highschool dropouts I work with. That's more than any of my friends get paid. You know what else? The reason you get paid to do something is because it sucks so bad that almost nobody is willing to do it for free.

Re:How to get a job (or internship) within two wee

[Blkdeath]

(Jealousy that they did not, perhaps?) However... the silver lining is that such a response *will* help prepare you for the real world, which is unfortunately much like this at times. Don't let it discourage you; keep going anyway, and with just a little luck, you WILL succeed. Taking moronic insults and banter like this personally is pointless and a waste of time. File it away in the "This person is unreasonable and will waste my time" folder, and keep moving.

More than likely you'll file them under "co-worker", "superior", "love interest", "employer", "friend", "mentor", ...

It's unwise to disregard what a person says just because it's negative. It's a good healthy dose of real life. Rejection is a part of it.

Furthermore; it's a horrible folley to scoff "jealousy" at others who don't share your life's goals or naivette.

Good post, I'm not entirely disagreeing with you, and it's good to see some positive feedback but I hope the submitter realizes that the world is a harsh place that does judge its inhabitants based on arbitrary factors rather than pure skills and abilities.

Re:entroll in a community college

[nb caffeine]

I cut grass at a local golf course for several summers. Wouldnt have traded it for all the internships in the world. I have a great knowledge of landscaping, etc. If the IT industry ever takes a huge downturn, i can work as a landscaper. Theres nothing wrong with a little manual labor.

And im not trying to be a troll here, but in high school? Nobody will take your seriously. It sucks, i know. Hey, get a job fixing computers at a local shop. At least it involves computers unlike other, less stimulating wage slave jobs.