What Can I Expect As an IT Intern?

p3np8p3r writes "I'm in college and working towards my Bachelors in Computer Science. Last year I passed both my CompTIA A+ and Network+ certifications and now have been offered (via a staffing company) a full-time Internship at a wireless lab of a major laptop manufacturer. The pay is going to be around $8 an hour full-time but that is not my primary motivator. I'm considering this significant decrease in pay from my previous (non-IT) job to be counterbalanced by what valuable knowledge I may gain both in the technical aspects and industry insight while I finish school. This field is all new to me and I don't personally know anyone who has worked in it before who will give me their honest opinions on it. Although I know circumstances differ greatly, in general, what can I expect as an IT Intern? What have been your experiences?"

Comments

Re:Expect what you are paid

[EEDAm]

It is for IT people but it's not really relevant here. He's going in for an internship in the middle of a huge recession so he's gonna make $8 an hour. Fairly meh but so what - there are plenty of people doing 'internships' for free just to get the xp. When you're an intern - be bright, enthusiastic and don't mind mucking in menial tasks ALL THE TIME. The attitude of the intern is a huge consideration of how we see our interns and whether we feel like having them back in full time employ. Everyone will be bright(ish) but you have no practical xp to trade yet so attitude and approach count for an awful lot. It may sound trite but if I had one piece of advice to any intern and anyone in their first 5, hell for the *rest* of their careers, it would be this.

Re:Expect what you are paid

[mark99]

Not completely true. The most interesting jobs (high tech dev) don't pay anywhere as well as commerical dev crap.

Sigh.