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Looking for advice for work experience as an undergraduate.

Veteran

Daniel Lee Atlanta, GA

Hello, I am currently an undergraduate in Atlanta, GA at Georgia Tech studying Computer Engineering. Expected graduation date is Spring 2015. I currently have no work experience related to my field of study which is essential regarding careers post graduation.

As of now, between graduation, I have left open next summer (before entering my final year of my undergrad) to intern/begin work as a computer/software engineer. The month of August is when companies will begin to look for and fulfill these openings.

I am seeking advice such as resume overview or general opportunities related to seeking these positions as an upcoming senior undergraduate for a computer/software engineer.

My home of reference is in Northern Virginia, on the Capital Beltway where I have intentions of being an applicant for those companies around that area. Additionally, with no dependents, I am available for relocation as needed.

Thank you,

Daniel

13 July 2013 9 replies Career Advancement

Answers

Advisor

Rebecca Webb Boston, MA

Hi Daniel,

Michael is right, there are many avenues on campus where you can get create experience to add to your resume. In addition to the IT department you could consider working for/vounteering at any of the computer labs on campus. Or create work for yourself. A friend of mine would help people with their computer problems for a small fee giving him the experience he needed and a little extra cash.

Do you currently hold a job on campus? If so ask your manager if there are any computer related projects you could work on so you can add those to your resume. Also, even if you have a job that is not directly related to your field, you are building transferable skills, which are good to demonstrate when applying to internships.

Having worked in Career Services I know that they are a valuable resource but not the only one on campus. Talk to your advisor and other professors in you field to see if they have any contacts. Also, if I remember correctly GT has an ROTC program. The program advisors may have some contacts and be able to help you.

Finally, I know this sounds strange but make sure you are asking your friends at school if their parents or their parents' companies have internships. Just being able to reach out to someone who already works at a company you are trying to get a job at can be extremely helpful and they might be able to give you better direction than simply filling out an application or talking to HR. Family and friends can be very helpful in networking. I got my first internship in college because a family friend directed me to the position and had an inside look at who I should contact when I got stonewalled by HR.

I have a computer software contact at HP in ATL and will reach out to him to see if he has any advice or knows of any internships at the company.

Best,
Rebecca

Advisor

Michael Roberts Minneapolis, MN

Hi Daniel -

There have already been some fantastic suggestions in this thread, just thought I'd share my experience as someone who graduated with a Computer Science degree in 2007.

I think there are good avenues to get "career related" experience on campus during the academic year. Personally, I did some part-time work for the campus IT department and served as the (volunteer) IT coordinator for the student radio station. You can leverage experiences like these to get a summer internship, which is very important on your path to full-time employment.

Many students make the mistake of thinking unpaid experience isn't valuable or significant on a resume. When I attend a career fair I'm looking for students that have demonstrated leadership, ability to work with others, and the ability to apply their technical skills outside the classroom.

Have you thought about what type of career in IT you would like to have? Are you looking for a start-up environment, an enterprise/corporate job, etc? It's ok if you don't know yet, but more info on your ambitions would probably help us to give better advice.

Good luck!
Mike

Advisor

Tom Cal, CFA San Francisco, CA

Daniel & Veteran Software Programmers,
Perhaps consider:
* getting involved at a Hackathon
e.g. http://www.eventbrite.com/org/1153839733?s=14787059&past=1
* organizing a Hackathon yourself
* developing code or an app for a non-profit organization on a volunteer basis
* developing code or an app for your online portfolio

Advisor

Tom Cal, CFA San Francisco, CA

Daniel - when you have it ready, send me the URL of your LinkedIn profile and resume in pdf format. Let us know the dates and locations when you are available to work.

Veteran

Daniel Lee Atlanta, GA

Hello and thank you all for your advice,

Tom - I will be working with Career Services here at GT this year. My motivation for reaching out to third parties is the benefit of being a veteran -- of which numbers of us are in very small quantities here at Georgia Tech (compared to big state schools). At the time of posting I had just completed a request for a mentor at ACP which directed me to this board. Will update as I progress that route.

I understand there is a higher incentive for companies to hire veterans, but that's all that I feel I have at this point. No related work experience. Aside, I do know that Git is an option for any open-source projects I may contribute to.

Brian - my email address is dlee440@gatech.edu I am interested in finding out more information regarding your offer.

Advisor

Brian Berenbach Edison, NJ

Daniel,

I have some contacts at Siemens in Alpharetta. If you would like to do an internship in the Alpharetta area, post your e-mail address and i will send the contact privately. I do not want to post the contact as i do not want unsolicited applications for internships. If you want to go this route, you will need a viable resume to send listing your background, what you are looking for, the courses you have taken, and your GPA.

Whatever you decide, best of luck,

Brian Berenbach
Senior Systems Engineer
Siemens Corporate Technology

Advisor

Chad Grills Potomac, MD

Hey Daniel,

If I was in your shoes, I would:

Do some research to figure out the top 10 places you'd like to work.

At those companies reach out to a decision maker (CTO, CEO) and introduce yourself. Ask if you can assist with any ad-hoc projects. Work for free, then determine your market rate for the completed tasks.

Ask to be compensated based on the market rate, or apply for open positions after you've built rapport. If the company says no to paying/hiring you, you can go to Elance, ODesk, or another company with a portfolio of completed projects and experience.

I would also check out startups or growing businesses. Many smaller firms will probably be willing to pay and provide equity.

Also begin building a relationship with technology recruiters on Linkedin. Many of them are desperately trying to place technical candidates and will work like crazy on your behalf.

Hope this helps. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

-Chad

Advisor

Paul Trejo Austin, TX

Daniel, Tom is clearly a great resource; I hope you can take advantage of his kind offer. If you can't for some reason, consider all your alternatives. You're so right that work experience makes a world of difference on a resume -- and intern experience is equally valuable on a resume.

Your best bet for an instant job is always an internship. Computer science, furthermore, is wide open to all industries since computers are used in virtually every company on the planet today. For interns, the most accessible computer applications will be in the Accounting department and the HR department of almost every company in the world. These are practically instant jobs for a computer professional or student.

You can typically be ignorant of Accounting practices and still be welcome on the computer staff of an Accounting department! (You are doubly welcome if you know just a little bit of Accounting, i.e. from QuickBooks, etc.) Accountants are typically happy to teach interns the narrow aspect of Accounting they'll be working on (which is generally a variation on massive addition, subtraction, multiplication and division operations.) Accountants typically prefer to concentrate on Accounting and leave the computing to the computer pros; so I recommend this avenue for beginners.

Much the same applies to HR (human resources) departments. This is because Accounting and HR departments are constructed upon "generally accepted prinicipals," standard and unchangeable from company to company, even internationally. This is very stable work and very accessible to interns.

For other departments things are more complicated. For example, Production departments tend to be very specific to a company, and may take a long time to teach, and furthermore may involve industry secrets -- so interns tend to be less welcome in those departments.

Because Accounting and HR are so common, you can typically find an internship very close to school or home -- perhaps even walking distance -- an additional benefit. If you're looking for an instant internship, Daniel, try this out. If you're looking for a secure and high-paying job, just stick with computing for Accountants, especially Tax Accountants -- 25% of our GNP goes through Tax Accountants.

From the Accounting department you'll also have a bird's eye view of the rest of the company. Stock holding, Sales, income, bills, taxes -- supplies, production costs, labor costs and policies. After a couple of years in Accounting, you'll be invited to help the computer staff of production, quality assurance or advertising -- and after some years of that, you'll be eligible for consideration as an Executive. So, your prospects are good, Daniel, as I reckon.

Best regards,
--Paul Trejo

Advisor

Tom Cal, CFA San Francisco, CA

Daniel,
Feel free to message me if you want to also have a phone conversation.

It's great that you are being proactive in planning and building your civilian career. With a degree in Computer Science from Georgia Tech (GT), I think you will be well-positioned for a successful and accomplished civilian career.

First, please provide periodic "status updates" and "After Action Reviews" (AAR's). Keep us informed on your progress and let us know what is helpful and what is not. This helps both Veterans and mentors, and let's us know that you have either reached your goal, or might require further assistance, advice and mentoring.

Second, please give back, helping Veterans and others, in whatever way you can and choose. Status updates and AAR's a one way you can give back, in that they provide information for Veterans and mentors that potentially improves the mentoring process and information available to Veterans.

If you need assistance with any of the recommendations below, I encourage you to start a new post asking for assistance.
###################################################
I could ask you to pass me along a resume and the URL to your LinkedIn profile, and then forward your resume to a few contacts in the IT (Information Technology) industry. Instead, I am going to give you a few "tasks" (homework) that I think will in the long-term prove to be more helpful.

* Utilize Georgia Tech's (GT) career center. Let us know if and how it is helpful.
http://www.career.gatech.edu/

* Explore internships via GT's Computer Science department. I Googled:

"https://www.google.com/search?q=georgia+tech+computer+science+internship";

and found

http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/specialacademic/divpro.php

* Do you have an GT advisor for your Computer Science major to whom you can ask for assistance? How about professors in Computer Science at GT?

* Request a mentor from ACP. Be specific on what you are seeking in a mentor. I'd guess that a mentor with a Computer Science degree might be well suited for you. If that is not available, perhaps a mentor with an IT-related job, or a mentor that works at a firm in the IT industry.

http://acp-usa.org/Resources/MentorResources
###################################################
* Ask yourself: If someone wanted to help you pursue an internship, what information might be helpful?

e.g.
- what are the exact months/years you are available for a internship or part-time job? And for each date-period, what is your geographic flexibility.

- provide the URL's for a LinkedIn profile and resume in pdf format. Perhaps put these on your ACP profile.

- What are 3 skills or characteristics you have that give a potential employer reasons to speak with you? (Work on your "elevator speech".)
https://www.google.com/search?q=elevator+speech

- I know you are still working towards your degree. But have you completed any interesting projects or papers? Do you have a web-based "portfolio" showing your work.

For example, when I Google the name of an Army buddy that I served with in Iraq, here are a few pages I find. They include:

a) a personal 1-page web-site,
http://www.rmtheis.com/

b) apps he developed that are on "Google play"
https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Robert+Theis&hl=en

c) his GitHub site. ("GitHub is a web-based hosting service for software development projects.")
https://github.com/rmtheis

Note: This Army Veteran has earned a Masters in Computer Science, so is not an exact example, but it makes my point and gives you something toward which you can build.

Read more here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=computer+science+portfolio
http://matt.might.net/articles/what-cs-majors-should-know/

I'm looking forward to your status updates and AAR's.

Once I know a little more, I will attempt to make a few introductions and try to get you a few phone or "coffee" meetings.

-Tom

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