Submission + - Advice for a Junior Comp Sci Major
A College Student writes: I am currently a junior at a 4-year university, majoring in computer science with a minor in information science. I have been with a local small business since a few months after graduating from high school. My company primarily builds functional test systems for OEMs. We also have a small line of embedded products with software counterparts. Since I joined the company I have had a major role in most of the software development, often doing the vast majority of the work. Essentially, I am the software guy at my company.
As part of my CS program, I am required to take an internship. I have always thought that I would take my internship at my current place of employment, and that I would stay there after school if my employer could offer me a competitive salary and benefits. However, I have begun to wonder if taking my internship there, and staying there after school (even if the money is there), would hurt my career in the long-run. The whole idea of an internship is to gain real-world experience while learning from those with more experience than you, but there's really no one for me to learn from. Additionally, at school I have learned Java, C/C++/C#, VB .NET, ASP, etc, while at my current job I rarely do anything other than VB6 and LabView. I'm afraid that if I don't have a job/internship where I can practice these newly acquired skills that I'll start to lose them. Also, if I stay with my current employer after school, I'm afraid that if I ever decide to go to a different company that my actual skills won't be at the level they should be as a "Software Engineer" with several years of experience.
What advice can you offer me about my current situation? Is it a bad idea to seek an internship at my current place of employment? Would you seek a different job after graduating with a BS in computer science? Am I just worrying too much? Thank you for your input.
As part of my CS program, I am required to take an internship. I have always thought that I would take my internship at my current place of employment, and that I would stay there after school if my employer could offer me a competitive salary and benefits. However, I have begun to wonder if taking my internship there, and staying there after school (even if the money is there), would hurt my career in the long-run. The whole idea of an internship is to gain real-world experience while learning from those with more experience than you, but there's really no one for me to learn from. Additionally, at school I have learned Java, C/C++/C#, VB
What advice can you offer me about my current situation? Is it a bad idea to seek an internship at my current place of employment? Would you seek a different job after graduating with a BS in computer science? Am I just worrying too much? Thank you for your input.
