RE: internship

Job Seekers Name:  Usman
Intended city of Employment:  Anywhere in Canada
Academic qualifications:  Bachelor of Computer Science (3rd year)
Field of Expertise:  Software engineering / Computer Science
Years of experience: 2
Current job status:  working part time
Type of job wanted:  Any software related internship/coop

[Sent a note to this young man after seeing his post looking for an internship]

Hi Usman,

I saw your name pop up on an email list for jobs. I have a computer science degree as well. I see that you are looking for an internship. I just wanted to pass an idea to you that has helped me so much: If you can’t find an internship at the moment, don’t waste your time. Build something yourself. It could be anything. Even a simple little application that takes the programming and DB languages you know. It can even be one or two web pages or an algorithm, whatever. I have done this a few times and trust me, the stuff you learn, you can use in interviews and tell them you worked on some projects.

Employers love when people take this kind of initiative. You can even post your code on github for employers to check out. Better yet, once you get the hand of things, you can build something for the real world. I’ve done it and it is so rewarding. Your skills will stay sharp and you’re ready to give an interview because you actually have real experience, because it is real experience.

If no one is giving you an internship, give yourself one.

All the best.