If I do a 3-6 month Internship at FreeGeek, what is the minimum number of hours needed to put it on my resume and become employable? I have a CS degree, but I don't have work place experience and can't get a job anywhere in the Portland area. I want to specialize in network security and I want to work on Unix and Linux based systems. Another option is learning how to build web sites that are fancy and properly encrypted. I'm trained in programming, but without training I can't break into the industry. Nobody in Portland seems interested in inexperienced computer scientists.
One problem, I have recurring costs where FreeGeek can't pay anything to their volunteers. The longer I work at FreeGeek the better it looks, but the less time I have to earn money. I can drop Comcast Internet and use my father's DSL, but that's about it. I need my smartphone, $40.75/month, and I'm paying for a burial policy, $11.20/month. Once a year I incur significant cost paying for robinson-west.com hosting at Eskimo North, the domain name through register.com, and the security certificate. I also pay for a VoIP phone once a year through Phonepower. That should be coming up in May. I have about $10k in student loan debt on income based repayment, I've been paying about $100/month on it even though I don't have to pay anything for a while longer and I can apply for more IBR deferment. This is enough complication, but I'm engaged and hoping to get married seven months from now. I probably need to be taking home a minimum of $2000/month to live on my own in Portland. _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug