I'm currently an intern at IBM and I love it. I work in the test team in a development lab and it's great.
I have learned as much here in 18 months as I have in 3 years of uni. The average age of our lab is quite young, probably largely because we currently have 5-7 interns on in test and dev with a few more coming in the next week or two as well as 6 or 7 graduates. There are 3 or 4 developers that started as interns that are now some of the most valuable developers to the team and are moving their way up the ladder to be lead developers for some projects. There are also some interns who have progressed to other divisions within the company from here. I am lucky that where I am intern culture is well established. Working hours are very flexible around uni and other commitments, and all the managers are very supportive. During session I am able to work from home 1 or 2 days a week to attend classes in the morning/afternoon and come exam time it isn't a problem to take 2-3 weeks off to study and complete those. In saying that, the interns don't get a free ride - when the chips are down, we are expected to work just as hard as everyone else to make sure what needs to be done, is done. I think we certainly bring something new and innovative to the team that sometimes can be missed by older members that have been doing things one way for a long time. I have switched to part time at uni for my last 3 years and while it will be a bit longer until I graduate, I am exponentially more employable as a grad with that experience and there is every chance that where I am now will offer to keep me on as a grad. That's my $0.02 worth - hope it's helpful. Cheers, Brendo On Jan 20, 11:07 am, glen <[email protected]> wrote: > Interesting to hear people's thoughts on this, actually. When I was at Uni, > in my final year of undergrad, there were internships available as an > alternative to the big group project, but they sounded quite poorly > thought-through. It was minimum 2 days/week, unpaid, and actually increased > the number of project deliverables to the university in terms of plans, > specifications, etc. > I thought it could have been good experience but it seemed impossible for me > to take part at the time. Glad that some people out there are doing it > usefully, though. > > Cheers, > -glen. > > On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 9:08 AM, Elias Bizannes > <[email protected]>wrote: > > > > > I applied to several firms for a summer vacation stint - which lasts for > > six weeks. It's a competitive process as these programs are well established > > for traditional industries (like financial services) but students are > > *dying* to get it. So it's worth following this model for our own evolving > > Internet industries. > > > Getting that first kick-start in your career is one of the hardest things - > > because you don't have contacts, you don't have work experience, you don't > > have industry experience, you don't have anything other than enthusiasm. > > It's taken for granted how things like that matter, > > > As for the experience itself, I loved it and think it's a great thing for > > all parties involved. I consider them drawn out interviews - you get six > > weeks for employee and employer to work out if this fits. > > > On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 9:26 AM, Dale Hurley <[email protected]>wrote: > > >> Hi > > >> I did an internship with Ernst & Young and it was the best experience. > >> Ernst & Young loved and hired me after it getting me my first marketing > >> job. > >> It works well for both parties, the intern get experience and a bit of pay, > >> and the company gets to try out a potential employee for cheap and if it > >> doesn't work out it is easy to get rid of them. > > >> Dale > > >> ------------------------------ > > >> Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:22:10 +1100 > >> Subject: [SiliconBeach] Re: Interns in Australia > >> From: [email protected] > >> To: [email protected] > > >> Great business idea. > > >> We've had good success with interns from UTS at Citrix. However we are > >> placing them in our test group so generalist skills are appropriate. For > >> specialized skills a service like GradConnection sounds great -- good luck > >> with it. > > >> Cheers, > >> Michael > > >> On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 7:25 AM, gradconnection <[email protected] > >> > wrote: > > >> Hi Rob, > > >> My company GradConnection, specialises in exactly this. We are launching a > >> web application in March this year called the Gradaute Program Wizard which > >> intelligently tells grads which opportunities are most relevant to them > >> based on the criteria that they enter. So if you were after a > >> graduate/intern who programmed Ruby, we would tailor our question set to > >> make sure you opportunity gets infront of relevant grads and students. > > >> We have had major sign ups now from a number of government departments and > >> are a couple of large corporates. > > >> In our efforts to jump the chasm, we would like to get a couple of smaller > >> companies on-board to profile the merits of our webapp and would happy to > >> offer this to you since you are a member of silicon beach. > > >> If you are interested then lets catch up for a coffee. In Sydney any time, > >> or if you are in Melbourne we will be down their again from Feb 9. > > >> Warm regards, > > >> Mike > >>http://www.gradconnection.com.au > > >> rantalot wrote: > > >> Has anyone had any experience in using Interns in their business in > >> Australia? > > >> SportsPassion is looking at establishing a few positions as > >> internships and are wondering whether the likely source for filling > >> the roles will be Uni students in Australia or Uni students who are > >> travelling to Australia and can work as interns (that is, their visas > >> permit that). > > >> Any thoughts/guidance/feedback would be welcome. > > >> thx > >> Rob > > >> -- > >> Mike Casey > >> *Director* > > >> Level 5, 95 > >> Pitt Street > >> Sydney > >> New South Wales > >> 2000 > > >> P: +61 2 8005 0266 > >> M: +61 4 4997 6059 > > >> -- > >> __ > >> Michael Harries > > > -- > > Elias Bizannes > >http://liako.biz > > -- > Glen Maddern > 0423 118 405 > > logo.gif > 9KViewDownload --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Silicon Beach Australia" group. 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