Companies are always looking to hire people who have some prior work experience, as they feel more comfortable with employees who have worked before, and are thus in a position to understand the challenges that comes with it. Internships and cooperative education programs gives you that advantage over someone who has no prior experience of ever setting a foot in an office!
Interns get a chance to apply the theoretical knowledge that they have gained from textbooks into practical situations, and also understand how different things are once you step outside the protective environment of a classroom.
Internships
An intern works with an actual company, usually but not necessarily, in a field related to a student’s academic or career goals. Internships provide progressive experiences in integrating theory and practice. These are mostly in the summer breaks, but can also be during an academic year. They can be either full time or part time, and can range from few weeks to a couple of months or more. Such positions are, more often than not, unpaid; but they can also be partially paid. However, for students in their third or final year, or for those who have just graduated, gaining hands-on experience in a professional environment should be more important than monetary gains.
A research or dissertation internship is a type of internship taken by a student, usually during their final year. They work with a particular company and prepare a report, which is usually presented towards the end of the year.
Cooperative Education Programs
Cooperative education is a method of combining academic education with practical work experience. These usually have a specified minimum work period. In an alternating arrangement, a student generally works full time 40 hrs per week during the term. In parallel program, students work part time 20 hrs per week for the term. The student’s performance is usually monitored by the school and supervised by the employer. It helps students gain credits as a part of their curriculum. Cooperative education gives students excellent professional experience and many times companies hire the students who have worked with them as a part of a cooperative education program.
International Internships
International internships, though not new, are finding big followers across the globe in the increasingly global market place. Students are taking advantage of international internships in increasing numbers, especially in fields like computer science, information technology, consumer goods and marketing. Countries like Japan, Spain, and India are big favorites, as it exposes them to global trade practices along with an opportunity to learn new cultures and languages. Countries like India provide some of the best experience in global work culture and world-class technologies, with an amount of exposure that was not even previously thought of at an intern level.
However, students need to check before taking on an international internship, as it may mean different things in different countries around the globe. Though such endeavors can be a great learning experience, students need to research properly about the place they are going to visit, to make utmost of their learning time in the new land.
By: Tony Jacowski
Posts Tagged ‘Career Goals’
Internships And Co-operative Education Programs
October 24th, 2009Careers in IT – Information Technology Diversity Part 2: Application Development Category
August 28th, 2009he wide array of possible career paths within the field of Information Technology, it can often be difficult to determine the correct one for you, given your unique interests and career goals. In my last article, part one of this two-part series, I covered the Systems category of Information Technology including who would be best fit to pursue a career in that field and what type of education would best prepare that individual for a successful career. In part two of the series, I will cover the Application Development category of IT.
Application Development Category
People often assume that individuals working in Application Development Information Technology careers are simply programmers or coders, but there is far more to the field than that. IT offers companies the opportunity to increase efficiency across the board, saving time, manpower and money, while increasing customer satisfaction rates at the same time. Typically, automating business and mission processes is the best way to accomplish these types of effectiveness and efficiency improvements, with some examples of specializations in this area including:
? Determining which business processes can be improved with automation
? Conducting process reengineering to gain maximum benefits from IT capabilities
? Application and database development (programming/coding)
? Testing applications and training end users
? Maintaining and upgrading applications
While some application development is done by military members, much of this is outsourced to civilian contractors. But again, as with the Systems career path of Information Technology, depending on the size and needs of the organization you work for, you could find yourself working on all of these tasks at the same time.
College courses and degree programs provide the ?foundation? necessary for developing the abilities needed to pursue (and succeed!) in a specialized Information Technology career. Certifications are also an option as a sort of ?quick fix,? normally used to quickly get you up-to-speed in a particular specialization.
This article just skims the surface of all the exciting opportunities available to those interested in pursuing a career in Information Technology. But it should be a useful place to start for those of you looking for information regarding how to choose a degree program. And remember, if you?re on active duty in the military, you know you?re going to need a degree for promotion at some point- so you might as well start right away! And even if you do intend on leaving the service, your future employers are going to evaluate your capabilities based on your education level by examining both your degree(s) and your certifications.
Keep in mind – other individuals competing for the same IT positions as yourself are aware of this necessity, so you should do everything you can to set yourself apart from ?just another Information Technology technician? by getting that degree or an additional certification. It can?t hurt!
Talk to one of our admissions counselors about the opportunity of enrolling in one of our many affordable online programs, giving you the flexibility, and the expertise, that you need to succeed in your IT career. And ask us about your TA, Montgomery GI Bill (Chap 30), and even the new Post 9/11 GI Bill (Chap 33) benefits- while they?re still available. Reduced military tuition rates and military scholarships help extend those benefits even further, minimizing your out-of-pocket expenses, so why wait?
By: Paul Capicik
