Computer Science major with no internship experience?

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

<p>Hello!</p>

<p>I just switched my major to computer science. I am already a junior and have done all the liberal arts junk classes (writing, humanities, science, etc). I used to be pre-med/biology major, so I also have the sciences out of the way for a BS. I go to Portland state university, and it will probably take me another couple of years to get a computer science degree, but I just switched my major to it recently.</p>

<p>Meaning...l have no internships in it. </p>

<p>My overall GPA is good, I am hoping to raise it to 3.6+. My computer science GPA is yet to be decided, as I am taking my first comp sci class this term. But hey, if I work hard I can get a 3.9+ major GPA! </p>

<p>My question is, is it really bad if I have no internship experience by the time I graduate? Will I be able to get a full time job when I graduate?</p>

<p>I am also not allowed to do any summer internships. It's a long story, but basically I am obligated to visit my home country with my mom for the entire summer. I am still a US citizen and everything, but my mom requires that I visit my relatives in my home country every summer, and in return, she pays for my college. So I am going to graduate debt-free. </p>

<p>So basically my summers are off limits, and no, she can't transfer this travel time over to christmas breaks, because christmas breaks are only two weeks, and she says that plane tickets are expensive, and she will not pay for an expensive plane ticket if I'm going to stay there just for two weeks, so she requires me to go there in the summers. </p>

<p>The only experience I have is tutoring part-time.</p>

<p>Will I be able to get a job in comp sci after I graduate? With no internship experience... I am in the honors program at my college though. maybe I will do some sort of computer science thesis. </p>

2

<p>Hello, I recently just added this major as well, so I’m going to try and help the best way I can. I am currently a junior as well, but because I am doing studying abroad at the moment, on top of just adding another major, I have a couple years to go now. </p>

<p>If you’re not allowed to do Summer breaks, then you should try looking for internships that need/want students during the semester. Some of them may give you college credits as well. Just a thought.</p>

3

<p>Not being able to get an internship will put you at a bit of disadvantage but doesn’t mean you can’t get a job. After you have enough classes to know a couple of languages at the basic level and have completed data structures, here are suggestions for things to try:</p>

<p>-see if any professors have projects or research that you can join - research experiences in CS tend to be practical and of use to show employers what types of things you have worked on. same with your thesis idea.</p>

<p>-try to get something for 10 or 15 hours a week during a term. Perhaps the college has something.</p>

<p>-join a computing group that has projects; robotics club etc.</p>

<p>-work on open source project on the web</p>

<p>-</p>

4

<p>Well, right now I work as a computer tutor about 10 hours a week, and have worked as a computer tutor for a year already. But it’s not exactly related to programming; all I do is help people with the technical side of computers at the college computer lab, and I also help people with Microsoft office classes, like how to use word, excel, etc. and I troubleshoot printers and stuff. So onto exactly programming, so idk if that experience really “counts”. But I enjoy that job because it’s laid back. </p>

<p>Would research matter to employers? I can definitely try research. What kind of research do computer scientists do though?</p>

5

<p>That stuff sounds a little too low level to be really useful with industry jobs. Yes research is helpful. You are a CS major and don’t know what kind of research CS people do? Talk to you professors.</p>

6

<p>I just switched my major.</p>

7

<p>I’m sorry, ‘low level’ was a poor phrase, teaching and tutoring are a good activity to have, communications and working with others is a good trait to demonstrate as well as showing competency. Rather, not project oriented enough. Find out what sort of CSE research is going on at your college. They may want you to have a few more classes completed before you are useful but you can read about what they are doing.</p>