<p>My friends were saying you don't cause they will teach/train you on the internship...You just need a good GPA...</p>
<p>My GPA is not bad but I've only learned C programming so far...should I self-study other languages?</p>
<p>i’m not sure, but i do know it would be advantageous if you’re versatile in other languages. it looks great on a resume.</p>
<p>I agree with charlieharper in terms of programming language proficiency. I recommend taking Java - it’s a nice skill to have. </p>
<p>To answer the OP’s question in a bit more detail, I agree with your friends to a certain extent. Most fortune500 company, if not all, will make all interns and new hires go through extensive training sessions specifically to their positions. But these trainings most often assumes that you have already established fundamental skills in your position area. For example, trainings may focus on how to translate business requirements at their company into Java developments, but they will not teach you how to code line-by-line in Java.</p>
<p>What would make you most desirable would be to have worked with database backends, since that’s where the data is that you’ll hopefully be turning into information when programming. Knowledge of SQL, Oracle (PL/SQL) and/or SQL Server (Transact-SQL)would be very helpful too. Also, writing dynamic web pages will require knowledge of HTML, javascript, and CSS. In the Microsoft world, you’d want to know about ASP.NET and VB, as well as JAVA, as F4lcon points out.</p>
<p>Expectations for interns and co-ops are usually very low from what I’ve seen. I’ve worked with some co-ops and they generally have very little in the way of practical skills, at least in the beginning, but when they leave they are substantially more knowledgeable and proficient.</p>
<p>This is a very good question , one that has been puzzling me for a while now. Even If you look at some of the descriptions for the non-paid internships, the company posts an exhaustive list of technical skills required for the said position. How many people can code in 3 different OO languages, have experience with premium servers and databases AND have the time for free work? There are many pre-requisites listed for entry level jobs that I haven’t even heard of in the EE curriculum. My advice to the OP is to pursue any technical internship that comes your way in the first and second year of college ( construction ( EE or not), IT, software etc; ). It doesn’t matter because you won’t be doing anything interesting anyway. In the meanwhile your resume will have something new and if you ever change your mind regarding career goals, it will be easier to find work in that field once you’ve been a part of it ( doesn’t matter however small your role was/is at the time) .</p>
<p>Some advice I received during my intern hunts were to always apply for an internship even if you may be under-qualified. Just be honest with your resume and qualifications when applying. Worse case scenario you just will not get a call back. If you happen to get to the interview stage. Just display a willing to learn attitude. If asked about a skill you do not have, Calmly say you are not proficient in ____ but you are willing to learn.</p>
<p>and also, they is nothing wrong with a little self teaching leading up to your interview</p>
<p>Exactly! I feel like I haven’t learned nearly enough to fulfill those technical skill required on some internships (just finished freshman year)…I’ll probably go with mjmj’s advice…maybe self learn some stuff as well</p>
<p>If you know one OOP it’s easy to pick others up so long as you’re not confusing the syntax. I learned Python for my current internship in a few days. With the extensive documentation that’s available out there it’s not too difficult to get a working knowledge of whatever you need fairly quickly.</p>
<p>That said, from talking to other friends it does seem like expectations are relatively low and they intend to teach you much of what you need to know. So I would agree that it’s a lot more about things like your ability to learn (possibly as evidenced by your GPA) or even someone you know who can get you into the system.</p>