<p>I'm majoring in Industrial & Systems Engineering and I'm in the spring semester of my sophomore year. For the last 3 years I've been working 20+ hours/week during the school year and 40 hours/week over the summers at a school district doing IT work. I'm transferring to a university and I don't plan on working while going there or doing any co-ops during the school semesters, but I'll do what I can to try to find a summer co-op or internship. Say worst case scenario is I don't end up getting any engineering related work over the summers. Will the 3 years of IT work help me at all when I go looking for a job or does it not even matter at all since it was unrelated? Personally I think it would because it shows I'm a dedicated worker and do have working experience under my belt, and the good grades should show I know my stuff, but I have no idea.</p>
<p>Probably not as much as you would hope. An internship helps a lot more. Get an internship if you can.</p>