Ask Slashdot: Computer Science Freshman, Too Soon To Job Hunt? 309
First time accepted submitter stef2dotoh (3646393) writes "I've got about a year of computer science classes under my belt along with countless hours of independent online and tech book learning. I can put together a secure login-driven Web site using PHP and MySQL. (I have a personal project on GitHub and a personal Web site.) I really enjoyed my Web development class, so I've spent a lot of time honing those skills and trying to learn new technologies. I still have a ways to go, though. I've been designing Web sites for more than 10 years, writing basic PHP forms for about 5 or 6 years and only gotten seriously into PHP/MySQL the last 1 or 2 years on and off. I'm fluent with HTML and CSS, but I really like back-end development. I was hoping I might be able to get a job as a junior Web developer, but even those require 2+ years of experience and a list of technologies as long as my arm. Internships usually require students to be in their junior or senior year, so that doesn't seem to be an option for me. Recruiters are responding to my resume on various sites, but it's always for someone more experienced. Should I forget about trying to find a junior Web developer position after only one year of computer science classes?"
Re:Focus on your studies as much as possible (Score:5, Informative)
Instead of jobs, I'd look for internships as well. Internships get you actually in front of people who hire, and this is quite important, as showing on a resume that you worked for a company or two will put you further ahead than someone with a degree but no documented work experience other than a Starbucks position.
Professors can be of help, but a lot of them tend to work isolated from the "real" world. Their world has little pressure from H-1Bs and offshoring (other than foreign competition when it comes to textbook publishing,) so they may not know or care about trying to find work once one gets the degree.
Projects can help too. If one is a good coder, joining and looking at an OSS project might be a help come resume time. Doing a coding project that is something other than the usual smartphone/tablet app is going to get one noticed.
Finally, keep an eye on the market. What was needed four years ago may not be needed now. However, embedded programming always needs good people. It isn't a commodity job (thus the offshore dev houses are not worth the time), so it can be a niche for a career.