Internship Opportunities for a Software Developer
Introduction
There has never been a time when the job market has been as competitive as the present time and age. The job market is saturated with a highly educated job seekers competing for the same employment opportunities as everyone. Consequently, it takes more than just a diploma certificates to secure a good job and curve out a professional niche. Employers in the present job market are looking for that one extra milestone that sets a potential employee apart from the rest of the crowd. Therefore, it is important that job seekers should ensure that have a unique selling preposition to stand out. Acquainting a new employee into a new position takes time and resources. Many potential employers have a preference for recruiting employees who already have some background training and hands-on skills so as to reduce the time and resources to train employees so that they fit within the organization and their job requirements. One such way of acquainting oneself with industry related skills before looking for a job is through internships . This trend traverses most, if not of all, career paths available, including technology-oriented careers. Therefore, it is important for graduates to identify platforms through which they can acquire such hands-on skills that are relevant to their envisioned careers. For example, it is notable that potential employers will readily recruit new employees with industry experience . This article outlines the internship opportunities that are available for a software program developer graduate that will expose them to the work software programmers are trained to undertake. Specifically, the article concentrates on what it takes to land a dream job at Google Incorporated which is one of the most successful software firm globally.
With the advent of computer and computer programs, software engineering has become one of the most sought after a career of choice for many individuals. Individuals who not only have a deep interest in the digital platform, but also want to develop their computer programs to suit their unique personal needs. The career path for software development expert entails some basic prerequisites for success. They are basic building blocks before venturing into the career. One of the prerequisite skills includes knowledge of one or more programming languages such as C++, Java or Visual Basics (CWJobs). Another prerequisite skill would be the primary knowledge of computer hardware and related computer software. It is also worth noting that the software engineering career presents a very versatile environment that is highly dynamic due to frequent updates and changes in technology. Therefore, it is important for a software engineering experts to always keep abreast of the current trends so that they do not lag behind or concentrate on technology platform that have been rendered obsolete as a result of improvement in technology. Apart from technical skills, soft skills are vital because software developers have to work with other software developers and collaborate with other professionals. Therefore, they should be able to work well with others. Some of the essential soft skills include the ability to communicate clearly, the ability to pay detailed attention to what one does, team-working skills and leadership skills (Saha, 2014)
Roles of a Software Program Developer Expert
Developers of software play numerous roles cut across several fields and industries. This is because software is needed from almost all spheres of life from education, business, health sector, and government among many others. Therefore, there is a need for software developers to develop and maintain software that meet the unique needs of those spheres. For instance, an educational establishment may need a software that allows interactive learning while a business may need a software that can track customer orders. Although the requirements in the diverse fields are different, the skills applied by software developers are the same. That is to say that the process of software program development in the field of agriculture may follow an almost similar process as that of the development of software in the field of nursing even if the functionality of the final products may be different depending on what the final software program is intended to achieve. Therefore, the roles of a software developer expert do not require different skills when considered in the precincts of different professions. The primary skills are common and similar in almost spheres. One of the roles of a software developer expert is developing required computer programs and systems that are necessary for the day to today running of the normal operations of an organization (CWJobs). The second role is analyzing the functionalities of the developed systems or programs on a routine basis and correcting any anomalies (CWJobs). The expected third role of a software development expert is maintaining the desired functioning of those systems and preparing knowledge manuals for the peoples intended to use those systems or programs (CWJobs).
Possible Career Opportunities for a Software Program Development Expert
The main role of a software program development expert is the entire process of coming up with a computer software which is also known as a computer application or program (TryEngineering). The process of coming up with a functional computer software is a stage by stage process that involves designing how the software will function, developing it, testing whether it functions according to the desired specification and finally evaluating whether it is achieving the desired objectives (TryEngineering). Software development takes into account the use of a programming language through a coding approach that guides the whole software development process. Skills and proficiency in programming are very fundamental for a software development expert (TryEngineering). Therefore, apart from the overall software engineering career, an individual may get a job as a programmer. Other jobs in the process of computer software development include software testing, maintenance, and upgrading. In other words, a software engineer may work as a developer or a maintenance expert of computer software (TryEngineering).
Organizations offering Internships for a Software Development Expert
There are several organizations offering computer science related internships that are relevant to a software development expert. Most of these organizations fall within the classification of top five hundred Fortune companies in America. These organizations also have operations in other regions outside of America. This article will concentrate only on five of these organizations: Wal-Mart, Google, Apple, AT&T, and Hewlett-Packard (HP). The giant retailer Wal-Mart has computer and information technology (IT) related internship opportunities for computer programmers, which is a basic skill requisite for all software engineers, all-rounded software engineers, systems analysts and administrators (Computer Science Degree Hub). Google incorporated, which is one of the most successful search engine operators, offers programming and coding internships for entry-level graduates with the aim of developing their skills and improving its business in the process (Computer Science Degree Hub). Similarly, Apple Incorporated, which deals with the making of Iphones and Ipads collections amongst many other business ventures, offers internship opportunities for advance degree holders apart from undergraduate students in software and hardware development (Computer Science Degree Hub). Apple carries out its internship programs in most of the regions around the world where it has operations (Computer Science Degree Hub). AT&T, which is a communication service providing company, also run internship programs for graduates in the areas of emerging information and communication technologies (Computer Science Degree Hub). Hewlett-Packard runs its internship programs across a wide spectrum of computer related services including software focused training and research and development programs on software analysis (Computer Science Degree Hub).
Internship and Career Opportunities for a Software Program Developer Expert at Google Incorporated
A career at Google incorporated would be a dream come true for a great number of computer science and computer-related studies graduates from all over the world. As earlier mentioned, Google runs internship programs for software engineers from all over the world. The internship program at Google targets software engineers who yearn to be part of solution developers for Google’s complex systems (Google, 2016). Apart from offering support to the complex systems that Google incorporated runs, a software engineering intern has the opportunity of participating in new product developments. The process of applying for the software engineering internship program at Google starts with understanding the requisite information required for the application on the Google website and sending in an outstanding online application. An outstanding application encompasses and meets all or the information required to qualify for selection. An interview follows after which a successful process means that one is hired for the internship program (Wang, 2015).
Conclusion
In summary, the process of securing an internship in a top computer-software technology company requires background knowledge in not only computer hardware and software use, but also basic programming skills. The more one is adept at one or several computer-programming languages, the higher the chances for of successfully being absorbed in a software engineering internship program.
References
Computer Science Degree Hub. (n.d.). 50 Fortune 500 Companies Offering Computer Science Internships. Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from Computer Science Degree Hub: http://www.computersciencedegreehub.com/internships-fortune-500-companies/
CWJobs. (n.d.). Software developer. Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from CWJobs: http://www.cwjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/profiles/software-developer
Google. (2016). Software Engineering Intern, BA/BS, Summer 2016. Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from Google: https://www.google.com/about/careers/search#!t=jo&jid=132795001&
Lent, J. (n.d.). Software developer career advice: How to make cross-industry moves. Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from TechTarget: http://searchsoftwarequality.techtarget.com/feature/Software-developer-career-advice-How-to-make-cross-industry-moves
Nath, V. (2013, September 16th). How to Land an Awesome Software Engineering Job Straight Out of School - See more at: http://staywithit.org/blog/engineering-jobs/how-land-awesome-software-engineering-job-straight-out-school#sthash.k691aIbb.dpuf. Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from Stay With It: http://staywithit.org/blog/engineering-jobs/how-land-awesome-software-engineering-job-straight-out-school
Saha, S. (2014, October 15th). Tips for software engineering internships. Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from shubhro: http://www.shubhro.com/2014/10/15/tips-for-internships/
TryEngineering. (n.d.). What does a Computer Software Engineer do? Could you give me a description of the field? . Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from TryEngineering: http://tryengineering.org/ask-expert/what-does-computer-software-engineer-do-could-you-give-me-description-field
Wang, S. (2015, September 18th). How Do You Get Hired at Google? Retrieved April 19th, 2016, from The Slate Group: http://www.slate.com/blogs/quora/2015/09/18/google_jobs_and_internships_how_do_people_get_hired.html
