BP-TheGuy88

Over the last two years I've turned into a bit of a workaholic. I figure if I'm not doing clubs or any other ECs on campus or attending any events, I may as well work and gain some experience in the field I'm studying. It all started with a workstudy assignment as a IT tech for faculty/staf. From that job, I ended up getting a second job as a student tech. From the workstudy assignment I also got a third job as a help desk analyst. those are the three i'm doing so far. now next year i have a chance of doing 4 jobs. i'd keep the workstudy and the help desk analyst position. and instead of doing the student tech job, i'd become a resident tech at one of the dorms, and i'd be working as a IT Security analyst. All of these different jobs are within my school. i work at least 10 hrs at each job. i don't do it for the money as much as for the experience. since i'm so young and because of the school i go to, getting internships in the IT field is a bit tough. i'm not into programming at all and those are the only ones i saw opened at a career fair. and the ones that sounded somewhat interested required me to be a junior. here's what i'm worried about somewhat. it's definitely a lot of experience that i'm getting. to the couple of internships that i applied to even with the experience (which at the time i only had the two job) they were very impressed. now i'm going to be getting even more experience. everyone talks about how internships are mandatory but here i am working at my school in different positions within a big department. does it look bad if i graduate and don't have an internship? will it make it very hard to get a fulltime job after graduating? keep in mind at the moment, i have 3 tech jobs, and if things work out, next year that'll be 5 tech jobs over the span of 4 years of college (and you can add 1 tech job from high school tho im sure that wont matter much when im done with college). like i said, i do it because of the experience plus it's very convenient because of the location since i already live at school. the benefit is i do get paid but that's the least of my concerns.

timeloso

Just a thought, but... don't you think it's better to focus on your school and, if you have time, one high-caliber job? I don't think Google will be that impressed with you when they know you spent 50 hours a week checking computers for viruses and helping old ladies get their e-mail.

What type of full-time job are you trying to get in the future? And when you say 'I'm not into programming', what type of start-up job are you expecting to get in the IT industry?

Finally, I don't exactly get why you're not going to do an internship. Do you think you won't be able to get one? Or do you think you will just replace having internships with a lot of jobs during your school year?

BP-TheGuy88

i kno it sounds nuts but i do dedicate time to my classes even with all those jobs. if i couldn't handle it i wouldn't be taking all these jobs. i have decent grades which will probably go up this semester. and no checking computers for viruses isn't all i do. and in fact at two of the jobs it isn't what i do at all. all jobs differ in one way or the other. IT is a very big field. it doesn't just involve programming. i've considered perhaps getting into systems management field or maybe networking security field, but i'm not really sure yet. i am a sophomore. it's not that i feel i won't be able to get an internship but rather that with all the jobs i've taken i feel i can replace my internships with all the jobs during the school year. during the summer i do work but so far it's been at a camp working with kids.

my question is whether i'm right in thinking that all these jobs can replace my internships?

glueless

Late to the party but here's my 2c!

I think it's a credit to your organization skills if you can handle all the course load and work load, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing for your long-term development. Especially if the money is not an issue.

To answer your question about all the jobs relacing internship expereince, no, I don't think so. The right internship can fill in the gaps in your experience. It may not seem like it now but you probably do have some gaps, and it will be apparent to employers.

I'd talk to my adviser if I were you, and get some suggestions on rounding out my experience or adding to it in the right way. An internship can allow you to move with the executives in the boardroom (literally) rather than, as timeloso said, "checking computers for viruses and helping old ladies get their e-mail." Unless that's what you want to do for a living (NTTAWWT).