How can I prepare myself for the real world? Around the end of my junior year at UC Irvine, I constantly asked myself this question. Here I tell you the answers I found.
How can I prepare myself for the real world? Around the end of my junior year at UC Irvine, I constantly asked myself this question. Every quarter I learned new programming languages and applications but I was not sure if this was enough to succeed in a field that is rapidly changing. After a summer internship at a software consulting company, I learned 3 things that made me successful as a CS student — 1) learn the basics of web development, 2) work on personal projects, and 3) get an internship. These are the steps you need to take in order to begin your journey into the real world:
Web development is an essential tool for any CS student. You can build amazing websites, create web tools, and make your own portfolio website. Before I landed an internship at Novvum, I took the initiative to learn the basics of web development — HTML/CSS and javascript. At Novvum, my mentors introduced to me two technologies that I had never heard of — Graphql and React.
The more I learned about these tools, the more I noticed that I was barely using anything I learned at school.
Most of my learning time consisted of reading documentation, going through Stackoverflow, or simply watching a tutorial on youtube. My mentors were the most helpful resource at understanding this daunting material. They provided guidance every step of the way. Learning web development by yourself is possible, but it may be difficult. I would recommend learning with a peer since you can teach each other topics that you don’t understand well.
2. Work on Personal Projects
Personal projects are crucial for any CS student who wants to be successful. They demonstrate your knowledge in certain areas and even help you get internships. After getting a job/internship, as a CS student, you will still continue to work on projects since it shows your dedication to learning and practicing new CS tools. Even during work, working on small projects is good because you can get help from your co-workers or even work on one together. During the internship, my fellow interns and I worked on a small project to practice what we have been learning. Our project was a Food List that ranked the top 10 dishes in a specific county. Working on this project allowed me to learn so much about web development. I learned that there are premade components and stylings such as Material-UI. Also, implementing a backend from scratch requires a lot of patience, not to mention that minor styling was irritating. In the end, we didn’t end up finishing the project we set out to create, but we did end up learning new web development tools.
3. Get an internship
An internship opens many doors in the future. It gives you work experience in CS, introduces you to the work environment, and helps you build connections. Many companies love to see work experience on your resume. It shows that you have used a programming language on a project that has been deployed to production. Plus, knowing how to work in the CS work environment before you graduate will give you a better understanding of what to expect when you are working at your first CS job. Perhaps the biggest benefit of having an internship is the connections you can make. These connections could become great recommendations, help you find a job, or simply give you great advice.
So what am I really saying?
School does teach you the basics of programming, but it feels a bit antiquated since computer science is always evolving. For instance, web development taught at schools is outdated, but it is one of the fields that employers look for and expect students to know. The steps listed above are a good guide for finding your footing outside of school. There will always be more things to learn, but you will be more than ready to start your career in programming.
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