Worried student

[plepamo]

We always look for BSc Comp Sci students and HR struggle to find competent ones. Where are you studying?

On a separate note, my If you're keen for vacation work, my startup has a wordpress template and a site that needs to look professional, if you're keen to help us out drop me a pm.

I'm studying at Wits University.

 

[ice_cubes]

Focus on your studies and getting high marks.
High marks ---> bursary opportunites ---> companies making offers to you because you are a "top performer"

 

[Diplos]

My experience is that if it's a good varsity, you shouldn't have a problem finding work with CS as a major. This based on our own difficulty in recruiting recent graduates.

 

[shogun]

1. You are studying towards a degree.
2. You are already looking to ensure you have a position when you leave.

Well done, you are already ahead of 60% of your peers as you are clearly driven and want to solve the problem.

It works out, and it's a problem you can solve in a week if you need to. Not that you should leave it to a week before you need a job... but these things take a very short amount of time once they start.

Everyone's story is different (as can be seen from the responses and suggestions here), and so is mine. Don't follow any particular advice here just because you are out of ideas. You will have a frikkin degree, so at that point put all those years of thought training to use, keep your eyes and ears open, send out your CV when you get close enough to the end of your degree, and make inquiries where it makes sense (be that in any of the places suggested here or not).

I built some websites outside of studies for cash when I got to third year and was competent enough to sell my skills. This was useful in the interview process. It wasn't particularly necessary either, but did help. Someone else would have done something else to stand out.

Don't stress needlessly... this is a challenge for every single person leaving Uni. You have a long time to go before this becomes an issue. 90% of the extra stuff you are going to put yourself through now as a result of this worry is not going to make a single bit off difference in the interview process. Do well in your studies, and absorb as much development experience as you can. Deal with the interview process and job seeking later on.

 

[GTAMCN]

I am in the same boat as the OP. I am currently studding towards a Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) at Tuks (second year).

For the 2013 recess I tried to find an internship/job had no luck, contacted a few friends/family members who work in IT, scoured the internet but could not find anything. MagicDude4Eva mentioned students contacted him via Social Media, wouldn't it be a "reckless" move for me to start messaging company's about internships, if you don't even know if they have an internship program?

Lastly, could anyone perhaps provide some company names who do the whole internship thing which I can contact (PTA/JHB). Want to start looking for an internship/job earlier this year. Keep the advice coming, really helpful?

 

[Stevohen]

I think the key with IT/Eng is doing. If you able to take an idea and develop it I can promise you now no matter how hard the market gets you will find employment. On the other hand if you more a theory person you may struggle. IT like most professions have a balance of the two and in a work environment the person who is able to efficiently produce the solutions required within a timeframe which is of acceptable standard and aligns with whatever standards or objectives the company has set out will win. As simple as that..

You have different managers who based on their own experience will look for differing educational and personality qualities but in the end the above objective is the same. So accept this, understand that not every interview/job is attainable due to the disposition of hiring(it's tough to accept but you have to) and make sure that you can deliver efficiently & effectively.

^This

Also, never go through a holiday without doing some kind of vacation work somewhere. Even if you're just packing stuff around at Matrix warehouse, every bit of experience helps! Not only for job application, but learning how the working environment functions early on will give you a huge advantage over your green colleagues in your first job.

Don't sit around waiting for opportunities. Search the nets, post on Facebook, MyBroadband, send emails. I'm currently doing vacation work and I got it by asking around on MyBroadband. I've mastered a new programming language, learned a TON about linux, and now have a functioning web-app I can demo. Or I could have spent this December playing video games. Point is, you gotta jump in and give it your best man. And never let a decline for a position or bursary get you down, if you keep on pushing eventually a door has to open. If you've got the ambition and you've got the passion, there's no way you can fail!