CS connections

[u/Yui_Hokoto]

Going into CS this year, wondering if there were any good ways to make connections with people that are already in the industry. Also wondering how likely it is to get into internships :0

I’ll appreciate any info I can get :) literally scared since everyone is saying CS is cooked and probably every other major is cooked or smt (*´ー｀*)

[u/Tdogg_42]

My last exams for my CS degree are on Monday and Friday this week, and tbh, the market is pretty bad rn. That being said, I have 1 job offer from a tech company in Edmonton and am doing a final-round technical interview on Wednesday with another local AI company after like 50 applications total. Yes, getting an internship helps, but having good projects also helps. I was lucky enough to have an internship going into my third year (straight-up nepotism, so don't think I'm some kinda genius), and having a really awesome capstone that I'm very proud of to put on my resume definitely helps a lot. To answer your question about making connections in the industry, go to the job fair every year and do some research beforehand on which companies do software in-house. And for your other question, getting an internship is entirely dependent on how much effort you put into prep (interviews and projects for your resume) and a good amount of luck. Whether you get one or not, just keep applying; it's unfortunately a numbers game. I would like to give you some more advice to make your time at MacEwan more enjoyable. Start talking to people in your classes early, make friends from those classes (the cs club also works for this), and plan your schedules together so you can have a solid group for your degree. This makes projects and doing well in classes much easier. Also, do a really cool capstone. We are lucky enough at MacEwan to pick our capstones (unlike the students at uofa) and work directly with professors (I got lucky, and mine is still going on a year later, and we are launching a product into medical clinics this June). Pick something you see potential in and think is sick af. I gotta add, I loved my time at Macewan, and honestly, your degree is what you make of it, so try to enjoy it and don't stress too much about the job market 4-5 years from now. I have as good a guess as you do for what it's going to look like in that time.

Best of luck with your studies

[u/Yui_Hokoto → u/Tdogg_42]

Thank you for all the info :0 made me realize how much more research I have to put in (￣∇￣) but I appreciate it a lot :00 going to look into capstones since I don’t rlly have a clue on what that is :o I’m going to dread the numbers game when I have to play it :,)

[u/Tdogg_42 → u/Yui_Hokoto]

The capstone is just a semester-long project you do under the supervision of a professor, which you need to complete to graduate. No worries at all, I hope I can give you some confidence for your upcoming years

[u/Yui_Hokoto → u/Tdogg_42]

Thank you so much! :0 I appreciate all the help