How long did it take for you to get your dream job?

Congrats on the internship.

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Original post by Tyro So what was your first real full time job like?

I've never had a 'real full time job'. With any luck I never will.

Internships are about experience. If you have a one year internship, use it to get as much experience as possible. If they hand you boring work, finish it as fast and as well as you can. The company might realize you are smarter than they expected and give you the good stuff.

At our company we normally start interns on really easy projects. Sometimes it's fun, sometimes it's not. If they excel we move them onto more difficult problems. These tend to have more 'meat' so they interns like it. They also get better experience from the year that way, too.

Dream job? I've been in the industry over 7 years and I still think my job could be better, but I do love what I do right now. It used to be that all I wanted to do was program, no matter what - that was my dream job. I worked for a company writing software that made subtitle images for DVDs! How's that for a dream job. I went through a bunch of different aspects of programming and game programming before I landed in the area I am now. At each step along the way I was having fun, but I always knew I wanted something else. I've usually been offered a chance to move into another area; most likely because I get my work done. I'm sure my current position will need to be changed in a few years when my idea of a dream job changes as I grow up.

My advice would be to work at your internship and take the long view - work to get to where you want to be. Nothing comes for free; you need to earn it. Prove your merit and it will take you a long way.

-S

kazgoroth, I'd really be interested in hearing about what you do,, freelance programming??

Sphet, thanks for your advice, I feel more optimistic now. Since it seems like you deal with interns, may I ask you want you don't like to see from interns, and maybe what you really look for in an intern. I wanna be able to blend in as much as I can when iI start working.

It took me about 15 years to find my dream job, and I've been working here for almost 17 years now (I'm a mainframe assembler programmer). Before that I had never worked anywhere for more than 2 years (and that was the Army).

The pay is good, benefits are great including full 401K matching. They treat me like an adult and my hours are flexible if I need them to be. No one breathes down my neck - they trust that I will get done whatever they assign me to do, though of course I have long sinced proven to them that I will do that.

I have my own pretty large office. At one time I had an entire corner suite when the county I work in had mandated that smoking areas had to be on a separate ventilation system. I was the only smoker left, so they gave me one section of the building to myself so I could continue to smoke inside. The county now bans smoking indoors in all offices so that's gone, but it was still a nice gesture on their part.

After getting out of college I did manual labor for about 8 years and then stumbled into a job in programming. I worked for a software developer and then 3 different banks before I lucked into my current job.

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Original post by Tyro Sphet, thanks for your advice, I feel more optimistic now. Since it seems like you deal with interns, may I ask you want you don't like to see from interns, and maybe what you really look for in an intern. I wanna be able to blend in as much as I can when I start working.

Sure, I can give you my advice.

When we hire interns, we normally put them on non-mission-critical components of the game: front end, player achievements, outstanding bugs. Rarely do they get to work on core game features or shared technology. Sometimes an intern is just really good. They come in with a great attitude: they want to learn, they have respect for their peers and they love the job. These guys usually knock of the boring tasks pretty quickly and with quality because they are just good at their job. Once done there's nothing to do some a good project manager will work with the lead programmer to decide if there is something to work on that is a bit more interesting and a bit harder. It usually goes from there. Normally we don't let interns work on any code or tools that would have a maintenance outside of the project's lifetime.

My 'want to see'?

- Optimistic & Helpful
- Thankful of the job - there are lots of applicants but you were chosen!
- Respect for the company, the product and the way they do their job
- Gets work done, asks questions about the problem, wants to learn.
- Knows limits - code produced is the quality expected from the intern.
- When a problem becomes too tough, spins wheels and doesn't ask for help. If you are stuck, get out of your chair and ask for help. This is the most valuable skill of any engineer, no matter what level that are at.
- When a task is completed comes and asks for something a bit harder, but doesn't just surf the web.

My 'don't want to see'? It's going to sound harsh, but...

- Arrogant know-it-all. I'm sorry your 4 years education doesn't trump the collective ~500 years experience of our company.
- Talks about how things should be done outside of their area. Eg. working on Front End but telling physics guys how they should write their physics engine. If you have special education in that area, let them know and ask some questions, but leave it at that. If they want to know about it they will ask.
- Complains that the company is doing it 'all wrong' and should change. You're only there for one year - if you don't like it don't apply for a job when you graduate.


To be fair - our internship is pretty good at our company, from what the guys have told me. I'm sure companies exist that treat their guys terribly, just like there are companies that treat their engineers terribly. If you are stuck at one of these try to make the best of it and think - 'that's one less company I never have to apply for a job at'. Its a useful tool in figuring out how to get your perfect job.

We have hired a lot of our interns once they are finished school. We think the internship process is a great measure of their character and abilities. Think of it like a 1 year long job interview.

Best of luck!

- S

thanks!

it sounds like stuff that I can follow easily.

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Original post by Tyro But now that its been a day, I am begining to get worried that the job is gonna be mundane and boring and that I might rot myself for a year.

After a day? Dude... give it time. My first job in the game industry, I was on a project that was going downhill fast (and was eventually canceled) and it wasn't going well at all. Now I have a successful game on the shelf with my name on it, and really enjoy my job. Just give it a while before you decide that it sucks.

Edit: Reworded to make more sense

Last year, I was hired on as a student worker for the Oregon Dept. of Forestry. I applied Thursday, I was hired Friday.

I loved that job, while the season lasted.

haha, sorry I wasnt clear in my writing. Its been a day after accepting the offer. I start working on may 14th.

But either way, I'll keep that advice in mind for the first day on the job JBourrie,


Benjamin, what does the Dept. of Forestry do? grow trees?

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Original post by Tyro Benjamin, what does the Dept. of Forestry do? grow trees?

No, though they are involved in some logging and thinning during the winter, but it's forest fire season during the summer, so I had a job last year as a student fire fighter. I loved it. It was a lot of fun. The season usually lasts about 4 months, and after that I went back home (since I live in California). That is still the quickest I've ever gotten a job, and since I loved just about every minute of it, it wasn't a bad deal at all. [smile]

And congrats on your new job as well! =D

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Original post by Benjamin Heath Quote: Original post by Tyro Benjamin, what does the Dept. of Forestry do? grow trees? No, though they are involved in some logging and thinning during the winter, but it's forest fire season during the summer, so I had a job last year as a student fire fighter.

Off topic:

So you'd be the person "in the know". Don't take this as myself "questioning" your job or anything, I am just interested in hearing something from somebody who knows more than I do about the subject.

I lived in the northwest my whole life (until recently) and as far as I can see, many forests are overflowing with dead fallen trees and undergrowth because it has never had the chance to burn away.

What is the point of fighting fires in forests that aren't directly endangering towns and cities? Most fires are a natural occurence that is a necessary part of keeping the forests alive... why do we keep putting them out? (My theory: it harms the logging industry. But I'm a conspiracy nut. [grin])

Again, this is not meant to be a slam to anything that you do, just an inquiry as to why you do it.

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Original post by JBourrie Quote: Original post by Benjamin Heath Quote: Original post by Tyro Benjamin, what does the Dept. of Forestry do? grow trees? No, though they are involved in some logging and thinning during the winter, but it's forest fire season during the summer, so I had a job last year as a student fire fighter. Off topic: So you'd be the person "in the know". Don't take this as myself "questioning" your job or anything, I am just interested in hearing something from somebody who knows more than I do about the subject. I lived in the northwest my whole life (until recently) and as far as I can see, many forests are overflowing with dead fallen trees and undergrowth because it has never had the chance to burn away. What is the point of fighting fires in forests that aren't directly endangering towns and cities? Most fires are a natural occurence that is a necessary part of keeping the forests alive... why do we keep putting them out? (My theory: it harms the logging industry. But I'm a conspiracy nut. [grin]) Again, this is not meant to be a slam to anything that you do, just an inquiry as to why you do it.

The land is divided into state and federal grounds, and into local/county/city grounds as well. ODF (Oregon's state forestry) is pretty aggressive with its fire attack, and I argue that it should be. Why? Because the state lands are closer to the local ones. Simple.

The federal grounds, the "green area", are monitored by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. The Forest Service (or Forest Circus like we called it) does just as you said. It will basically let a fire go and let it burn itself out, but they'll flank it and try to keep it from spreading. Of course, there's no reason to send people into the heart of a wild forest fire when there are no exposures worth protecting, but sometimes, the fires being suppressed by the Forest Service in this manner get out of control.

If you go down to Cave Junction, Grants Pass, or any of the surrounding area of southwestern Oregon, ask any of the locals about the "Biscuit Fire". (Yes, that's what it was called. :P) This was one wildfire that ruined everyone's year a few years ago, and it was (apparently) originally attacked by the Forest Service. They let it go (edit: It got away from them), and it spread to state and some local townships. That's bad.

So I agree with what you say to a point, but when it comes right down to it... Put the damn fire out.


PS: I should note that I'm not employed at ODF any longer. I had to stay home, and one of my last threads says what I'm doing now. [smile]

I never had a dream job. I work as a game programmer, which is a dream job to some people. At the time, game programming seemed more interesting than my other choices of jobs, so I did that.

I think my dream job now is no job. Work cuts into my free time. But I suppose if I had to pick a job as a dream job, it would be doing R&D at Microsoft or Google.

@Benjamin Heath

Thanks for the answer. Food for thought :)

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So what was your first real full time job like? did you have to switch careers several times to get the job you like?

Tech support--answering calls, fixing computers (hardware and software).
Its usually easy. I also do some programming for them.

This is my third (Second fulltime) job. Its not quite my "dream job",
but least its working with something I enjoy[smile]

My dream job would be working for Square on the latest Final Fantasy
(That would be cool[grin])

I haven't found my dream job yet. A few months ago, I left my job at Freescale Semiconductor for a variety of reasons and have yet to start seriously looking for a new job. But I think my dream job would entail:


- Being able to work with Linux and open source software
- Develop software for a variety of scientific purposes and fields
- Be able to learn things about these various fields and assimilate them into my own knowledge
- A great degree of flexibility on design constraints and working hours
- No idiotic management chain that continually derails and detracts my project(s)
- Competitive wage for my level of education and experience


Sounds simple, but I haven't found any leads to where this job exists yet. [sad]

I found an internship after my first year of college, and I worked full time for about 2.5 months during the summer. It was ok, but really weird because they didn't have an office here yet so we worked out of a room at the local college and communicated with our supervisers through AIM.

The next summer, I got the same job, and it was far better because they finally had a real office set up and we actually talked directly to the people we were working for, etc. After this second summer, they kept me on during the year as well. I'm still working there, which makes it 4 summers or 3 full years (ignoring the first summer) I've worked for them. I'm making decent money (above the mean hourly wage of the area), and I'll be making a lot more once I graduate and get to work full time.

While my dream job is to fund a company (so I get to direct everything without having to go to the trouble of actually running things =-) (which will be possible in ~20 years if things don't go horribly wrong), the one I have is a fine job where I'm making important contributions to important projects and it's neither too tough nor boring.

I got my dream job real quick. I moved out at 17, and when I turned 18 I got my dream job working in a computer store fixing PCs. Loved it, still do. Great job, but I'm ready to move on to bigger and better dreams - video games. :)

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Original post by Tyro kazgoroth, I'd really be interested in hearing about what you do,, freelance programming??

Things I've done/do include a bit of freelance programming, some small web-design/development projects, teaching guitar/mandolin/trombone, working casually in a pizza store, and playing as a semi-professional musician in local musical theatre productions and the like.

Working in a pizza store would be the closest thing to a 'real full time job', but I only do that casually when I need/want a bit of extra cash for something, resulting in me only usually working there a few shifts at a time every few months or so.


Long term I'd like to get myself set up as a self-sustaining indie developer, but for the present there's no reason I can't continue my current situation indefinitely till I'm able to achieve that goal; if you spend wisely, make an effort at saving some of the money you earn and choose the correct casual and/or one-off earning opportunities you can live quite comfortably (or at least, you can in Australia).



Don't worry about your internship yet, you havn't even given it a chance! It should be an excellent learning opportunity for you if nothing else, you'll get a bit of an experience of what it's like to work in the industry and you'll get some good experience to help fill out your resume for 'proper' jobs in future. If you're lucky (and of course if you like the job and actually want it) you may even be offered a longer-term position based on your internship, but don't rely on that happening.