Today I did something I never did at WWU, interviewed a potential intern. Yes, Logik is looking for a pair of interns this summer. If you're in the DC area, or know a CompSci student who is, we're looking. Click the link for details.
This particular intern was focused more on the "IT" side of the operation, rather than the dev side. His resume and associated materials were pretty clear in that he was focusing on eventually entering the job market as a system administrator of some type (there are many types). The place of education he was at was focused on producing people like that, which is encouraging, and from what he was describing of his education it was actually pretty close to where I'd like it to be.
Since this person, or one a lot like him, would be following me around this summer, it got me thinking about what I'd like to see in such a person. Logik is small enough and our product focused enough that 'helpdesk grunt' is not a job title we have any use for. Any person coming in on the IT side will be doing hard labor as well as helping make decisions. I don't think there is enough work for another me around here, but there will be plenty of work for me and a minion I'm mentoring.
For that's what it would be, mentoring. There is a mindset I look for in sysadmin-type people that's hard to teach, though this particular school sounds like they're doing a solid job of attempting to train it in. Most of us get it on-the-job, but a good amount comes with the person. He had a couple of prior internships that didn't challenge him in the right ways, and the description of those jobs and what he hopes to get out of this possibility were more clues that he had the beginnings of the right stuff.
I've worked with student workers at WWU who have the beginnings of this mindset and just need some years of polishing to be right in the sweet spot. For those student workers, rubbing elbows and working along side the grizzled veterans (at 12+ years in the industry I merit some minor grizzle now) is highly valuable experience. A summer internship with pretty close one-on-one interaction with said GV, in our startup-like environment, will be a really big leg up for a guy like the one we interviewed today.
And finally, it was an interesting continuity to interview a student for an internship, since I just spent the last 7 years working for a university. Heh.
This particular intern was focused more on the "IT" side of the operation, rather than the dev side. His resume and associated materials were pretty clear in that he was focusing on eventually entering the job market as a system administrator of some type (there are many types). The place of education he was at was focused on producing people like that, which is encouraging, and from what he was describing of his education it was actually pretty close to where I'd like it to be.
Since this person, or one a lot like him, would be following me around this summer, it got me thinking about what I'd like to see in such a person. Logik is small enough and our product focused enough that 'helpdesk grunt' is not a job title we have any use for. Any person coming in on the IT side will be doing hard labor as well as helping make decisions. I don't think there is enough work for another me around here, but there will be plenty of work for me and a minion I'm mentoring.
For that's what it would be, mentoring. There is a mindset I look for in sysadmin-type people that's hard to teach, though this particular school sounds like they're doing a solid job of attempting to train it in. Most of us get it on-the-job, but a good amount comes with the person. He had a couple of prior internships that didn't challenge him in the right ways, and the description of those jobs and what he hopes to get out of this possibility were more clues that he had the beginnings of the right stuff.
I've worked with student workers at WWU who have the beginnings of this mindset and just need some years of polishing to be right in the sweet spot. For those student workers, rubbing elbows and working along side the grizzled veterans (at 12+ years in the industry I merit some minor grizzle now) is highly valuable experience. A summer internship with pretty close one-on-one interaction with said GV, in our startup-like environment, will be a really big leg up for a guy like the one we interviewed today.
And finally, it was an interesting continuity to interview a student for an internship, since I just spent the last 7 years working for a university. Heh.
I know one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt: anyone who attains the privilege of becoming your intern will be very, very fortunate.