Non-programming technical internship - worth it?

Question

Let's say I'm a college student who previously worked a summer programming internship at a large, well-known company, and this summer I haven't been able to find another one (due to interviews not going well and the economy and so on...).

Would it be a bad career decision for me to interview for a "developer technical support" (helping other developers with their code, writing documentation, maybe writing sample code) position at another large, well-known company? Would future employers for jobs and internships (I have another summer left after I graduate) be less apt to consider me if my most recent internship wasn't a programming position? I'm interested in the company and interested in making money this summer, but if this internship hurts me in the long run, I think I might just summer classes.

I'd appreciate any insight from you professional devs or fellow student interns!

Answer 1

Anything that gets you in the door is probably a good thing. If it is semi-technical (and developer support sounds darn near technical to me), that's awesome. You'll have access to the development crowd and if they ever need to hire one, you won't be an unknown entity. There are heaps of advantages to doing something semi/non technical (like documentation etc.) rather than not doing anything at all. IMO.

Answer 2

Yes! Take the "developer technical support" position. There are no jobs that are just about "programming" and having an entire summer to acquaint yourself with the "other" side of development would be extremely valuable.

Not only will you be able to talk shop about your time spent actually developing at your first position, but you will also be able to talk about the projects you helped out on in your most recent internship. You'll be able to discuss how you helped create UML diagrams, helped update documentation, wrote code samples to explain an internal library, etc.

So early in your career, and for such short periods I don't think the order of positions will matter.

It is experience you don't always get at the university. I think it will give you a definite leg up and make you a more rounded developer.

Answer 3

What's the alternative? It's certainly better than seeing "Starbucks" on your resume. :)

Note: I don't actually discriminate against people who worked at starbucks. Worked at a random coffee stand one semester in college. Great place to get homework done.

Answer 4

Have you considered Google Summer of Code? I think some exposure to the "other side of programming" may be helpful down the road, but realistically you'll get at least some of this exposure at nearly any programming gig you take on (like Simucal said, there are no jobs that are just 'programming'). The non-programming technical internship may also be useful if you're still trying to decide if a development career is right for you, for the same reason.

I am of the (perhaps controversial) opinion that you will be more competitive for developer positions when you graduate by obtaining more large-project dev experience than by taking an internship like this. GSoC is one good option if you must get paid, but otherwise there are a variety of open-source projects you can contribute to (and make your contribution known publicly to the community and future employers) for free.

Note that none of these three options are mutually exclusive, although taking on a GSoC project on top of a full-time internship is iffy.

Answer 5

Yes. Broad experiance is the key to...well, just about anything except living your life in a rut.

If you want to live in a rut, turn down anything that doesn't exactly match what you want. But you will die sad after a very, very long (subjectively at least) life of wondering what it would be like to try your hand at something different.

But you'll have more fun if you just explore opportunities as they present themselves.

-- MaruksQ

Answer 6

Yep, I have been looking into the Summer of Code as a possibility. :)

I'm sure I want to work as a software developer (as in, writing code) of some kind. I already had the experience of working on a project with a team at my first internship.

What I'm really worried about is next summer. Am I less likely to get another programming internship if they see a "sandwich" of programming internship-dev tech support internship-programming internship hopeful on my resume next year? I have no idea how recruiters approach this kind of thing.

Answer 7

Having broad experience and business level experience in general is always a plus, especially if you want to get into more of the requirements definition side of things, dealing directly with clients, etc. Many developers have a hard time talking in non technical terms, espeically with end users. So anything that can expand that knowledge is a plus in my book. Non technical skills are also harder to pickup for many people, as they are not black and white areas that can be learned from study and books, they are more about interactions with people and solving problems that aren't always solved by code.

It never hurts to have big picture experience, especially if you are just starting as you never know what direction you may want to grow in. Just because you took programming in school may not mean that is what you want to do in real life forever.

Also it is better to have worked at something than done nothing for the same period. Shows motivation and drive.