As far as being a valuable employee the class I found to be most useful was CS 345: Software Engineering.
This class was vital in teaching me version control, useful project planning techniques, working in a team oriented
environment, and understanding of how project management works. This class gave me the best preparation for what I had
in store for me at the internship. TSC 210: Technical and Scientific Communication was also a useful class because
documentation is such an important part of the environment I was working in. Being well prepared for it I easily
caught on and was able to be useful with less training from my coworkers.
One of the best experiences I had outside of coursework was management of 90+ employees at Festival Food Court on James Madison Campus and tutoring a family of five from Mexico in Harrisonburg. These two experiences gave me enormous confidence and a boost in my interpersonal skills. The biggest key I found to getting a job and maintaining it was networking. That was the most important part of first getting the internship and continuing to come back was based on a combination of networking and having received a positive evaluation.
As far as general advice for students I would say the two most important things in getting a job are to experience all that you can and work on your interpersonal skills. Course work is important in preparing you for many things but I got more value and skills out of my extracurricular activities. At AOL everything is team oriented and your ability to work with others is essential to getting projects finished. In managing so many employees I improved on organization, my time management, interpersonal skills, personnel management, leadership, and much more. In my experience with my Mexican family I developed my creativity, communication skills, and planning. It has been amazing to see how completely unrelated experiences have all played a role in my personal development as a person and as an employee. The communication skills I have developed from various experiences have given me a step above many others. I have been able to gain so much more out of everything I do because of it. I’m never afraid to ask questions and learn more about projects, people, or opportunities from as many sources as possible. So while you’re in school, take advantage of your opportunities to try anything and meet everyone you can because you never know what you may learn from it that will be of value to you in the future.