The first approach I took to finding an internship was preparing a resume that would be suitable for a professional job interview. This is a task that many people underestimate the importance of. I first started my resume in TSC 210. This class taught me what was important and relevant in a resume. A common mistake on first time resumes is being unsure of what content to add and what to leave. An important rule for a resume is that it should be no longer than one page in order to keep the attention of the reader and to be concise. This allows the reader to view your resume quickly and catch the most important aspects of the resume without sifting through unneeded, filler information.

TSC – 210 taught me what information was relevant and suitable for a Computer Science major compared to a person entering a different field. This class also taught me about spacing and design of a resume. It is important to keep a resume organized by mater of importance. For example, the list of tangible skills and courses is more important to a recent grad if they have no relative work experience. Thus, listing courses and computer languages in the beginning of the resume emphasizes your tangible skills. One complaint with the resume advice from my TSC professor was that he believed that the style of a resume is just as important as the content. This does not necessarily apply to a computer science major.

After completing a rough draft of my resume through my TSC course I took it to the resume counseling services provided by the school at Warren Hall. My skills, courses, and work experience has changed since my TSC course so I felt it was best to keep my resume current and to get a second opinion from another educated source. The resume clinic gave me new ideas and suggestions to my resume which I found helpful.

 I then submitted my resume to MadisonTrak once my resume was reviewed by the resume counselor. This was a good way for many companies to view my resume and select me for interviews. MadisonTrak provides students with a database of job offers and internships while at the same time allowing potential employers to review from a pool of applicants for interviewees.

 James Madison also provides students with career fairs that allow you to pass out resumes and talk with potential employers about what there job has to offer. This is a good way for companies to have your resume while allowing them to view it and see if you have potential for an interview.

 My final method for submitting my resume was by going to the websites of companies and searching for job openings. I found that many companies have ways to electronically submit a resume and view job openings. This is another good way to have your resume in the database of a company for further review.

 I found that there were many ways to discover job openings when searching for an internship. I eventually landed my Job at CSC though through a method that I have yet to mention. A family friend is an employee at CSC who submitted my resume to human resources. This allowed me to be in CSC’s database for potential employees while at the same time being ‘earmarked’ as a person who knows a fellow CSC employee.

 I began receiving calls shortly there after for various projects in the Washington metro area. My first interview was with a CSC office in Chantilly, VA, specialized in Department of Defense contracting. This office wanted me to set up an internal server and create a program relating to their time entry system.

 This was my first real word interview and I had little practice going in to this. I ended up not receiving a job offer from them due to my lack of knowledge of networking though I was told I had interviewed very well and seemed relaxed and calm.  I found that with an interview, it is best to be natural and to be your self. Overextending your skills or exaggerating your ability only puts you in a set up for failure so it is just best to be relaxed yet professional with your interviewer in order to best convey your thoughts and skills.

I did not hear back from the interview with CSC in Chantilly  for a few weeks though I did get another call from a CSC office in Rockville, Maryland. They were working on a project for the FAA that involved updating the flight tracking system of planes used in all national airports. They were interested in me because of my knowledge of Ada . I had taken Ada in CSC 430. They were interested in a summer intern that could help with testing of their software and has knowledge of Unix, among other things. I went to an interview with them and used many of the same interview techinics that I used on my previous one.

I received that job offer a week later and was asked to work as soon as possible. This is a huge relief to any CS grad sweating a summer internship. Once I received the job offer, I was contacted several times by human resources in order to get necessary information from me. I was required to first take a drug test within 48 hours of receiving my official job application letter. I was also required to fill out an extensive background check form that required me to list many aspects of my life such as every place I lived, worked, went to school, and financial information and contacts to verify my legitimacy. I later realized that this was required because it was for government contracting and because we were working through Lockheed Martin.